One Hooman's Style
When Antonio Ciongoli announced he was leaving Eidos this summer, I was saddened. The grand pairing of an emergent designer with a promising, well-financed label (Eidos is owned by Isaiah) had come to an end. At least Ciongoli went out with a bang: His final collection, New York Blues, dropped earlier this month, and paid homage to the subversive yet refined styles of departed downtown luminaries like Jean Michel Basquiat and Glenn O’Brien. Not only do the pieces look beautiful and feel exquisite, but some were modeled in Eidos’ lookbook by the inimitable Hooman Majd.
Majd is a living style icon who rarely gets his due because he flies under the radar in the fashion world. His late friend O’Brien once quipped that Majd was the most stylish man he knew. As a political journalist, he doesn’t inhabit the same high-fashion circles that most of his stylistic peers do, but his remove makes him all the more noteworthy.
Perhaps it’s because Majd was so close to O’Brien that the New York Blues collection looked impeccable on him, but he also possesses a natural grace and elegance absent from many circles of modern men’s fashion. The chunky sweaters and heavyweight tailoring Ciongoli designed for the collection resemble garments that Majd wears every day — and has been wearing every day for the past 30 years. Looking at photos of Majd from years past, it’s remarkable how consistent his style has stayed.
Relaxed is Majd's forte, and he favors a silhouette on the looser side of tailored yet that still flatters his figure. He knows how to wear double-pleated pants — high rise, cuffed hems — without veering into dad territory. He dons them much like Cary Grant and Fred Astaire (two men Majd has called icons of his) would have, knowing exactly how they should rise and where they should fall. If they stay on runways for the next few seasons, we have Majd to thank.
Majd is also willing to wear his clothes for years, and doesn’t treat his nicest garments too preciously. He readily admits in interviews that he can no longer afford Savile Row suits since he became a journalist after a lucrative career in the music industry. The suits Majd bought in his high-flying days (many from the great house Anderson & Sheppard), however, have aged with remarkable grace and look as fresh as they did years ago thanks to classic lapels and his choice silhouette. It’s the rest of his outfit that Majd plays with, and his suits and tailoring serve as the anchor to his bright-colored sweaters, patterned scarves and Giveh slippers (a traditional Iranian slip-on shoe almost impossible to find in the U.S. due to import regulations).
Majd's $100 outfit.
Majd does low style as well as he does high style. He wrote a blog, House of Majd, that no longer exists, but I remember one of its posts was about a $100 outfit Majd wore to a Fashion Week event. Because of his keen eye for pairing color, pattern and texture, he built an outfit around a cream Uniqlo blazer (bought on sale) and gray Levi’s 501 jeans that looked 15 times more expensive than its price tag. This look is one of the reasons I got hooked on 501s, and is proof that you don’t need to spend lots of money to have outstanding style.
Majd's style works because of how he wears it. Sure, he chooses his clothes with care, but he rebels by wearing conservative garments in radical colors and fits. His willingness to live in his clothes — no matter how inexpensive or luxurious — is a rare and refreshing act of defiance in our age of fast-fashion.