Chris is a guy who motivates me and inspires me because of his energy and will to work. He’s built an impressive resume at a young age. From working with Hassan Rahim on styling MorMor’s EP cover to modeling in Converse campaigns to styling 10 Deep lookbooks. I’m happy to be able to call him a friend. A conversation with Christopher Smith.
DG
CS
You’re from Long Island?
I’m from Long Island - Valley Stream. I lived there my whole entire life until I was about 18/19. Then my mom and the rest of my brothers moved to Pennsylvania and we lived there for about 2 or 3 years and I went to school for journalism. Even before that I went to Queensborough CC for 1 year when I was living in Long Island. I was doing music production at QBCC because I was making beats at the time and I was just like “Yo I don't need to go to school for this” so next semester I switched over to english and figured I‘d be an english teacher and follow my mom’s footsteps. She worked her way up from being a school aid, to being a teacher, to being an assistant principal then principal.
That’s huge.
Yeah she’s sick.
So I went to school for journalism because I was thinking maybe I can do fashion writing, because I‘m into clothes and fashion but I was just like “I don’t really like writing, I'm not trying to do this”. Then I applied to FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology) and that was literally the only school I applied to - I applied for Advertising and Marketing Communications. So then my good friend who graduated from FIT, knew I was into clothes and liked my style and he’s a photographer and he was like “yo I want you to come do this shoot for hypebeast” it was the women’s hypebae channel. So we did this shoot together and had the fittings with this model literally in the dorms at FIT and we used clothes from his closet, we used clothes from my closet and just homies at FIT… using their clothes. That was pretty cool. So that was the first thing I‘ve ever styled.
Was that before you modeled for Noah?
It was. I started styling before I did modeling, but honestly everything was like 2 months apart. I‘ve been doing both for about 3 years now.
With Noah they just scouted me when I was in the store, and it was crazy because I was living in stuy-town with my grandma and I was broke, I dropped my phone in the toilet like the night before and I had no cash on me so I couldn’t even take the train and I had to walk everywhere. Even then I still kinda dressed nice. At the time I was rocking this souvenir jacket and Wil was like “Yo where’d you get your souvenir jacket? It’s really sick” so we started talking and he asked me where I'm from and you know he’s from Long Island too. Then a girl comes up and we all start talking for a while and then Brendan comes up and I'm kinda gassed because this is the first time I ever met someone who owns a brand.
Did you know who he was before that point?
Yeah just reading articles on Hypebeast and Highsnobiety. I knew about him when they were making articles on him like “Oh this guy left Supreme and is starting Noah.” Before that I didn’t know who he was.
Well yeah - he’s not super out there.
Yeah most of my knowledge on a lot of streetwear culture back then was through Hypebeast and Highsnobiety.
So he comes up, introduces himself and welcomes me to come whenever I want. Before I left they asked me to leave my name and number. I eventually got an email saying “Hey can you come in for a shoot?” I think I went back home to Pennsylvania and my mom drove me all the way back to the Noah store for the shoot. That was so sick of her.
So we did the shoot and the photographer was really cool, Benedict Brink. After that shoot I got paid and spent all of that money to take my mom out to dinner. Benedict helped me really start modeling, she introduced me to a lot of people. At the time I was just a regular kid, I wasn’t up to much. So I thought I'm gonna run with this and see where it goes. I was hustling too, I wasn’t waiting for people to reach out to me I was reaching out to photographers, stylists, producers and even going to stores literally asking like, “hey you guys looking for models?” Obviously I was getting dubbed a lot. People ask me for advice on how to get into modeling and I just tell them how I went about things. It’s been a year since I signed to Wilhelmina and when I met with one of the scouts, he told me I have a better chance getting signed because I have more clients. Literally there was a 2 - 2.5 year period I spent freelancing and building up my clients.
So when I did get signed I was just chilling at FIT and then I got a DM from one of the guys at Wilhelmina asking if I was signed and if I‘d like to meet with him. So then my friend Kim texted me about five minutes later you're like, "Hey, I sent your photo to one of my friends at Wilhelmina I hope that's cool with you”. So I go to this meeting and I didn't really know what to expect and everything was so glamorous and nice. Especially like there were like a whole bunch of models sitting out in the office out front. It's about 20 minutes into the interview and this guy comes back in the room. He was like, what if we said we wanted to sign you? Like I was jokingly saying, "Yo I'll sign right now. And he was like, good, because we want to sign you. I was just like gassed.
Was this something where after modeling for Noah, you were like, okay, next step, I want to get signed?
It was leading to that because I want to see where this goes. And I knew I could do this. I was feeling it and I just wanted more for myself. Because I wanted bigger jobs. I wanted to do more, you know, I'm into it. So of course. So then after that day, you know, obviously I didn't sign it.
Right.
They told me they were going to send me over the contracts. And then after that, literally as soon as I get out the agency, I called my mom. And told her "Mom this agency want to sign me this and that." - She's like, "oh my God, congrats!! What agency? I said, Willhelmina and she's like, “oh my God, are you serious? Wilhelmina??” And then when I was telling her that I just started crying. She said "oh my God, I'm so proud of you." And I just started crying like crazy. It was just like, yo, this shit finally happened. It also meant so much that she knew Wilhelmina, she knew that agency. It was like “shit, even she knows” like this is so sick. At this time I was outside of Dover and one of my homies who was working was like, “Yo Bro, you good? You okay?” I'm like, "Yo, I just signed to Willhelmina!!!" So it was just super sick. Whenever I tell this story I just get so emotional. I'm just so thankful just to be here right now. Just like my life has definitely changed from, you know, working at Dunkin donuts to now. It’s crazy when I see my pictures on these websites.
Converse too!
Yeah, it's crazy. That actually happened from my friend who I did the styling with, Alan. He shot me for Converse and they’ve been using me for a while. Like I did ecom and I've done more campaigns for them, they flew me to Boston and Chicago. So it's really sick cause I always told them I wanted to do casting. Obviously you meet other models so you always see other faces and you're just like, you could be doing this, you could be on that. So I told them a couple times I want to do casting with them. So even on the tip of just like, they wouldn't even ask me for anything and I'd still send them some faces just so they know I wanted to do this.
That’s a good relationship to have.
Yeah. So one day I was just in my dorm at FIT early in the morning, probably like eight, nine. And then my homie, one of the producers there, he's like, "hey, you wanted to do casting for us? I was like, yo, yeah I do. And then he told me “you gotta send over 40 faces by the end of the day.” I'm like, alright word I'm on it. So I sent over like damn near like 50. I put it on my story. Mad people replied to me. And I was even going through agencies, it's cool when bigger clients and companies want you to do casting for them because obviously they have a rate to go through agencies as opposed to smaller companies and brands where they don't have that leverage - they want people who aren't signed. So I've been doing casting here and there for about a year now. It's something I would like to get more into and do more of. So it's pretty cool.
So you're involved in all facets of a shoot. Casting, styling, modeling, you've kind of done all three. I'm guessing production is the next?
I don't know. Because, I mean, even when I go back to school, that's something - production management that I'm most likely going to do, but I would honestly like to get into furniture. Like furniture design or interior decoration, just to see how that is. When I go out to eat or go into stores like Aimé Leon Dore or Stüssy or Bape or Noah and just taking out the interior decoration and just appreciating how all of these stores have a theme. I really do appreciate how brands have identities and good identities at that, and just how they're known for a certain theme or a certain look. Even Totokaelo at the time... I was modeling their ecom and I wanted to do that for such a long time. I really like their image because of how clean it is. One of my favorite brands that I've been focusing on right now is Dime because it's clean, but it's also like a bit whimsical and funny. By looking at their skate competitions, but also like if you check the logo, it's just really clean and nice.
Yeah. The interior ties the whole story together. Interiors are so powerful with how they can get a message across in addition to retail or food, whatever it may be.
It's so cool. So in the future I'd definitely like to help companies or brands and even restaurants, get a direction of their image and theme on what they want to do. Who they want to target as a consumer, this and that. It's really cool.
What has your interest more at the moment, modeling or styling, which are you gravitating more these days?
That’s a good question. It's definitely on and off because like I said, I know I want more for myself as a model and I still do. And I think about it every day in terms of, okay, I want to walk more shows, I want to do more campaigns, and work more as a model. But also, styling is something that I do appreciate and you know, it's really cool that I do, do it because I look at some of my work and I think on ways I could just make it better. So, I think styling. Also, let me tell you, I did this job where my friend hit me up to style this artist's EP cover and I had to figure out how to get the clothes. And you know, that's the big thing about being a stylist is, you know, it's all about relationships with who you know from stores, PR people, showroom contacts this and that. So I hit up the homies who I know at these stores so I could get clothes, I did a bit of shopping returning and they were open arms. Like "of course you can" and that was so sick and the day of the shoot it went smoothly. And I was just thinking about wow, if I did this about three years ago, I wouldn't think I could do this because I wouldn't be experienced enough. So just knowing how to talk to people and asking to pull clothes, and I really like to see every time I see new styling of work of mine, I just like to see myself grow. I like to see the progression of my work and then I also notice little things that I do on jobs... okay, I could've done this better, I could've done this better, and it's something that I like to focus on because it's definitely more of a rewarding feeling as opposed to just me standing there as a model. Obviously it's cool, like it's a flex, but it's just something that's nice.
Yeah that's cool. I was thinking about when I was talking to my girlfriend Sydnei and how she's about to graduate from NYU. She wants to be a forensic psychologist and now she's going back and forth between being a lawyer and then being a judge because she sees so many problems within our justice system and things like that. And I'm pushing her to go approach different people and talk to her professors, peers, whoever it is, and get advice. And this ties back into what you're saying, how you had to hit up your boys and try to pull. When I was telling her this, I was like, "Hey if this was like a year ago, I wouldn't have said any of this because I haven't had this experience either.” Like when I was trying to go to Blue in Green to apply for the job, she was walking with me and I couldn't go inside. I went over what I was going to say with her for like 15 minutes and I almost didn't go in because I was so nervous and anxious, but I got the job. I worked there for a year and had that experience of putting myself out there and talking to people. And it's just like after you do it and get over that hurdle you realize how much you're capable of and the doors you can open. I've met so many people and after you build those relationships you're like, yeah, of course. Of course I'm going to be doing this, or, of course I'm going to have this progression. But until you do that and take a leap, you won't be able to look back. So it's nice to look back and see personal progression.
Dude, it's so great to look back and honestly reflect on just like the person you're becoming or just knowing you're maturing and becoming more responsible.
And this is early on.
Yeah, it's so early on and just like, I'm excited to see what my friends and I are going to keep doing and what we're going to get into because there are still so many things I've been wanting to get into like surfing. I want to go back to playing tennis and get better at it. I was literally looking at surfing lessons yesterday. But it's just cool. Just how you could see from, let's just say six months ago or a month ago, your progression, anything that you do. So it's just very refreshing. Especially when you put time and energy into something and seeing it pay off. It's so cool.
So you did some styling for 10 Deep right?
Yeah I did their look book. I was talking to Scott today. That's like the big homie. Scott is the man. That came about because my friend Greg hit me up. First it actually came about where he hit me up to model. So I modeled, I forgot which collection it was, but first I modeled their lookbook. I did it with my friend Hunter. We signed to Wilhelmina a week apart or something, it was crazy. Then after that I told Scott that I also do styling and would like to do that, and then Greg was helping me out and he put in a good word for me. So that week I was at their office, I actually helped out with the casting too.Then I was up at their office about every single day, you know, putting looks together and getting everything approved by Scott. And then there was a shoot day and that was like one of my biggest shoots I've done. It was the look book and it was very exciting. Very cool. Just to see like wow, this is how it is. It was such a big set and that was pretty cool.
That's super cool to go from looking at line sheets and then getting it all on body and seeing your work come to life.
Especially for the fact that I grew up wearing 10 deep. It was like 2011, 2012 and it was pricey for me back then. It was selling at zumiez, CCS, karmaloop. It's so crazy how you could look back and see your style changing. Even last year I was dressing like crazy. I was dressing way more flamboyant. I was wearing all these supreme patterns and graphics, different colored jackets and pants and everything. But now definitely calmed down.
Do you dress more based on how you feel or do you give yourself a uniform?
It's about 50-50. I wear these hope trousers literally every day. They're just so nice because I've always wanted a pair of baggy trousers. I don't really go out of my way to be on grailed to look at past collections of Comme or Junya pieces anymore. Cause I just like nice essential things where I just need a good white t shirt, a good black tee shirt, a good pair of jeans. When there are certain nice days like you know, you gotta pull of a fit, but a big thing about how I like going outside, is just being comfortable. Truly. Like if the sneakers are uncomfortable, you can't be out for too long. But I like to be comfortable and I also do like to keep things smooth. So my style right now is basically, just a smooth young man. I feel like I'm dressing how I should be where it's just chill.
On Style.
I like to see other people’s style, and I like to appreciate good style no matter what it is. Style is literally anything in terms of how you do things. How you cook, how you flip a pancake. So it’s just nice to think about how everyone does things differently.
On being inspired
I check out this magazine called Arena Homme, that's a magazine that I really like. I believe Tom Guinness is one of the editors there, he's a stylist that I've been into for years… he's done a lot of Stüssy stuff. Like he's the one who usually styles the Stüssy lookbooks. He's done a lot of work with Tyrone Lebon as well. He shot the "I____ in #mycalvins" ad. He’s one of my favorite photographers. He inspires me, or just being outside - let's say if I Uber somewhere and I'm just passing through a neighborhood and now I'm seeing how people are dressed and I'm like, okay that's sick. That's really cool. Like I'll take pictures of certain things that I see on the street or how people are dressed and like, okay, this is cool. I could do something like this.
On getting advice from Marcus Paul
Last time I saw him we were at ground support cafe and we were just chilling. And then that's when he was telling me about time management and just like, you know, this is the time now where you should be exploring and doing more things. I think about that a lot. So that's why I'm getting into doing more things. It's tough. It can be tough sometimes ... like let me say this, let's just say you're going through it, right? You're going through some problems and then you ask multiple people about it. You know how everybody has different values or different beliefs and it's like too many cooks in the kitchen in your head. And they'll say one thing, somebody else says one thing, somebody else says another thing and it's like, oh fuck what should I do? But with Marcus, that's somebody who influences me and he's super sick and I really like him a lot. So I definitely listen to a lot of what he says and respect it.
Using Marcus Paul as a comparison, would you want to continue doing styling for campaigns and editorials or get more into a personal kind of thing like he does with Push?
I think it would have to vary depending on the artist. I like editorial because of how creative you can be, but it's also a thing of there aren't really a lot of magazines I'm checking out right now and I feel like if I was doing personal shopping with the artists who I like, it would feel rewarding. It's just cool to see their style change or just seeing them dress better or just even at certain events, just to have a nice outfit. Just how with like Ian and Wiz. The man won best dressed man of the year in 2014. That's so sick. Like when Wiz had the purple dreads, I was super into that. And he was just even wearing a bunch of supreme, he was wearing midnight studios. So I think I'll definitely like to get into like, you know, image consulting, personal shopping for somebody who I believe in,
That's good, that's definitely how it should be. You should believe in it and not just do it to do it.
That's just how it is where I truly just wouldn't do shit that I didn’t believe in. I'm just happy with who I'm becoming right now. I‘m getting into things that I've been wanting to do for years growing up. Slowly getting back into art, learning more about Henri Matisse, Wolfgang Tillmans. Now taking on wanting to learn more about furniture, and just like starting to get back into skating. I've been watching so many skate videos it's crazy. I grew up skating. But the thing about that is I was just always the person who enjoyed being with my friends skating, just like watching them just chilling. So I wasn't doing tricks...but I just started practicing flat ground. It's just so fun. I just want to have a good time.
There’s a great video I saw recently called “Job’s? Never!!” by Jim Greco. This dude skates in dress shoes and trousers and he tears it up. Everything gets ripped up. Like the elbows are out. Dude's a monster, so crazy. His style is sick, after watching that I want to go skate. I can't skate, but I‘ve always watched videos and I skated a little bit in like middle school, but I was never good.
That's the thing, even now there'll be times where I'll watch a lot of videos and I want to skate after but I literally can’t because I'm just so tired. But that's been changing a bit now since I have been eating healthier. So it's fun. One of my favorite skaters is Manuel Schenck, he's on Supreme Paris. He is so sick. He has some clips with him skating in like Gucci loafers and trousers. Honestly skate culture is a very big reason of how I got to where I am today with streetwear. So growing up my favorite rapper was Big Sean. Like the “Get You Some” music video. Oh my God. Like he had so much Bape and just like BBC, it was crazy, but obviously I couldn't afford it, so I was wearing the closest thing that I could afford, which was like Stussy. So I grew up wearing Stussy, The Hundreds, Huf, Diamond Supply was big, and even that was pricey, like $30 for a t shirt, my mom was looking at me crazy. That's kind of how I started to form my style, actually caring about clothes and wanting to get into something where if I had like a diamond supply tee shirt and if I washed it and somebody put in the dryer and it faded, I got tight. Like I was getting pissed. I was like, what the fuck? Like who did this? Like, was this my mom was it my dad? I was tight.
I saw you styled the New Era lookbook for Eric Emanuel, how did that come about?
I met him through Leo actually, it was his going away party and Eric was wearing this Supreme Indian Chief jacket so I started talking to him about it and we exchanged contacts and he started sending me shorts and I helped him out with casting and things like that. So basically he told me he wants to shoot in a spa, so we met uptown and went around asking all of these people if we can shoot inside of their spa. We ended up finding one around the East Village and it was just a really cool and fun shoot. It’s really cool when friends get to work with friends
That’s how it feels when I get to do stuff with Aijani or Cam, or John. It’s always dope because everyone’s on the same page.
How did you meet those guys?
So when I moved here I knew of Cam because I would go on theupsetter.co and I was a fan of the editorials he would do. One day I was in Noah and Cam was in there and as I was leaving he stepped out so I just approached him and said I was a fan of his work and follow The Upsetter. I saw him around a few times and eventually we got closer. Then when I started at FIT Aijani and I sat next to each other and started talking, and he told me he was from Virginia and I was like “oh if you're from VA you gotta know this guy Cam” and he ended up telling me they were like best friends, so that’s funny how that came about. Then I met John Erick when we worked at Blue In Green together. I miss that guy.
On being on the No Vacancy Inn Podcast
There was this Gap pop-up that No Vacancy dj’d and I modeled that, and that happened early when I just started modeling. That day I met Tremaine, and I knew who he was because I love Stussy and he was doing consulting for them. I walked up to him and introduced myself and started asking him questions about his consulting and he was like “wait, we’re gonna get a mic and do this on the podcast”. So we have a No Vacancy episode together. Me, him, Acyde and Brock. It’s on soundcloud. So the day after they hit me up to go to lunch and I told them I couldn’t go because I was broke... so they ended up taking me out to eat. After that day I texted my mom like “I could really do this modeling thing”.
What was that switch? Just being around those people?
Just being around these people and how good that day was, and besides the fact that I modeled for Gap, being around these people who are so influential, who people appreciate. It was just such a different lifestyle than what I was used to.
What are some of the things that you’ve pulled from those guys? They’re all very successful in their own right.
This was something that either Brock or Tremaine said on the podcast but it’s that you never really find yourself, and I can dig that because from what I told you about going to all these schools for different things - FIT is my 3rd school bro, and I'm not passionate about anything but I enjoy things. There’s nothing where I'm just like “I love doing this”. I enjoy modeling a lot, but passion is just so strong. It’s just such a strong word. I'm still trying to find what that is and no matter if I find it or not, so far I've lived a pretty great life. There are obviously ups and downs and like I was bullied in high school and I was never cool and never invited to parties. Being bullied just teaches you to get in a shell but there are certain things you gotta deal with and my mom teaching me certain values of always being nice. There are certain things I can look back on like “wow I can’t believe I did this”.
When I started doing this I wasn’t thinking about the people I could touch or influence or anything. I was trying to get money. I was at a casting where a friend told me I inspire him and that changed my perspective you know. I could have younger people hit me up saying they want to model or do casting and I’ll invite them over and hear them out and give them advice. So, it’s not all about me now.
That’s good to hear, especially at our age, because I don’t know if there are so many people thinking in terms of longevity that isn’t purely selfish.
On Styling MorMor’s EP
First and foremost he’s a really nice guy. His music has such a nice sound. That shoot was honestly a good feeling. Hassan Rahim did the creative direction for that and he just dm’d me and asked if I wanted to style it and it went from there. We worked with a photographer named Micaiah Carter and it was really dope.
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If you can do styling work for any brand or any person who would it be?
Supreme Lookbook with Angelo and if it was a person Tyler, the Creator. I would like to style him, or if he has another project with Converse to work together on that.