What’s your earliest fashion memory? Whether it was the first time: you were awestruck by a garment or advertisement; or experimented with your style?
Perhaps when the plaid baggy pants and the platform high heels were popular in the early 70s. Maybe my first attempt at doing something that was considered trendy and fashionable. Also, I was aware that you never mix brands. For example, If wearing Adidas shorts or a t-shirt, you didn’t wear Puma shoes. So I was aware of branding even at a young age. Later, in college, my first must-have brand was Ralph Lauren and their polo shirts.
You’ve made a career for yourself in engineering and coaching American football, interests we don’t immediately associate with fashion. Nonetheless, has a fashion or personal style always been something important to you, even before you started wearing heels regularly?
I think the way we look and dress reveals a very important part of ourselves. I still wear a jacket and tie whenever possible. Even with the relaxed dress codes in the office I always continued to be overdressed. So yes, fashion is very important to me, I consider it a way to express myself with total freedom. I can choose what to wear, what goes with what, and create my style, which, in my personal opinion, is like a personal brand even if you are away from public opinion or social media.
Have you inspired any of your friends or family to start wearing clothes outside of their respective gender?
No. I don’t think so. That’s up to them and their comfort level. I’d never encourage anyone to do something they weren’t comfortable doing regarding fashion, but I hope to send a message that we can truly be ourselves regardless of what others think.
You recently appeared in a controversial interview on ARD Mediathek’s Beyond Fashion: would you mind speaking on the comments you made that have upset many people, particularly those in the LGBTQIA+ community?
I’m not sure why people think I’ve turned my back on the LGBTQ community. I understand that the LGBTQ community has made it possible for me to legally wear a skirt in public. And yet, if I don’t support the community in some way on my platform, I’m turning my back on them. That is not my intention.
My agenda has always been that clothing doesn’t dictate a person’s sexual orientation or gender. When I said I wasn’t fighting for the community but wasn’t fighting against them either, that meant I wanted to stay neutral. I’m a straight male, what I wear has nothing to do with sexuality. It’s a fashion statement only. It doesn’t mean I don’t respect the community and understand the hardships they have endured to get to where they are today. But to assume I’d fight for them is just that, an assumption. But in a way, I am fighting for the LGBTQ community, and that’s why so many in the community still see me as an ally. Just with me being seen in public or pictures or videos of me on my social media platforms, shows that anyone can wear non-gender conforming clothing. But it’s not fighting specifically for the LGBTQ community, but for everyone.
When I mentioned separation, I was talking about separating fashion from a form of sexual expression. Many in the LGBTQ community use clothing as a way to express their sexuality, which is ok. I’ve said several times, everyone should be free to express themselves, either through fashion or other means. But…. many outside the community and many inside the community associate wearing clothes from another gender to be a form of sexual expression only. It’s hard for them to comprehend that it can be just a fashion statement. So I try to keep my distance/separation from the LGBTQ community so there is less confusion that I’m making a fashion statement and not a sexual statement.
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