INTERVIEWS

Literary Diva June: Kyle Brincefield, NYC Fashion Boy

Kyle Brincefield, NYC Fashion Boy
By S. Riviera, VivaLaRiviera.com

Indiana boy does fashion good in NYC. Yes ladies and gents I’m talking about hot up and comer fashion designer Kyle Brincefield who has officially arrived. Studmuffin NYC by Kyle Brincefield can be seen on all sorts of glitterati such as Alicia Keys and Emma Watson and also in the pages of Vogue and GQ, to name a couple on both counts btw. I met Kyle when I first moved back to NYC a couple years ago where we both ended up at the same Christmas Eve party. For some reason he caught my eye and as soon as we met we got along instantly like long lost soul friends. He’s a sweetheart and a total charmer. I cannot be happier for all his success since we met. He is doing great things and has Fashion Icon Patricia Field to thank for cause you can almost say she discovered him or rather his fabulous fashions. They continue to work together and get ready for more from this fashionable duo. Check out his website and be sure to click the link of his one of a kind Studmuffin jock strap. Sexxxy!

Samara: Tell us a little bit about where you’re from?
Kyle: I am originally from small town Indiana, Roanoke, Indiana to be exact; just on the outskirts of Fort Wayne. I visited New York when I was 18, fell in love, went back home to save up money, waiting tables and moved back the next year. I turned 21 and spent my 20’s growing up in Manhattan.

Samara: How was life growing up for you?
Kyle: Growing up in Indiana, it was different. I was happy for the most part because most of Indiana has kind of a sheltered feeling to it. I started to see more and more in my teenage years that myself and my surroundings were growing apart and not everyone was open to the expression of individuality or even being creative for that matter. I started to quickly realize that if I was going to be truly happy, I was going to have to figure out my next step outside of Indiana. I went on a trip to Europe for nearly 4 weeks when I was 16 with a student program that changed my life and outlook on life. I became someone different at that point.

Samara: How does a young kid such as yourself make a move to NYC?
Kyle: As I was saying earlier, after I had visited New York on a whim to check it out, I realized that was going to be my forever home. I was still at the time living with my parents, who I was lucky enough to have support my dreams and just wanted to see me happy. I worked full time waiting tables and other odd jobs, saving and saving until I felt I could make the move comfortably. I had about $800 to my name, a plane ticket and no idea what I was doing. 10 years later, here we are. One thing I will say is, you have to really want it to make it in this city. There is no slacking off in New York (unless you come from money) It’s a constant hustle to this day for me, but that’s what I like, the fast pace. It’s not for everyone, but it’s for some!

Samara: Were you ever homeless when you first moved to NYC?
Kyle: I myself have been fortunate enough to never have been put in the position of being homeless in New York. Is that something that I can relate to or think about, 100% of course. Have I had friends that have dealt with homelessness or ARE dealing with it, 100%. I honestly don’t know how I would handle in a situation like that because you don’t know until you actually experience it. But what I will say is, a lot of people, whether it be young, LGBT youth, homeless youth, homeless whoever, those without family, come to New York to find a community or family because that’s all they have or have to look forward to. New York is full of strong, resilient survivors. Everyone has a different background or upbringing, but for the most part it’s like a big family that looks out after each other.

Samara: How do you then get into fashion?
Kyle: I grew up loving fashion and thinking I would be a fashion designer one day. I sketched and would study Valentino’s old illustrations from books at the downtown library. It was always a major interest of mine but as I got older it started to fade and I began to feel it wasn’t realistic or almost embarrassing to say I was gay and cliche “wanted to be a fashion designer” So I kind of let the dream fade away. With that being said, I moved to New York and had no direction. I fell into the Patricia Field scene out of pure love of Patricia’s work and was soon asked to sell my studded tank tops and creations in her Boutique on the Bowery. From then on, Pat kind of nurtured me into what I should be doing and the rest is history.
Therefore, I want to clarify how important I think it is to encourage your children, young ones, or whoever to do what they love and follow their dreams, even if they change 20x. I have never been happier in my life than working in fashion and doing what I love… I can’t imagine if I would have let those ridiculous thoughts about my career choice “being too gay” in my head win. BE YOURSELF, YOU WILL BE SO MUCH HAPPIER 100 TIMES OVER.

Samara: Tell us about how Pat Field gets involved with your work?
Kyle: I started getting involved in the Pat Field scene just by going to her legendary parties and wanting to get to know all the fabulous kids that worked in her store. I loved the family feel and how they were their own “we don’t give a fuck what you think” crew. It really appealed to me as a young one trying to find my way.
I was later on approached by her head Buyer, Sushi, to sell my clothing line in her store… I didn’t have a clothing line at the time, but what I did have were the hand studded tank tops that caught his eye that I had been making and wearing to my bar gigs on a nightly basis. Everything took off from there, it was a dream come true and I’m thankful to Pat everyday.

Samara: So is every piece hand made by you?
Kyle: Every piece is still currently made by me in the East Village, New York. When I get super busy or big orders, I will bring on interns or assistants to help out, but mainly still keep the design aspect to myself as I like to keep tight control over it.

Samara: What celebrities have we seen in your fashions?
Kyle: I have been fortunate enough to have had the likes of Miley Cyrus, Missy Elliott, Alicia Keys, Nicki Minaj, Adam Lambert, Emma Watson, Carmen Electra, Brooke Candy to so many more in Studmuffin in our 5 short years.

Samara: And in what magazines have we seen your fashions?
Kyle: Vogue Magazine, V Magazine, i-D Magazine, Nylon Magazine, Paper Magazine, Numero Magazine, Elle Magazine, GQ and so on.

Samara: And you had your first show in NY Fashion Week. Tell us all about that?
Kyle: We had our first presentation two years ago and it went amazing. It was a kind of bizarre time and still is for New York Fashion Week as more and more designer drop out and they figure out the future of fashion week. All the rebranding, location changes and combating fast fashion companies has really made a mess of fashion week. We are still trying to figure out if our presence/business model is right for fashion week, but have enjoyed showing our collections the past two years during the madness.

Samara: I want to know about that Studmuffin jock strap btw…
Kyle: We can definitely make that happen, I love the Jock Strap on a girl. It’s so sexy!

Samara: Can you tell us about your upcoming collaborations?
Kyle: Currently I am working on a new project with Patricia Field as her world famous store closed last month in New York, we have launched a new WEARABLE ART online and downtown showroom called ART | FASHION and it represents one-of-kind wears from artists like me, Scooter Laforge, Jodi Morlock, These Pink Lips, Suzan Pitt and more!
I’m really excited about this project as I love the where fashion is going right now. Everyone wants something unique and one of a kind, it feels special. Move aside mass production. Visit us at PatriciaField.com to check out all the goodness.

www.STUDMUFFIN-NYC.COM