We love John Blasioli’s designs for men because he knows that men appreciate surprising details just as much as women do…cuffs lined in contrasting fabric, tabbed shirt-fronts. Blasioli is busy as hell preparing for his April 25th fashion show at Seaplane for his line, a broken spoke, as well as filling custom orders and readying springwear for Seaplane, denwave, and finishing merch shirts for the Decembrists (whom he costumed in 05). He took time out to answer the ultra Q.
Qualities you most admire in design: functionality, strong craftmanship, originality, heart
Qualities you most despise in design: deconstruction, thoughtlessness, nonsense that hides behind a logo/name
Reading: The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
Travel in the Mouth of the Wolf by Paul Fattaruso and trying, unsuccessfully, to stay on top of my subscription to The Nation
Listening to: Little Brother, Okkervil River, I Love You But I Have Chosen Darkness, Mazarin, Mr.Lif
Dream project: To create a label of sorts that is an outlet for young independent designers, musicians and writers.
Favorite virtue: fortitude, compassion
Favorite vice: cigarettes, a slightly embarrassing addiction to the TV series The Shield, and since I have started eating meat again, bacon.
Tragic flaw: a little too self-doubting at times
Secret superhero power: able to sew for days on end in a subarctic back room
That which keeps your afterburners firing: knowing that people i don’t know are out there, doing their thing, wearing clothes that i have made
What you’d like to be when you grow up: living sustainably off creating
Portland’s best kept secret: not really a secret, but happy hour at pambiche is portland’s best something.
Portland heroes (sung or un-): the amazing amount of people forgoing the stability of a 9-5 to pursue what they want to do
Interesting on the horizon (PDX): the art, clothing, music being produced here will become much more sophisticated and recognized.
See the website for Blasioli’s apparel line, a broken spoke, [here].
WHAT TO DO NOW?