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[title]DJ Louie XIV is one of new york's most notable DJs and fashionistas. He sat down with us to answer questions about what makes him our most stylish New Yorker this week.
DJ Louie XIV, 25; DJ, writer, actor and “noted cheese enthusiast” (louiexiv.com); East Village
His personal style: “It’s the love child of James Dean, the Fresh Prince, a gay farmer, a burly lumberjack, Barbara Stanwyck, Jesse James, Biggie, Fred Mertz and Chandler Bing.”
His inspirations: “Pretty much everyone and everything. I’m not really the kind of person that goes for a look. I like to cull from all of my influences—music, movies, art, my friends, random folks on the street—take the little aspects of each that catch my eye and throw it all in the pot. However, I’d have to say my mom, Elisa Goodkind, who founded Stylelikeu (stylelikeu.com), is my primary influence for fashion and otherwise. She taught me what it truly means to have personal style and that it has nothing to do with trends. She looks like an actual work of art every single day.”
Favorite stores: “The Quality Mending Co. (15 Prince St at Elizabeth St, thequalitymendingco.com) has a very curated collection of vintage pieces that are mostly of the old Western persuasion. Everything in there looks like it was taken off the back of a cowboy circa 1870, and that kind of [aesthetic] is a big part of my personal style. I’m a sunglass fanatic. I’m actually not always the hugest shopper—I go once in a while, get a couple of things and am set for a long time—but sunglasses are a big weakness for me and Fabulous Fanny’s (335 E 9th St between First and Second Aves; 212-533-0637, fabulousfannys.com) has all the best vintage and new styles. I stop in at least a couple times a month. What Goes Around Comes Around (351 West Broadway between Broome and Grand Sts; 212-343-1225, whatgoesaroundnyc.com) has the best vintage in New York, period. If I’m gonna splurge, it’ll probably be there.”
Favorite salons: “I get my hair cut by Clyde Elezi at the Drawing Room (148 Spring St between West Broadway and Wooster St, second floor; 212-226-2600, thedrawingroomny.com). He is the best! Clyde treats each haircut like his masterpiece—I literally feel like the top of my head is his Mona Lisa. I’m pretty low maintenance [when it comes to spas], so I like the Korean ladies at Purple Flower (23 Clinton St between E Houston and Stanton Sts, 212-253-2889). They do 60-minute massages for $40. They scream at each other the whole time, and the place smells like potatoes, but they actually do a great job.”
His signature accessories: “I pretty much always wear a pair of Vans (vans.com). I buy all kinds of other shoes and wear them once before deciding I should just stick to Vans. They’re just really me for whatever reason. I also always wear two square rings from Tibet that my sister gave me for my birthday a few years ago with every single outfit, every single day. I pretty much always wear some sort of scarf around my neck. When I’m trying on outfits, I put the scarf on first and no matter how many times I change, the scarf stays around my neck at all times. Oh, and sunglasses—always sunglasses, although not at night. That’s for Jay-Z only!”
Favorite designers: “I’m not really into designer clothes—most of my wardrobe is vintage or secondhand. But I do love my friend Jeffrey Williams’s (jeffreycwilliams.com) stuff. He is a very talented dude.”
How he describes New York style: “At its best, it should be impossible to describe. New York is a city of individuals doing their own thing, so I think I’d be doing a disservice to the ideal of New York City that I like to believe in if I tried to sum it all up in one phrase.”
How his style has evolved: “I’d say the number one aspect of my style evolution is intrinsically tied to my personal evolution as a human. The more I know myself, the more comfortable I become with who I am, the less I care what other people think, and the more refined and personal my style has become. It’s a constant process of personal distillation.”
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