Interview conducted on January 4, 2021
David C from Tennessee moved to London, then New York in pursuit of a career in fashion, assisting top stylists and working for the best magazines, but it was almost accidental the way he built up a reputation and business as an archivist; lending pieces to his peers as well as celebrities and amassing one of the most talked about private collections of fashion focusing on designers like Raf Simons.
RL: How did this start?
DC: I started collecting clothes when I was 13, just buying them online. But because I was working in fashion, I had a bunch of clothes. Then people would start borrowing from me for shoots and it evolved from there. Then, I sort of just went for it.
RL: Tennessee to London, quite a big move, and I read you went to school at Central St. Martins. How did that all come about?
DC: In Highschool, I got bad grades; I’m not good at learning recipes, which I think it kinda is. American College Systems are really dumb because it’s like “what’s your S.A.T. score?” I wanted to go to art school which for me, made even less sense why you needed an S.A.T. score. Also, how they do the art programs in America is very can you color in the lines is how they evaluate you. Which I also am not the best at. I did three different AP Arts and failed all three of the exams.
I also failed my foundation year and was told I was bad. I kind of kept doing the fashion foundation path and the teacher would be like “Oh, you’re not right for fashion at all” and I was like I know this game, and chimed back “Yes I am!”. So that was funny. Then for your final presentation, you get a booth for your project and they put my booth all the way in the back corner because they didn’t want people to see it.
I got into what was called fashion communication, I did design but I liked the after-process with clothes, I like the clothes already made, and I like to photograph and do things with them. That was the same sort of thing with my portfolio, I said “fuck it” and did what I wanted. I not only included my work and the fashion that I learned in foundation; I put in all the different types of work. I even included press about myself which I had at the time, which is funny. I think I was just trying to show the internet-type things that people didn’t really pick up on. I would sit down at an interview and they would say “I don't think blogs or fashion bloggers are valid or important because they don’t have a backing in fashion”, and things like that. I argued against it and I was like “Uh no!” They aren't paid by any advertisers to bow down to, or any magazines to be skewed from. So, to me, it's a much free representation of fashion. I like it because of that and believe they are more valid. Bloggers are free from the restraints that the fashion industry has. At the time it was not a normal answer, but now it sounds completely normal. I think they liked that I could challenge it. Another thing, I made a cap and they asked what magazine it would go in, who would photograph it, and who would style it and I could answer all of it and had reasons. I knew what I was talking about and it showed.
Then once I was in, the same thing occurred again, I failed every term. It was all subjective but you got a pass or fail in the end on your different projects; like doing a photo shoot, an interview, or a mock advertisement. For one project we had to make sunglasses. I was never generic about it; I always overthought things. I would think way out of the box about it sometimes, but they didn’t like that so I failed.
In the third year, I felt like I was going to make something that they liked on purpose, so I tried to make it look like ‘The Gentlewoman’ and I got the highest grade and passed the third year, which is ironic because I didn’t really do what I wanted. I didn't go back for the final year because I got work from Carine Roitfield in New York.
RL: That was my next question, how did you become Carine Roitfeld’s assistant?
DC: Someone referred me basically; I came to New York and my friend was assisting someone else and said they were looking for people. I just went and met with them and started working with them. It was a little bit messy because it was around the time she was starting CR Fashion Book in 2012.
RL: When did you first start realizing you could start a collection and then build an archive?
DC: So as I said, I have been collecting since I was 13; and collecting means buying a bunch of stuff because I wanted to wear it. I would buy things because I wanted to own them, which seemed really weird to other stylists at the time. I was always thinking I will work in fashion so I’m sure it’ll make sense somehow to buy things wanting to own them. I kept acquiring more and more, then I began working for Carine Roitfeld and I’d say it started there. At shoots I was on, friends that were assistants or stylists would say “I need a really great black bomber for the shoot tomorrow, do you have one I can borrow?” and I’d say yes and I’d bring it. It started through people I was friends with, and stuff I would work with.
RL: At what point did you realize you had the potential to turn the collection into a business? You have some really important pieces, how did you start a business, and have people work for you?
DC: I’d say 2015 was the big transition where I started to make a lot more money from it, before that I would loan for free, and ask if they would credit me for the magazine; which they wouldn’t most of the time. It was really hard to get credited, it seemed like a joke to them. Then, I became more known in fashion and started working with Kanye and that's when more celebrities came.
RL: What has the best year been for you and your business?
DC: It’s really hard cause it all blends together, it's like the most public stuff can happen one year, since we are putting it that way but then maybe not as much money-wise. I would say it has definitely gotten better every year.
RL: Who is someone you would enjoy styling?
DC: I mean, I’ve talked to Raf a bunch...
RL: Is he a fan of yours, since you’ve done a lot for his career? It might be a little bold of a statement but there are articles written monthly about these pieces and how important they are.
DC: I mean maybe we get it, but you have to work in the fashion world to see what it's like. I sort of pivot between worlds, where I’m in this world where you are aware and you say things like that and you know this; but when I work in the actual fashion world, it's a whole different story
It's a lot of me communicating with someone like you, who's from this demographic that sees it, but lots of people in fashion don’t get that at all. It's really hard to communicate that; that's why it's good you're now doing interviews so you can say it.
RL: Any stories about a piece you haven’t been able to obtain?
DC: Yes and no, maybe like the Helmut bubble wrap coat and maybe another Helmut nipple tank. My philosophy from the beginning was I don’t mind overpaying because I knew in the end it would average out.
RL: Do you think you could ever do costume design for a movie? Or a TV show?
DC: I’ve loaned to TV shows and loaned a bunch of pieces to shoots before, I haven’t done any movies but that would be cool. A lot of movies inform me of the aesthetic I want to buy. I like to get into my own world visually and I’ll buy for that world. Also, I’ll get out my phone while I’m watching a film and screenshot it at all the parts I like to get a bunch of visuals. When I'm researching for someone or for myself, I’ll create a mood from it.
RL: What are some of your favorite fashion collections?
DC: That is hard for me to answer because I don’t think like that. I pick and choose, I’m kinda bad at appreciating someone's entire collection. I like to pick from that and reappropriate it and make it something else if that makes sense. Obviously love all the early Raf, but that's a given. Maybe I’ll say Raf Spring 2000 because it was creepy, weird, and futuristic. I have the DVD of that one. I watched the actual show instead of seeing the photos.
RL: Do you plan to sell, or give to museums, or archivists?
DC: Not anything right now, because I have a very specific vision for the way I see it. I didn’t buy it to just be historical and have Helmut pieces to refer from, I bought it to create a whole piece as one. For me, it's about it all being together, as one.
RL: Do you have any competition?
DC: No, I don’t think so. I get hired for being me. Like I have a bunch of Raf, so yeah if someone needs a Raf thing, I have it, but that's not where most of this has come from, for me. It's been about me, I haven’t separated myself from it. There's not another me. I don’t buy, like I said, just to have all the Raf pieces, I buy for what I see, and what I like, and my kind of vision, and no one sees that but me.