Starburst
Starburst — All clothing & accessories JONNI BOI millinery VIVIENNE LAKE tailoring WHITECHAPEL WORKHOUSE & HUGO RODRIGUES embroidery KITTEN TONGUES white boot PLEASER. perfume JONNI BOI
Johnny Evans’ mind, Jonni Boi as he is known to his followers on Instagram, is a magical well of inspiration. Never doing anything that could be considered close to “one note” or drab; his designs and styling work explode with color, texture, and shapes. It all stands to reason, considering his peripatetic upbringing. Evans has lived in seven countries throughout his lifetime. (Well-traveled is an understatement.) The result of this incredible upbringing is an amalgamation of cultural aesthetics rolled into a passion for creation. I got the chance to ask Johnny about his inspirations, challenges, and how he would like to be part of the change he yearns for in the fashion industry post-pandemic.
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Tell me about the fragrance line you’ve produced. You made a fragrance for each look in your London Queer Fashion Show debut?
Well, a lot of people don't know this about me, but I have an obsession for perfumery, and I have been collecting fragrances since I was very young. During my work placement year at Central Saint Martins, I decided to apply for a position at a cosmetics company, both to help fund my own creative projects, but also because it seemed like the perfect opportunity for me to explore my interest in perfumery. I then ended up working for the company all throughout my final year at university as well. I think the fact that I was creating my final collection whilst working there, both fashion and fragrance were just constantly on my mind. This sort of birthed the idea to release a fun collection of experimental (and admittedly quite amateur) fragrances inspired by the six looks from my collection. I then went on to being picked for London Queer Fashion Show in September of 2019, and increased the number of looks in the collection to ten. Given I had already made the perfumes, I decided not to extend this line as well, keeping the fragrances at a strong number of six.
The perfumes are each completely different from one another, much like the looks from my collection. This really gave me the chance to experiment with as many of my favorite scents as possible. They vary from incredibly fresh to tooth-achingly sweet, sharp, bitter notes to juicy, citrusy, fruity blends. I really tried capturing the essence of each look by imagining how these characters would smell, which resulted in my very first attempt at perfumery.
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What is the glue that holds them all together as a formative collection and how did you reach that vision?
With regards to how the looks from my collection relate to one another, they don't. Well, visually they have no correlation at all to one another, I wanted to go against this idea that a collection needs to bare similarities throughout each of the looks. What they do share is the idea behind them - each look is representative of a different stage in my life, assembled in chronological order to tell my story up until the point of my final year at CSM. I touch upon my childhood, the places I have lived/visited throughout my life and how greatly they've impacted me, as well as definitive moments of my time at university. I realized that nobody is able to tell my life story as well as I can, and nobody shares the unique upbringing I have had, or has at least experienced it in the same way as me, so I decided to channel this story through my own creative lens and create a fashion collection out of it.
What challenges did you encounter as a result of moving around so much? How did the immersion into so many cultures inform your creative license?
In chronological order, I was born in Derry, Northern Ireland, moved to Germany where I attended pre-school, and consequently moved to Italy, where I spent 9 years of my life; English and Italian were my first languages. Then our parents announced that we'd be moving to New Delhi, India. Originally supposed to be there for 2-3 years, I spent my entire adolescence there, for a total of 7 years. We then moved to Singapore for a short while, then I moved away on my own to London, to start my university degree at Central Saint Martins. I now live in the Netherlands, back with my parents.
Moving around so much forced me to grow up much faster than most kids of my age would have had to, especially moving to India and being raised there for a good portion of my life. Growing up in cultures other than my own gave me a much wider perspective on the world at a very young age. Your teenage years are very formative ones, and I am so thankful I got to spend mine in so many beautiful countries. I actually felt strangely out of place when I moved back to the UK for university, and to this day feel like I belong more in South-East Asia, as it is much more familiar to me.
In terms of how it affected me creatively, I go back to my previous sentiment of not being able to ask for a better upbringing, because being exposed to so many different places was so incredibly stimulating and inspiring; it allowed me to play with colors, shapes, materials, etc. so much more naturally and confidently.
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Tell me what you believe to be your crowning achievement to date. What’s next?
My most important achievement in life so far has to be the friendships I have forged over the years. Constantly moving around has its downfall, being separated from friends for extensive periods of time, as they're all dotted around the world. But the fact that I have been able to push through the obstacle of distance is testament to how strong these relationships are, and how much they mean to me. I channel a great deal of energy into finding friends that will support me through anything, and I find it really wonderful to be there for people in that same way.
Styling seems to be your true passion, is that right? What was it like creating the story and seeing it come to life for SISSY?
Styling is what I believe to be my strongest skill, and it is what I have the most fun doing. It was something I realized I was good at halfway through my second year at university whilst studying fashion design. Styling is a much more playful way of experimenting with clothing, and it allows me to create fully realized characters much more naturally, which is how I approach most of my creative projects. So I started to steer towards styling a lot more towards the end of my second year, and all throughout my work placement, up until today.
SISSY was one of the first projects I organized to explore my growing interest with styling. I experimented with styling, set design, production, creative direction, video editing, all whilst being surrounded by a team of my closest friends - the whole process was so fucking fun. I was also so happy to hear that Fucking Young! Magazine had featured the film on their website.
What are some of your top drag and queer influences at the moment?
My queer influences/general inspirations stem from all over the place; Rupaul's Drag Race queens like Violet Chachki, Shea Couleé, Sasha Velour, and other drag artists like The Villbergs, Jenkin van Zyl, Rodent, Loris, Landon Cider, Dshock, among many others. I'm particularly inspired by the underground queer club scenes in London and Japanese street fashion. I also draw inspiration from video game and cartoon characters, and music artists like Dorian Electra, Brooke Candy, M.I.A., Grimes, Charli XCX, FKA Twigs, and Lady Gaga, just to name a few out of many, many others. Photographers, stylists, makeup-artists, illustrators, publications that are all pushing for more queer representation and inclusivity within the fashion industry. Designers like Walter Van Beirendonck, Jeremy Scott, Charles Jeffrey, ASHISH, Manish Arora, Gareth Pugh, BCALLA, Windowsen, Bobby Abley. Even activists like Munroe Bergdorf, @the_yvesdropper and @alokvmenon on Instagram.
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Do you feel like your livelihood is at stake because of COVID-19? How are you pushing to stay creative?
To be quite honest, I've never actually made any money off of my creative work in the past, everything I've done has come out of my earnings from jobs outside of fashion, so this situation doesn't feel nearly as threatening in that respect as it may be to others. I left London a few months back to live with my parents for a few months to figure out my next steps forward and apply for new jobs within the industry to really kickstart my career. But given the current situation, all those plans have been put on hold.
I am doing things to fill up my time though, like learning Japanese and watching lots of Anime. And I'm still making sure I'm challenging myself creatively, planning photo-shoots for when it is finally safe to do so, and working on a second collection. Now that there is nobody but my Mum (who is an avid supporter of my work), and my own crippling self-doubt to offer up criticism, I am going to really let loose for this one and throw the sickest ball ever.
In what ways will the fashion industry have to innovate to keep forging ahead? Do you foresee any of the old methods becoming outdated as a result of the global pandemic?
I hope that more people come to realize that the industry has become incredibly toxic and has really lost its way. When you're sitting at home alone in the middle of a global pandemic, the network of fake “friends" you made in order to get further in your career aren't there to help or support you now. Authenticity and genuine, organic relationships are so important. This industry should be about celebrating fashion in all aspects, that's it, it's that simple. I also wish the industry would do a better job at celebrating queer folk, POC and promoting body positivity.
What advice would you give yourself entering UAL: knowing what you know now?
I would tell myself to be much more selective with who I choose to listen to, because not everybody is there to offer up advice that has my best interest at heart. To remember that I was picked to be a part of the course for a reason, in order not second guess myself as much. Maybe help myself understand that not everyone is out to get me and that lowering my guard in order to make more friends may not be the worst idea. To have more fun. Maybe go into Print-making instead. Oh, and probably to tell more people to go fuck themselves. Discover more of Johnny’s work on Instagram @jonni_boi_
Langosta — all clothing & accessories JONNI BOI tailoring WHITECHAPEL WORKHOUSE embroidery SCOTT & LEO crotchet PETRA SMIT-BROER. perfume JONNI BOI
collection, styling, creative direction & perfumery JONNI BOI
visual effects FELIPE SIERRA & BEN PARSONS
photography ARNOW
makeup BRYANNA ANGEL
models MARS, RICCARDO & KURAN
interview DWAINE HILL
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