Ruggedly handsome... Uberly talented... and somewhat Mysterious, Designer Troy Smith has evolved in his passion, and delivered it to the masses.
Raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, Troy started off early having a taste for fashion. He began by designing prom dresses for his fellow classmates. Later on, by fluke, he began designing accessories, primarily made of thin yet very durable pieces of leather. So durable that I am proud to say that the many pieces I purchased from his collections over ten years ago, are still intact, in very good condition, and are still getting mass amounts of attention.
Although I was fairly new to the Fashion Industry at the time, I knew that Mr. Smith had the makings of a great career. He began selling to high end as well as edgy stores such as Barney's, Patricia Field, Antique Boutique, and Maxfield. With so many ambitious rising talents in New York, It was very smart of Troy to design accessories instead of clothing at the time. It was just what the industry needed. After all, every outfit needs an amazing accessory to make the look complete.
This fresh new talent was taking off...Troy's creations began appearing in magazines such as Vogue, Bazaar, and Interview, and could be seen in videos being worn by mega talents such as Whitney Houston and Alicia Keys.
One thing that I have come to learn about Troy is that he is a sensible man. Sure he was gaining notoriety in magazines and selling to boutiques, but doing this wasn't necessarily generating enough revenue for him to live off of. Selling to a small boutiques can be a good thing, but waiting for them to sell your merchandise, only to pray they place a reorder can sometimes be stressful. Although he enjoys the accessory business, Smith was needing something else. Five years ago, Urban Outfitters approached him requesting that he revamp their mens D Collection. This particular collection is one of the stores fashion brands and focuses on more structured lines with an Edwardian flare. Accepting this task was practically a no brainer being the company basically instructed Smith to make it his own.
Drawing inspiration from military and vintage designs, Troy's D Collection has been doing very well for the U.O. chain. Smith gets great satisfaction from walking around town seeing people in his creations. So much so that he has begun waking around with a camera in efforts to spotting, recording, and sometimes asking the people wearing his gear what they like about the clothing so much.
When not working on his line, Troy enjoys traveling a great deal. He travels to Paris twice a year, and although it is an amazing and posh place to vacation, often times he has to devide his time accordingly due to the International Fabric Fairs held there. Smith also has admitted to enjoying Mexico. "There are great vintage stores there," he adds.
Aside from his sensibility, Troy has an honesty about him. When asked what were some of the trends that he dislikes seeing men wearing today, he quickly answered, "Men in women's pumps. I am an 80's child and have always loved
Prince, even
Rick Owens, but not all men can pull this look off. I see guys teetering on the streets in Manhattan, and I just go..really? That's a lot of work!"
When asked where he sees himself in the next five years, Troy simply answers,"
I would like to keep this going with Urban Outfitters. I think we have a great collaboration going, and I think they are the best retailer in the world for getting the merchandise mix right, evolving with the trends, and staying true to their dna; vintage inspired interpretations of current trends for the most conscious customers."
If you are ever in New York, you are bound to see a few of his illustrations around town as well. If not, feel free to check out his site:
www.troysmithfor-d.com or check out
fantasticsmag.com
