In Conversation with Jim Moore

Words by Brock DeHaven

In his 40 years at GQ, Jim Moore has brought the world of fashion out of the shadows and into the forefront of mainstream culture. From styling A-List actors, to the world’s largest musicians, and U.S presidents, he has seen it all. His new book Hunks and Heroes: Four Decades of Fashion at GQ celebrates his legendary career and unequivocal influence on generations of men’s style. In our interview, Jim discusses his eighteen yearlong relationship with Kanye West, his candid advice for those looking to pursue a career in fashion, and his latest pursuits since becoming Creative Director-at-Large.

Can you talk a little bit about how your start at GQ and why you think you rose through the ranks?

I got an internship at GQ on the business side of the magazine when I was in fashion school, but I immediately showed the fashion side that I could be valuable to their department by doing things like organizing the socks by color. I eventually got a job as a fashion assistant, and it and it was a small department at that time, so I was able to rise through the ranks in a slow and steady climb by working hard.

How do you stay inspired at a job you’ve been doing for 40 years now?

It is kind of easy to stay inspired for me I have a job that is so creatively inspiring. Everyday is a new adventure at GQ and working for a commercial vehicle like a magazine really is ideal for my personality. I am always up for something new and I have always loved that no two days are alike.

What was the process like of organizing 40 years of images and choosing which ones to put in your book?

I sat down with Ivan Shaw, photo director at Conde Nast for many years, last summer and said lets do this together.

So, when everybody was in the Hamptons or Mykonos or wherever, we were at GQ, which has no AC on the weekends, going through the issues I had in my office since the day I started. We started in Jan ’80, which was my first contribution to the magazine, and went through and sticky-noted the pictures we both agreed upon. We went quite quickly, but for some reason I thought I could do this in a weekend of a few hours, but it ended up taking four months. We sifted through over 30,000 images that we eventually got down to about 1600 or 1700. When I was finally ready to input them into the computer, I start doing the editing process, which was a joyful and painful experience. Though it was hard to leave certain images behind, I quickly learned that the book is stronger the more images we got rid of.

Jim Moore

Of all the behind the scenes stories you share in Hunks and Heroes, which is your favorite and why?

On one my many shoots with Kanye West through the years, I called Jerry Lorenzo, who was his assistant at the time, and I told him I had come up with this idea where I just wanted Kanye to dress in all one color head to toe.

I probably brought about 50-60 racks of clothes to the studio and had them all organized by color and he was like “wow you brought all of these clothes and I am going to try them all on”. I don’t think we ever sat down to eat, took a bathroom break or stopped. But we were having so much fun and in a way, I think that was even more epic than the pictures themselves.

Do you still help Kanye with any of his styling offer any insight/advice for creating YEEZY and his other ventures?

We have conversations constantly. Every time I am in LA, if he is available, I go up to Calabasas. He has a lot of projects going on up there. He is a creative being. What I think people don’t realize about him is that he really loves people; he is open to hearing anybody’s opinion. And when you get him in a room when he wants to design something, whether it is a house or a sneaker, he really wants to hear what people have to say. I have spent many hours with him, where he is just taking notes. He feels like he is always in school. He always wants to learn something from each person he meets. He brings in the giants of culture to design his home or help him with his collections or his philosophies. He is an amazing force for our culture.

What have you learned from Kanye?

Know what you are not good at. Don’t try to fake what you are not good at. Let go out that stuff. Surround yourself with people who are talented in those lanes and you will learn so much and excel so much.

Stephen Colbert

What do you wish you had known about this job prior to starting?

I had wish I had started sooner.

How did you find your passion for menswear?

I am always looking for good style everywhere, it doesn’t have to be on a runway, at a fashion show, doesn’t have to be at a high fashion store, it can be just some cool kid waiting for a bus on a bench, or somebody walking down the street, or a pictorial from the 70s. I guess for me, style was always the full Monte. It was where you lived, how you dressed, how you presented yourself. I was a kid in the 70s, so I liked disco music; I liked clothes that had a little bit of an edge over other people who were wearing trucker jackets and plaid shirts. I was the first kid in my school to wear boot cut jeans and stuff like that. To this day, I think the consistency of still having that child-like-spirit of looking around and getting inspired by anything or anybody and taking their picture or just getting inspired by somebody with mad style.

Was it a natural progression into a love for fashion from the arts, or was it more a moment in time that kind of sparked this interest?

I have always been interested in fashion. We were a middle-income family and didn’t have a lot of money. I probably shopped at K-Mart and was able to pick and choose and find cool stuff. I was a picker very early on. My parents were antique dealers and would give me some money at 7 years old and would let me go into a garage and encourage me to find some great stuff.

Kanye West

Michael Fassbender

Do you think this experience with your parents helped train your eye to become an editor?

I have always been a selector, an editor. I loved the process of being a picker for my parents, and going in and picking the right pieces, and I would get goose bumps when I got to a flea. And that is what fashion editing is. You have to look at hundreds of fashion shows and thousands of clothes and figure out what is the best piece for the person you are dressing or what thing you want to set forward.

Do you have advice for people who are pursuing a career in fashion today?

Stay at it longer than you think you need to. I teach a little class at FIT, and when I am talking I can always see what I call the 15%. I look out of a sea of hundred people and I see 15 or so and those people are turned on by and it really engaged and excited for the journey it takes in the fashion business to make it. Though it sounds old fashion, I say pay your dues, stay with it and stay vocationally focused. Which is hard in this world where we are bombarded with so much social media and stimulation. But try to weave through that and try to listen to what your heart says. I think a lot of people get out of school and think they need to make 100k in the first year, and that’s not a goal. If you are chasing the money thing you will never be successful. So try and find it is what you want to do and then just work your tail off. I still like organizing socks by color, and realize that little stuff is helping making that picture looks better. Its not drudgery, its helping the process. I really think you need to prove yourself from day one. If you want to impress fashion people, who just have to be on it.

What has been the biggest change in fashion since the emergence of social media and this digital world we live in now?

I think it’s helped the entire culture of fashion. Now everybody can see everything. I remember when we just launched GQ.com; we probably had a 6-hour meeting about whether or not we should show runway clothes. I said we should just give it a try, I think the men reading our magazine, even the guys on Wall Street, wanted to look at it. They wanted something for bar-speak, they want to talk about a designer, and I just think they are interested in it. When we started posting runway online, our numbers where off the charts. Social media is the master class for everybody. People know the lanes they love. For fashion, it’s brought it into the forefront of the world. When you go into a democratic price point store, the consumer can now hopefully see the influences from high fashion. And now I hope people understand that without these great high fashion designers and creators, you wouldn’t have a cool piece at a cheaper price point. I think before social media, fashion was considered to be much more snobby, but now it is much more approachable.

Justin Timberlake

Bryan Cranston

Channing Tatum

What do you recommend to men who are looking to stay on trend but also want to stay true to their own style?

What I think a lot of guys don’t realize, it is actually not the grey suit in your closet that is that most versatile piece in your closet, it’s a piece that is a little bit louder. It’s a signature piece that gives you personal style. Its much more versatile and you can mix it into so many different outfits. Whether that be a bright pink hoodie, or a pair of sneakers that is a little chunkier or a plaid suit- it’s a way to increase your personal style without going too overboard. One of the biggest secrets, that isn’t really a secret, is that guys are peacocks. They want to get compliments. And when they do, it turns into confidence.

You have mentioned in the past that you are starting a new company/platform that will help men with their own style. Can you talk a little bit more about what this is going to look like?

I have an affinity to the real guy. I have to give a lot of appreciation to Jim Nelson. He brought service into the magazine in a really big way in the start of the 2000s. He made us reach out and touch the every day reader a little bit more, and to not be so concerned with our peers or being such a fashion magazine, but to actually be a creative driven magazine. Our mission is to always give the reader a great adventure. So, that guy who is maybe thinking “wow fashion is moving really quickly” or think it’s going to be a lot of money to, and is sitting back and wearing the same old clothes- I am worried about that guy. So, what I am doing moving forward, which will be under my own brand, is to be watching out for that guy and make sure he is getting advice he is getting upgraded properly, made over properly. I will approach anybody who I think is doing something right. Conversations, really talking to people and talking to that real man is my next move.

Mahershala Ali