meet Joshua Katcher .. the game changer

Joshua is a warrior! He is most definitely not a dilettante nor one of those who gives lip service to the buzz words du jour like sustainable, eco-friendly, green-designed, recycled, upcycled and environmentally friendly… you get the idea... He is committed to the entire universe, concept and development. He is also a published author on the subject…. Fashion Animals.

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Joshua is a key player in the fight against the use of animal cruelty in fashion.  I am always amazed at how much he knows, not only about the history of animals in fashion but also in terms of what innovations are being made in the use of new materials that are replacing things like leather, fur and exotic skins.  He is definitely someone I look up to in this struggle to change the industry for the better. Alexi Lubomirski, photographer

Mr. Katcher writes about it, lectures about it, teaches on the subject and has dedicated his career to educating all of us on so many of these topics. Don’t get the wrong idea in that he is this preachy holier than thou soapbox orator as I have personally met him and spent some time with him and despite his dedication, he is certainly not lecturing while he is engaged with you. 

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Personally, I am always awed by those who possess such well-informed dedication and have done more than just talk about it. His apparel collection, though abbreviated was rather wonderful and appealing. My point with him was that all of these noble quests filter down to an educated consumer which at this point in time seems less than plausible given the state of our country BUT education and being informed takes time and future generations will greatly benefit from his research and zeal on the subject.

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As I explained to him, my issue is that until this genre of fashion can be made accessible to the masses, pricewise and appeal, then it might take longer than we might hope. It is a topic that must be addressed and not only addressed but put in motion by more than just one or two educated designers. We need a groundswell of support from the fashion industry and only then can this mindset become a reality.

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 All my opinions aside, here is Joshua speaking on the so very topical subject of sustainability and all that comes with it …  

 Jeffrey Felner: First let’s talk about how you got to where you are today in your life …   a sort of resume!

Joshua Katcher: I grew up in Poughkeepsie, two hours north of New York City. My parents were teachers; my grandparents were all children of immigrants who became glove-makers in Gloversville, NY.  My mother’s mother was a fashion maven – I have images of her dressed up like a vampy movie star. My father’s mother was apparently a math genius but her husband wouldn’t allow her to work. I grew up visiting my paternal grandparents at a federally funded housing project in Brooklyn. New York City was a place I knew I wanted to be one day. I loved comic books and alternative rock music. I would often stay home making art, playing my guitar or reading X-Men. Comic books were important to me as I was moved by the idea of heroes who would fight for truth and justice, who would not compromise their ethics and wanted to make the world a better place.  I was a closeted introvert who was bullied for being effeminate and different, who loved art and counter-culture. All of this has crafted who I am today.

From a professional standpoint, I’ve taken a lot of risks. I’ve kept going when people have told me I should stop and I have defied the safe and easy path. Fresh out of college, I worked for one year in a corporate job that made me feel empty. I’ve been a lifeguard, an EMT who drove an ambulance and an assistant to my parents who photographed weddings on the weekends as a side-gig.  I freelanced as a camera operator at MTV; I edited videos and worked on indie films. Eventually, I started a vegan lifestyle website in 2008 called The Discerning Brute. Soon after I launched my brand, Brave GentleMan, which was the first vegan menswear brand in the world. I began lecturing and teaching at universities like Parsons, NYU and FIT as an expert in animals in the fashion industry. 

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 JF: You are a writer, a teacher and an advocate ... please explain each of those to us and why?

JK: I began writing about fashion in 2008 with The Discerning Brute. At the time, sustainable and ethical fashion concepts were (and to a large extent, still are) perceived as feminine concerns, and therefore considered trivial, silly and ultimately about surface and vanity. So, I began writing to appeal to a more masculine audience. In writing about fashion I realized that the intersection of fashion and animals hadn’t been researched or taken seriously.  There is a real lack of meaningful data and legislation concerning animals in fashion. What happens to animals in the fashion industry is unimaginable, and the scale and history is staggering. We’re talking about billions of individuals confined, trapped, processed and killed every year and a little-known history of extinctions, extermination campaigns and socio-political scandals. And that reality is intentionally hidden behind sleek marketing and PR designed to make us think only about the aesthetics of the finished fashion objects. Beauty is seen as good, therefore beautiful objects, even if they were made in a horribly ugly way, are perceived as good.  I spent about 5 years, while an adjunct professor at Parsons the New School, researching and writing my first book, Fashion Animals, which grapples with how and why animals have been exploited in fashion, and the systems and ideologies that allow otherwise kind and good people to continue participating in and funding cruelty and violence that is out of sight. 

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JF: If you could invite any 5 people to dinner who would they be and why?

JK: I’d invite three amazing youth leaders, with 2 incredible wise elders:
Greta Thunberg - 16 year old Swedish teenage environmental activist. Genesis Butler - 12 year old animal rights activist.
Omari McQueen - 12 year old Omari McQueen is the youngest award winning vegan chef in the UK. Dr. Jane Goodall - English primatologist and anthropologist.
Dr. Margaret Robinson - Indigenous Mi’kmaw, professor of Indigenous Studies at Dalhousie University in Halifax

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 JF: Let’s talk about vegan, vegetarian, sustainability and the environment...   What brought you to become so involved with any or all of them and why?

JK: The first time I ever really considered where my food was coming from was in high-school when my class purchased an acre of rainforest to protect. We later found out that it had likely been illegally burned and cleared for cattle-grazing. I remember being just baffled at the idea of invaluable rainforests being destroyed to make cheap burgers. It’s a difficult question to answer because so many things brought me to care about veganism and sustainability and they’re connected. A broader idea of a more compassionate world just makes sense to me and worth fighting for by any means possible.  Another thing that compels me is having been bullied myself and being open to considering the suffering of others, whether that’s a factory worker, a cotton harvester, or a fox in a cage. Animals want to live just like you and me. We continue to underestimate their capacities to have complex inner and social lives and we underestimate their ability to suffer. I see sustainable fashion as a means by which to create and express a visual identity that aligns the beauty of a fashion with the beauty of how it was made.  Fashion is a wonderful and perfect place for transformation. 

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 JF: Lastly let’s speak of your clothing and accessory collections ... How would you like to see them evolve and if you could choose any collaboration at all, who would you choose and why?

JK: I want to make a large-scale change in the fashion industry. That requires scaling up. I am not content just having Brave GentleMan staying a small brand. I envision Brave GentleMan expanding sustainable, vegan menswear into major retailers with more product categories like basics, underwear, grooming and athletic wear. I also want to work with the most cutting edge innovations – from mycelium and lab-grown leather to bio-printed fur and algal biopolymers. I think people need to see an articulation of future-fashion that is exciting, hopeful, inspiring, aspirational and still grounded in classic aesthetics. If I could do collaboration right now, it would probably be with a team of scientists and engineers to make lab-grown keratin fiber that would be biologically identical to vicuña and chiru. If I were to do more practical design collaboration right now, I’d like to work with Tom Ford on a sustainable and vegan capsule collection.

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meet DAVID COGGINS .. stylistically individual

There is very little than can be said about a man who you consider  to be an observer, a curator, a historian, a writer/author, a collector,  a raconteur, a style maven, a world traveler and an active participant in the worlds of fashion and style. Add to that mix that he lives by his words; honesty, no pronouncements just assessments, an individualist, an independent thinker and all of it with no pretense to his writing nor with any authoritative tone such as “ do it my way or no way as it’s the only way.”

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David Coggins new book, Men and Style: Essays, Interviews, and Considerations, is a work written by someone who actually understands the difference between fashion and style as well as how our past and present affect how we dress and what we think about appearances and our wardrobes. He is wiser than most and realizes that there is so much more to both fashion and style than just trend and being of the moment or some walking advertisement for a particular brand. One might say he is a sage of style or possibly a fashion arbiter of the rarest variety. He is the keen reporter of so many things that make up who we are but can’t readily see that is so much a part of us or possibly even know these influences exist.

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In essence, David Coggins is a gentleman who should be read and listened to and so here we can “listen” in his own words or if you are so inclined, run out and buy his book!... and I couldn’t think of a better way to kick off the Fall ‘17 men’s fashion cycle!

Jeffrey Felner: What was your favorite assignment and why? And what would be your dream assignment and why?

David Coggins: Well I love to travel and I love tailoring. This past summer I got to write about having a suit made in Naples at Rubinacci, a legendary tailor there. They made it very quickly so I met with the head cutter every day for a week. It was terrific seeing the work they did and these object some to life. Their skill is just amazing. You can read about it here: https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-rubinacci-bespoke-suit

It’s good to spend some time in a city and then write about it. Anytime I can write about Japan I’m also happy—the restaurants, the stores, the culture of service and hospitality are all so amazing. I’m always happy to be there, and very happy to write about it. Of course, if I could go write about fly fishing in the Bahamas I would love to do that too. I’m a trout fisherman who’s currently obsessed with bonefish. And it’s really distracting me!

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JF: What is your opinion of men’s fashion these days when so much tends to look alike and seems geared to the young? Favorites? Extreme dislikes?

DC: Well, I think it’s a danger to encourage men to buy more and more clothes they don’t need, as opposed to fewer, better-made clothes they can have for a long time. The creation of trends, in general, is not good for men and certainly not ideal for men’s style. It encourages a disposable sensibility, instead of an enduring one. So I try to take the long view. Something should have looked good a decade ago and should look good a decade from now. There’s a danger in seeming too much of the moment, because the moment, of course, will always pass. Certain things have endured because they cannot be improved upon. So the idea of making a lot of new clothes just to feed the beast can be a perilous thing.

            The best thing that’s happening now is that men are more and more aware about where their clothes are made and by whom. So that inspires good companies to start doing things the right way. And there are a lot of good small companies right now doing good work.

            As far as extreme dislikes, I’m very nervous about “luxury sportswear”—two words I dislike coming together to make something even worse. And anything that involves sweatpants in public is very upsetting to me. All sweatpants should be buried. All of them. 

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JF: Do you consider fashion an art form or rather a means of self-expression and why?

DC: Well it’s only an art form for a very few. Those are visionary people, often known by single name, who changed the way we think about ourselves and our relation to society. Though I think dressing as a form of self-expression is still a rare and difficult thing, and nothing to take for granted. When I see a well-dressed man I feel very happy and reassured about the state of civilization. When I see a truly well-dressed man I feel the same way, but sometimes also uneasy because he’s making me ask questions I didn’t know to ask.

 

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JF: Can you tell us of your style icons, mentors or just those you admire most? And why?

DC: Well I love the way old Italian men dress. They love tailoring and appreciate how it can flatter a man. They also love color and texture and combining those two things. So somebody like Luciano Barbera has always been exciting to me. He also looks happy in photographs, which is a good reminder that he keeps in mind the bigger picture.

 

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JF: If you could have a dinner party and invite 5 guests, who would they be and why?

DC: Ah, the world’s most difficult question. I’ll keep it to the living, to make it easier. I would want a good mix, right? Let’s start with John Richardson, Picasso’s biographer and a man who’s lived very well and is a great storyteller. How about John Burns, the great retired New York Times writer, who’s written from war zones all over the world? He was also London bureau chief and is extremely good. Laurence Osborne, a great English writer who used to live in Bangkok. He likes to drink his martini at exactly 6.15pm, so he could be the first to arrive. For glamour let’s say Helen Mirren. She’s the type of person that you would let smoke in your apartment even though you don’t let people smoke in your apartment. How can you say No to her? You need one wild card in there. So how about Cat Power? You never know how she’s going to behave. She might not even show up!