The Fashion of Artists

TARA MCPHERSON: Fashion and clothing is fun.

WK INTERACT: Not only is it a part of my work, but it's a part of me.

YUNA: I think it has a lot to do with personal expression.

MARK NARDELLI: It's like this canvas that just explains who we are.

[music playing] WK INTERACT: When I create something, what is important for me, it's actually the location.

The location gives me some type of subject.

It's not really like a mural.

It's just a pure installation.

New York City is a very black-and-white city.

And I think my work gives that type of sense.

For me, wearing black was the easiest way to not be seen.

It was more like gear, you know, some kind of tool.

The black was a representation of who I am, some type of practical way to express myself.

The fear, the escape the running-- you really need to take your life in your hands.

You have to take risks.

I came to New York because I felt the city would bring me my own dream, connected with the city, on the street.

[playing guitar] YUNA: I was born and raised in Malaysia, in the Malay Muslim community.

I like to express myself through fashion and through music.

In Malaysia, people believe that if you're an artist, you have to be sexy.

And when I came out, its just like, oh, so this girl, she wears the hijab and she plays music.

I love Alexander Wang, Alexander McQueen.

There's a lot of Muslim girls who wear the hijab, but they're very fashionable.

And I'm just trying to cater to that.

It's also a personal preference.

Stay true to yourself.

But at the same time, you don't have to be boring.

If there's a reason for girls to look up to me, it would be that, you know, just be yourself and be comfortable in your own skin.

And, you know, don't let go of what you truly believe in.

[music playing] MARK NARDELLI: I think the most important thing in skateboarding, at the end of the day, is style.

How you present yourself on your skateboard is part of your style.

[music playing] 5boro pretty much concentrates on keeping it super basic-- T-shirts, hats, hoodies.

Straight up, just what you need.

T-shirt's just a staple.

Everyone's got a T-shirt, need a T-shirt.

And I think it's, like, the wearable version of your deck.

MAX VOGEL: The best part of designing for 5boro is that we've created this brand together.

If you see the 5boro crew and then you see the graphic, it totally makes sense.

At least to me.

Or at least that's what I try to do.

MARK NARDELLI: The New York influence at 5boro, I believe, is all the designers living in New York that contribute their interpretation of that.

Or even if it's a designer outside of New York, it's their interpretation of New York icons through an aesthetic that we all agree on.

It's just another way of expressing who you are.

It's how you dress.

So I think it's just kind of a natural thing that fashion and skateboarding are a lot more associated with each other, in a way.

TARA MCPHERSON: I want to create artwork that you would want to surround yourself with.

My art goes through so many different fields.

I do a lot of oil paintings, but then I do a lot of rock posters and toy design, and all kinds of different things.

It's jumping around that keeps it interesting and fresh for me.

I'm definitely interested in fashion, clothing and makeup and hairstyles.

That's interesting, actually.

When I was in junior high school, my friends would make fun of me because we'd go into the bathroom, and I'd start doing my lipstick.

And they'd, you know, use the restroom, wash their hands, do their hair, and I was still putting on my lipstick.

I was always interested in that precision of applying makeups.

That can really translate to how I paint.

Portraiture wants to capture that perfect look, that perfect moment.

In a way, I'm trying to give my characters that idealized look.

I want to make a beautiful piece of art.

[music playing] CASEY SPOONER: Fischerspooner was really not supposed to last more than a year and a half.

We did this one-off performance, and the rest was history.

We were always sort of doing these very big, ambitious projects with really limited resources.

And the way that we were able to work with kind of a lot of the best people is I would give them total creative freedom.

So I would go to people and I'd say, look, we don't have a budget to pay you.

All I can do is I can give you credit, and I can let you go crazy.

There would be kind of a style guide.

I would pull reference images.

And the most important thing is I would set a color palette, with like yellow-gold into gray, out of gray.

Now I'm into blue.

For me, like a successful performance, in a way, is when I disappear.

I think it's the closest thing I've ever felt to religion.

Physically, mentally absorbed into an idea.

TARA MCPHERSON: Contemporary fashion and style is very special to me.

WK INTERACT: It's a reflection for who they are.

MARK NARDELLI: It's like a personal achievement, our way of saying, this is who I am.

YUNA: And just be yourself.

As long as you're comfortable and you're confident with what you're wearing, things will be OK. [music playing] [music playing]