Dressed by the Internet: Dre Davon (@dre.davon), 29, Los Angeles
An interview series where we spotlight a member of the Eso community and learn how the internet shaped their style.
Dre Davon is a multi-hyphenate designer, model and fashion professional. I first met Dre several years ago.
As a self-taught designer with experiences weaved together from his early days working retail at Zumiez, then in the industry as showroom manager (RIP Ksubi) and now a designer – Dre’s a polymath that represents the new breed of fashion creative in LA – driven, interdisciplinary and innovative - with a keen eye towards breaking down the barriers that often keep all but the most privileged from building a presence in fashion.
During our chat, we learned about Dre’s early fashion inspirations, the story behind his brand, and the store he’s collaborating on with a group of LA fashion cool kids – Twentybeyond.
Let’s take things back to the start – what was your earliest memory of fashion? Where did the passion came from?
I have to give my aunt credit for starting it all. She was in the military stationed in Korea and would send back clothes – really special things like shirts embroidered with my name on it – things that no one else had at the time in LA.
Growing up though, I knew I wanted to be different. In high school, I didn’t want to be another person wearing Air Jordans. I would experiment a lot. One time, I remember I had this outfit where I had these convertible pants (the kind that you could unzip and turn into shorts) and so I unzipped the knee and left the panel to fall over my sneakers as an accessory. It was always an emphasis of mine to do things that nobody else was doing.
How has your style’s evolved now?
Definitely cleaner – I get told a lot that it’s minimalistic. It’s a lots of navy and black but occasionally I’ll be audacious and wear a print. Travelling was a big inspiration to shift my style. Early in college, I got into GQ but the real shift was when I went to live in New York and London in quick succession. Seeing people dress in the fall time in their coats and blazers – I knew that’s what I wanted to look like. It wasn’t something that I was exposed to in LA where it’s T-Shirts and Jeans most of the time.
How has the internet helped you find your fashion identity?
Tumblr is my biggest mood board to this day. I don’t update it as much anymore but I remember even before Pinterest mood-boarding became popular, I’d use Tumblr to collaborate with friend groups and to find inspiration. The authenticity from Tumblr is missing on the internet today (and not just in fashion). I think a lot of people are just taking things they’ve seen from other places and combining them. They’re not really creating something that is true to themselves. I think originality in creative spaces is missing.
You’ve worked in retail, content, in showroom and now as a designer – what would you say were the biggest things you learned along the way?
Seeing the ‘bottom-up’ movement of trends in real time was eye opening. During college, I was working at Zumiez around the time that Supreme took off and I got insight seeing the things that the kids would come in off the street for. Brands like Obey, DGK, Pink Dolphin – we couldn’t even keep enough stock in the store [to keep up with demand]. Then, seeing Virgil [Abloh]’s impact in real time on blending the world of high fashion streetwear; it definitely made me realise how subculture becomes inspiration for fashion.
From a career perspective - I think you can also make it without having studied fashion. I studied business management but I worked with all these guys who studied fashion and put my best forward to soak up knowledge. You can learn on the job.
Your brand, ‘Dre Davon’ is a uniform for ‘Supreme Beings’. To you, what is a Supreme Being?
I represent a group of creative people. The guys in my circle – they’re not average. We have lofty dreams. I wanted to create a uniform for people that are *doing* things with their lives. The pieces aren’t supposed to define you, but they accentuate who you are. It’s clean, quiet luxury aesthetics for the person that’s the traveller, the entrepreneur, the designer – the dreamers. I want Dre Davon to become a universe – not just fashion – but looping in music, art, architecture – all the things that inspire someone with big dreams.
You’re a collaborator at a new store called Twentybeyond in LA and supporting community is central to its vision. In LA where the fashion scene isn’t as ‘big’ like it is in cities like Paris, New York or London what do you feel like needs to change so that young fashion creatives are better supported?
The founder, my friend Sergio – he has the biggest heart and he wants everyone to succeed. What we want to do with Twentybeyond is to create a multi-dimensional story to highlight independent creative designers in Los Angeles. We want to be a space where young designers can host events, have pop-ups and come together. In LA, we have a lot of creative talent where they didn’t go specifically to school for fashion but have the experience or the drive – these are the people that we want to platform.
LIGHTNING ROUND!
1. Your house is on fire, you have to save three items. What are they?
A cap from my first brand, King and Queen
Wide leg Zegna trousers
My Trench Coat
What’s your fashion hot-take?
Everyone needs to stop making the same silhouette shoe. There are many copies of Air Jordans. I get it, it’s a recognizable design but if you’re just tweaking the design to suit your brand, you’re not really doing anything original. If everyone’s producing the same pieces, photographing everything the same way, nobody’s ever gonna set new milestones.
Favorite Style Movie?
Leon The Professional