all about rolling your pant legs up

Jake Davis got an early start on being cooler than you. Born and raised in Woodstock, New York the bucolic setting that set the tone for his well known style and aesthetic. Add a fashion buyer father, NYU’s film school, a stint with Nike, a screening at the Tribeca Film Festival, and countless music video shoots and you have a bonafide talent on your hands. All before he was even close to thirty years old.

I got the chance to meet up with Jake in late summer of last year. I didn’t really know what to expect, but after a few texts back and forth, I found myself knocking on Jake Davis’ door. His place is as you’d think it. Clean, minimal, and in the middle of July, refreshingly cool. After a quick tour, which included a very organized, very enviable closet; we headed off to grab something to drink at Think. One iced coffee later, we were sitting on a bench in Washington Square Park talking about movies.

I had asked him to name the first film where he really began to recognize and appreciate a writer’s or director’s hand. The film that made him think: “I want to do that”. He replied “It sounds kind of corny but…True Romance.” To be honest, I was a little surprised. I was more than moderately expecting a Truffaut, or Bunuel, at least a Herzog. So much for stereotyping film school graduates. But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. The m-65 Clarence wears, Scott’s use of the Badlands score, the way Tarantino samples genres and past films. For Jake,

It was…relatable, it was this fantasy. The story of this guy falling in love and going on a kind of Bonnie & Clyde epic journey. It’s the uber-fantasy for anybody that’s not shy, but kind of…an introverted person.

I asked him about the recurring themes in his own films.

As far as my style and emotionally where I’m at, I relate to the lonely guy. Maybe misunderstood, in his own head too much, maybe an over thinker; and the kind of situations he could get himself into.

I wondered aloud whether the popularity of the blog ever clashed with the reserved, soft spoken filmmaker. He has been recognized on the street as ‘Jake Davis, from the blog’. As a filmmaker it’s the work that is recognized. With sites like his, the work is simply an extension of personal sensibilities. It’s clear that he’d rather be known as a filmmaker, and not for his opinions on style. In fact, he’s rather nonplussed at the popularity and attention his blog garners. He takes a sip of his coffee and folds his Persols into his shirt pocket-

The blog, it’s good and bad. Anything that gets popular gets scrutinized. I’ve had people say ‘no disrespect, but don’t write about this…’ solely because it’s popular and I’m not used to that. There’s a lot of humor and irony in what I’m posting and writing. I’m not that serious, I’m joking half the time. We’re talking about rather inconsequential things like fabrics, or sunglasses, or facial hair…

The blog started out simply as a platform for friends, family, and colleagues to see what Davis was doing professionally as well as provide a little creative outlet.

As an artist, sometimes you don’t get to truly express what you’re into through your art, especially in a service industry such as music videos.

While sure in his aesthetics and point of view, the future of blogs and the impact of the internet on popular culture remain a bit more nebulous.

Blogs…they’ve become these things…these growing things…I even hate that word, I hate the connotation. But at the same time it’s really fascinating. If Quentin Tarantino had a blog I’d read it everyday. If Karl Lagerfeld had a blog I’d read it. I think the blog is something you can show everyday-I don’t make a video everyday. The blog has been an opportunity to say: ‘this is what I think is dope, if you’re down, cool, if not, cool.’

At this point, Davis’ site is well known and he is well known in the men’s style world. He gets all the press releases, all the lookbooks. The realization of the popularity of sites like his by industry has resulted in an emerging new career path for all types of creative individuals. The conundrum is keeping the site personal and true to its original aims.

What makes blogs like ACL, h(y)r[now Inventory Magazine], and Secret Forts so popular is how personal they are. It’s so, so personal that if it turned into a business, it’d be pretty fucking obvious.

The internet is an amazing resource for inspiration and creation. But it has its double edge. Information spreads at an alarming rate. What was once the product of a life’s work is now a google search. I wondered whether he ever thought twice about posting something or if he saw his site as a part of the rapid cycle that is fashion. I wanted to know what he thought about Take Ivy and its digitization. He used music production as his example:

You have those guys that dig in the crates. They find a record and sample it. Then another producer hears it and samples a different part of the same record. This continues until every piece of that record is sampled, the baseline, the drums, the horns. The innovator isn’t going to find the 18^th sample in that record. They’re going to find a new record that you don’t know shit about. They were going to move on to the next album anyway.You can’t get angry because someone found your inspiration out. As a filmmaker I’m stealing constantly from all kinds of things. Quentin made a career of it. And it’s fucking dope. And it’s dope finding those movies and learning about the influences.

When asked whether he sees himself as a ‘tastemaker’, Davis is clearly uncomfortable. Rather, he’s a director who just happens to be a clothes horse. As he begins to answer, he shifts in his seat.

I’m not a clothing designer- I’m not contributing in that way. I just say what I like. I think because I’ve been here for a minute, I get that respect. I’m not claiming anything.

I ask about his thoughts on the reemergence of classic American workwear and whether or not this had a hand in his newfound label.

I’ve been wearing chambray since I was a little boy. If the trend didn’t go in my direction…just ‘cause people are into chambray right now people think I know the deal. Yeah, I know the deal, but I also know that shit aligned.

Which made me think about Malcolm Gladwell’s Tipping Point. I ask Davis how much luck has played in his life.

I believe in luck. Those situations that take you a few years to realize ‘holy shit, that shouldn’t have happened’. Working for Nike at 19 yrs old, showing at Tribeca, I thought that was just the way it works. No, not at all… I’ve been really lucky.