JP SINGSON
As this year comes to a close, Fashion Forward Men has done nothing but get better. I have had the opportunity of meeting some of the most creative and fashionable men across the U.S. But before we venture off into 2011, I wanted to introduce you to JP Singson, one of my leading men from abroad in the Snapped & Caught series.
Residing in Manila (Philippines), Singson is one of the few men in his country who has decided to go against the conservative grained attire the overall city is known as having, and has chosen to express himself in an uber chic edgy way. What I love about JP is that he not only lets his clothing speak for him, but he also verbalizes responses to my questions very well.
One thing that I learned from my new buddy, is that he is also a blogger. His blog
JP on Speed was created about 2 1/2 years ago, and was primarily devoted to the Fashion and Art scene of his previous residing city San Francisco. Naturally things had to be switched up a bit because of his moving.
Looking through the many albums on his facebook page, I also learned that this Fashion Forward-It guy is well traveled, which in my opinion adds a bit more credibility to his writing about style.
Like almost all of my other interviews, you can practically hear the passion jump off the pages when it comes to these guys speaking about things they love. But when I asked JP how he describes his own personal style, he took a more "politically correct" approach.
"I value personal style alot. I think whatever you are wearing it is very important to add your personal touch to it. That way it looks more authentic and believable rather than just blatantly copying something. I think personal style is something you acquire through the years of experimenting with various looks. Believe me it doesn't happen overnight. It took me years to fully fathom what I like. And once you know it everything will just fall into place. Just remember that you should dress for yourself and not for anybody else."
As I continued to look through JP's pictures, I found myself feeling a tad bit better about the amount of clothes that I own, for he too clearly has a "healthy" closet. Hoping that I wouldn't give him a headache, I asked him to name 3 pieces from his wardrobe that he wouldn't dream of parting from. "Loose tank tops, April 77 jeans and a button-up denim shirt," was his response. To my surprise, they all seemed like very standard pieces. Standard doesn't necessarily mean inexpensive though. For all I know, the tanks can be made by Rick Owens, and the denim shirt could be from a D Squared collection. But no matter what the value is, I found the pieces to be very sensible.
When our latest Fashion Forward It-Guy isn't walking around town snapping pics, or keeping his readers informed, he likes to flip through his favorite magazines Encens and Lurve while listening to favorite bands like Radiohead, Kings of Leon, The Beatles, The Smiths, Coldplay, Imogen Heap, Jeff Buckley, and Everything But The Girl. He also loves keeping track of a number of designers he currently love: Songzio, Yohji Yamamoto, Tatsuro Horikawa for Julius, Kazuyuki Kumagai for Attachment, Mihara Yasuhiro, Ann Demeulemeester, Raf Simons and Martin Margiela, to name a few...
In the next five years, JP hopes to have his unisex clothing line launched, as well as owning his very own indie boutique showcasing local and international designers. As always,, FFM will keep you posted on any updates.
