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[title]Babak Radboy, 29, creative director of Bidoun magazine (babakradboy.com), Chinatown
His personal style: “Marxist materialist.”
His inspirations: “Dressing for me is an expression of civic love. I love the way people dress in this city, especially the southern Chinese in my neighborhood. On the other hand, I am enamored with the work of certain designers—Issey Miyake, Jean Paul Gaultier, Yohji Yamamoto—as an extended historical moment in design coinciding with postindustrial capitalism. I suppose I try to marry the two, which is of course very contradictory.”
Favorite stores: “Allan & Suzi (237 Centre St between Broome and Grand Sts; 212-724-7445, allanandsuzi.net) is amazing. It has a mix of both old and new designer clothes, but its ethos is like a time capsule of the highest point of New York nightlife and fashion. So many of the new stores of this stripe are so conservative by comparison. The New World Order (13 Ave B between Houston and 2nd Sts; 212-777-3600, thenewworldordernyc.com) is also comparable—the clothes selected are faithful to the collections they represent. It’s not just cardigans and slacks with a twist.”
Favorite salons: “Hair Party 24 Hours (76 Madison Ave at 28th St; 212-213-0056, hair24hours.com)—it actually is open 24 hours—or Astor Place Hair (2 Astor Pl at Broadway; 212-475-9854, astorplacehairnyc.com), because it’s huge, cheap, fast and very New York. I’m very egalitarian about my hair.”
His signature items: “I guess the things most unique to me are the things I purchase in Chinatown. I go pretty deep and endure a lot of suspicious stares to obtain a certain quality of synthetic pajama.”
Favorite designer: “Telfar Clemens of Telfar (telfar.net)—the future of fashion in New York will live or die by his success. More than 90 percent of New York designers who show are handpicked and primped by the CFDA, and what it is creating has nothing to do with fashion and everything to do with retail. There is such a thing as a fashion designer, and it is a very rare thing. [Clemens] is a fashion designer.”
How he describes New York style: “There is more than one New York; the people who go to work every day and spend as little as possible look amazing. They have an edge mostly missing in European [cities], a very unique and beautiful kind of vanity. The people who are trying the hardest look the worst.”
How his style has evolved: “I think as I’ve gotten older I’ve learned that the object of dressing is not to look good. The whole Oprah concept of the perfect fit of jeans is the opposite of true style. It’s extremely conservative to try too directly to look good. When you dress, you are making a statement at a certain place and time, in the context of many other statements. That statement shouldn’t be ‘I can afford this bag’ or ‘I figured out jeans.’ ”