Jordan Barrett at Parsons Paris
Jordan Barrett is most well known for his meteoric rise in the fashion industry, in which he has become a household name and whom Vogue has called the “Model It Boy of the New Era.” While he might be a superstar, in his recent visit to Parsons Paris, he proved to be very down-to-earth and generous with his time and insights as he talked to students about his life and work, the modeling industry, and his brand, Sedated. Accompanying him in conversation was Alisa Voloskaya, a founder of AVEC and board member of Parsons Paris, as well as a mentor and friend to Barrett for the past nine years.
Barrett has come a long way since he was first recruited in Australia at the age of 14. Since then, he has been featured in campaigns by Tom Ford, Balmain, Versace, Moschino, and Coach; embodied the perfume 1 Million; and designed his own eyewear line in collaboration with Chrome Hearts. Along the way, he has contributed to defining what a male supermodel is today. When asked how he has achieved so much success, he advised the students to be persistent to the point of relentlessness. “Don’t take no for an answer,” he said. “And if you get a ‘no,’ get a ‘why.’ And if you get a ‘why,’ find out how to change it, and then turn that ‘no’ into a ‘yes.’” Also, he said that, especially in a profession that demands perfection, it is key to recognize that it’s impossible to reach it. As he put it,“You need to release the psycho feeling that it needs to be perfect.” When people get fixed on the idea of being perfect, he explained, they run the risk of becoming blocked and not achieving the excellence of which they’re capable.
He also offered other advice to the students about being inspired and what to do when you’re not. As everyone gets creatively blocked or burned out sometimes, he advised the students to look for sparks of inspiration in all different art forms, from music to films to random images. That is, he said that if there is an image he likes, he will plug it into Google Image Search to discover images of a similar aesthetic–but different enough to spark a new idea–that he wouldn’t have come across otherwise. Also, he looks to the inspiring people he has met, such as the recently deceased English fashion designer Vivienne Westwood, who was someone he looked up to and with whom he had the privilege to work.
Barrett is now represented by Kate Moss and has created his own brand, over which he has complete creative control. He talked about how Sedated began as a way of separating his modeling work from his personal social media account from the other things in his life that interest and inspire him. It has expanded since then, and he is still exploring possibilities. Right now, he said, it’s more of a mood board or a digital archive that one can turn to for inspiration, but he is planning projects and collaborations involving fashion, magazine, radio, chats, art, and jewelry that reflect Barrett’s aesthetic and who he is as a person.
He also discussed his frequent collaborations with other designers and artists, particularly for causes or charities. A Parsons Paris student about causes he supports, he said that he is involved in the issue of mental health, both with donations to mental health organizations, including the Suicide Prevention Fund, and with projects raising awareness about the issue. Why this social issue in particular? In part, he said, because of the stigma surrounding it, which he realized from a personal episode a few years ago. He was working for a charity campaign, and the brand organizing the photoshoot agreed to donate his earnings to the cause of his choosing. When he told them that he had chosen the Suicide Prevention Fund, however, they balked and responded that he could choose any other except that one. This made him realize not only that the Fund and other organizations like it might be underfunded, but also that the stigmatization of depression needed to be more publicly addressed. So, one thing he did was to reach out to the AI artist, Jake Fergurson, and together they created an NFT featuring Barrett in his original Sedated outfit illustrating how a person can feel anxious, lonely, depressed, and alone even when surrounded by other people.
Many thanks to Jordan and Alisa for their wonderful visit to Parsons Paris.
Barrett will be taking on three interns from Parsons Paris Students to help him with the research and development of projects for Sedated and we had over 50 applicants!
Article by Sofia Scoular Castillo, Sophomore Art, Media, and Technology at Parsons Paris