“If Your Public Style Has Nothing to Do With Your Private Self, You Might Be Living a Lie”

NIGHTLIFE REPORT · THE HOT SEAT

Director and producer Jason Schulz took The Hot Seat and made one case: style isn’t bought, it’s owned.

Most people get dressed for the room. Jason Schulz thinks that’s the problem.

RelatedKevin Hines to Receive AFA Impact Award, Presented by Zak Williams

Most overrated

“buying a look without making it your own. You can purchase clothes, but the impact comes from owning your style.”

Unpopular opinion

“personal taste matters more than trends. Style is personal branding: what feels authentic on one person can look like a costume on another.”

The rule he’d break

“any rule that doesn't suit me. I'd wear what feels like me—who makes these rules anyway? They evolve right along with fashion.”

What LA gets wrong

“treating style as a costume you put on to go out. If your public style has nothing to do with your private self, you might be living a lie.”

Confession

“I’m more drawn to someone who knows who they are and dresses for their own build, coloring, taste, etc. than to a look that simply follows the trend.”

In five years

“the same mix of avant-garde, sophisticated, and inappropriate. I don't think human taste will change that much.”

If he ran Fashion Week

“the pacing. As a director and producer, that's definitely where I'd start.”

His verdict runs against everything LA sells you on a Friday night: the outfit isn’t the point. You are.

Answers as submitted, unedited. Published with permission.