We all got to know you as a talented street style photographer via Style.com and of course your own blog Jak & Jil. But since you took a step back from this, what are you doing at the moment?
Everyone always asks me “What are you doing?”. Actually, I’m still doing what I do… just not for a platform like Style.com. An ideal scenario would be to post pictures everyday on Instagram and my website. But sometimes I’m just tired after shooting eight to ten hours for four weeks, day after day. The last thing I want to do afterwards is edit photos.
At the same time I’m shooting content for Dries Van Noten, Givenchy and Chloé. I’ve been very lucky to be able to monetize what I’ve done. However, I also feel bad that I’ve abandoned the people that loyally followed my work. But no worries… I’m still outside the shows, having a lot of fun. For me it’s important to be present because I love to watch what people wear.
You recently said in an interview with Fashionista “I think once you reach a certain age, you realize fashion isn’t everything, and you can only own so many clothes.” Isn’t fashion business getting more and more out of hand the past few years? Like it’s only about harder, better, faster, stronger?
The fact that I’m saying this at thirty-three is kind of shocking. Someone of my generation saying no more clothes? The truth is that I think it must be the result of the fact that we’re so overwhelmed with so much through social media. We don’t feel like we need to be consuming since we’re already voluntarily putting ourselves out there.
For me there are a lot of factors involved… when you scroll through Facebook you see all these articles about sustainability, environmental factors, climate change and even politics. It makes you loose the desire to cumulate in your life and to re-evaluate what matters. You just learn what to do as a more responsible adult. I haven’t stopped shopping but I don’t buy as many clothes as I used to. When you learn what works best and what you appreciate than you know you don’t need to buy this or that because you wear it only once and that’s it.
What made you decide not to monetize Tommyton.com?
My feeling was that advertising can be a turn-off for someone. Like when you see an ad on top of a page. But this doesn’t mean I’m not monetizing me as a brand, just not the website.
In which ways do you dislike but also like how the street style circus has evolved?
What I like is that it has brought more democracy to the fashion world. It was very exclusive before. You could only come to a fashion show when you were a journalist, a buyer or a stylist. For me this obviously means that I have more options to photograph.
What I dislike is how crazy it is… it has just turned into a zoo and this adds unnecessary stress. In Paris the police can even become physical with you and this doesn’t make photographing easier.