As a longtime refiner of its editorial edge and the publication’s current Fashion Director at Large, Mobolaji Dawodu may be most closely associated with GQ Magazine, but the stylist and costume designer won’t let his foundational roots be forgotten. The Fader marked a pivotal point in his styling career—the unofficial/semi-official launching of it even—though the decade-long post still follows behind his go at fashion school and helming his own clothing business by the time he was 21. It’s worth mentioning (albeit, eye-raising) that just a few years before that, at 17, he says he “didn’t even know” fashion was his lane. But take his own word for it in the interview below, where he shares with Models.com contributor Nia Groce more about his background, styling principles, and supreme love of hats.
From reading about your background, I see there’s influence from your Nigerian upbringing and exposure to style much of your life. How did that transition into a career?
I’m Nigerian, and that’s just what it is. I grew up in Nigeria and America, kind of splitting my childhood, so I don’t know whether I can say that because of Nigeria, I went into fashion. But obviously, everything that happens in your life influences your taste, style, identity, and how you feel about yourself. I’m just saying that if I grew up in Indiana, I still might be doing this.
How did you know it was fashion for you?
I don’t think I ever knew it was fashion as such. I didn’t know what it was, but I knew I liked clothes and lifestyle. Cars, all the superficial things, enjoyment, the good life. When I got out of high school, I went to community college because at 17, how do you know what you want to do? I certainly didn’t. I saw a brochure at my community college for a school called LIM, Laboratory Institute of Merchandising in New York, and then I decided [to look into] clothes. My mother had a small clothing business growing up, but I can’t say that I ever felt any allegiance to doing anything like that. But, I was the president of our fashion marketing club in high school. So I saw the brochure and [decided to] try it out. For me, it was knowing how I wanted my life to be. Not about knowing what I wanted to do. I went there for maybe a year and a half. Once I got to New York, the streets of New York took me. So I didn’t even finish school, but I got a foundation for what it was like.
You went on to spend time at GQ and now continue to serve as a Fashion Director at Large. For those who might not be familiar, can you explain how that role works?
Before GQ, I have to talk about my time at The FADER. I had a clothing line when I was 21 that I used to make in Nigeria and The Fader did a write-up on me. I was going back and forth to Nigeria making clothes, but I was styling before that and I started styling for The Fader. The good thing about The Fader was that it wasn’t a fashion magazine, so I was kind of free to do what I wanted.
At The Fader, our fashion was basically me going around the world with a photographer and a bunch of clothes, and I would street-cast people and dress them. The Fader is instrumental because it gave me my identity in some ways. That comes out of how I got into costume design for films because it was more about taste and people than it ever was about fashion for me in the beginning, or even still is now. I worked at The Fader for 10 years as a contributing style editor. I became the global fashion director of GQ, and then about three years ago, I started being the fashion director at large, which means I’m not full-time and free to do other projects.
You touched on costume design. Do you have a preference between costume designing or editorial styling? How do they stretch you differently?
So, I was costume designing before I went to GQ. I like both because costume design is about building a character and world. I think that’s why my foundation and how I started styling is relevant. It’s more about building a world, and I like that because I travel a lot, so people in places are my inspiration. Fashion is more fantasy, and costume design can also be fantasy, but it’s slightly different. You can watch a movie 20 years from now. It’s rare that people are looking at fashion shoots in 20 years and they have the same impact. One is more long-term, in my opinion, and it’s a story that sticks, and one is more temporary of the times.
How would you describe your signature styling aesthetic, if you have one?
I’m a fan of tailoring, of color, and of prints. Those three things usually stand out in my styling. I also like the balance of aesthetics, the energy of the subject, and fantasy. I like to push those together and collaborate with the person. I don’t ever want to style someone and it looks like they’re uncomfortable and something that they would never wear. I like to push them out of their comfort zone, but not make them feel alien to themselves.
Is there a project or client that stands out as having stretched you the most creatively?
1000%. When Apple was coming up big, it had silhouette commercials that were like the commercials at the time. I did a few of those and those changed me because how do you relay style on a person when it’s only silhouettes? It pushed me to understand how important silhouettes are when you can’t see the person. All you see is the shadow or their outline. So, I would say Apple commercials transformed my idea of how silhouettes affect how you receive fashion.
What is your process for getting that fit just right with your clients or in editorials?
For me, references are important. I’ve always been a student of references and imagery, old imagery, and that informed my taste and how clothes should fit. It takes years to understand what fits well in different body types, but it actually comes back to silhouettes.
Do you find that you have trusted tailors that you work with, or do you just have to find who’s available and put that trust in them?
I have a few tailors that I trust for sure, but sometimes they’re not available. After a while, when you work with a tailor, they also teach you about tailoring, so you learn and impart that to people you work with. When you work with new people, it’s always a collaboration and you have ideas and you push them to what you feel is right. It’s always an exchange.
Hats also seem to be key in many of your looks. How much emphasis do you place on sourcing hats, or accessories in general?
It’s the same for sourcing. I think it’s no big difference to me. At the end of the day, the clothing and accessories I’m picking are based on what I like. So the importance is all the same. What matters is when you get in the room, when you’re styling, the comfort of the person I’m working with, and not forcing things. There’s a difference between pushing someone out of their comfort zone and trying to force your ideas. To me, hats are one of those areas that can be that space. You either are a hat person, or you’re not. A lot of times, there are hats and sunglasses I’m into that I want to put on people, and then I have to take them away because I realize that it is not about me, it’s not about my ideal, and it doesn’t necessarily work. So it all depends. It’s on hand, but it doesn’t have to be. Both parties have to feel comfortable.
I don’t even go to the corner store to buy water without a hat, for real. Most people don’t ever see me without a hat. My mom jokes [about it] in the house. Hats are important. l go on a trip during the holiday season, and one time, I went to Indonesia, but just to buy hats. I bought three of the most amazing hats. Literally, that was the shift for me to go to Indonesia. So that’s how hardcore I am about hats.
“I don’t seek out fashion, actually. It happens because I’m open.”
What would you say are some of the biggest changes you’ve seen in Fashion Week, or the industry, over the years?
I think the biggest change in fashion is visibility, social media, and the digital world, [which] have changed how we perceive things, the reasoning for what we’re wearing, and why we like what we like. There are more eyes on everything. The social media and digital world allowed room for people who weren’t traditionally let into that space, and I think that’s a good thing. One thing I would say is that social media has pushed the idea of shock in fashion rather than actual taste. Shock is not necessarily bad. You take what you like, leave what you don’t like. But I do think nowadays, because of social media, it’s more of a show within a show.
Where do you get your inspiration these days and what is inspiring you now?
I’ve always been inspired by people. What are clothes without people? I like textiles and fashion from different cultures around the world. It trickles up and it trickles down, and it’s interesting to understand that. It’s interesting to accept and embrace both ways, both directions.
Are there any designers that you’ve discovered recently or brands on your radar?
I can’t say specifically. It’s such a loaded question. I can never answer that when someone asks me that. The reason is that I don’t study fashion. I see what comes into my world, what comes by me. I don’t seek out fashion, actually. It happens because I’m open. I think that where I am and the spaces I’m in present me with things, and I have an assessment based on that.
What advice would you share with people who might want to follow in your steps or transition into a similar career?
Do your research about the people that were there before you. Also, mentorship is very important. Try to find someone who is doing it, who has done it. Try to speak to them. Also, be persistent. Don’t get discouraged if someone doesn’t answer you.
Back in the day, I used to email mad people and be on Facebook full-time. I was 19, on my two days off like, “I’ll assist you for free.” Be persistent and understand that the world is busy. Believe in yourself and think about the life you want to live more than the money you want to make. Be cool with people. Because you never know who you meet and where that takes you.
What are you working on next or can you share about future work?
I’m coming out with a line slash marketplace. That’s it. Pay attention. A line and a marketplace of things that I love. Mobolajidawodu.com. Coming soon.
