Byron Mason II: We're here with Jordan Horton. Junior. Artist. Finesser. One of the litest people on campus. I noticed your outfit today. It’s very dope as always. Tell me a little about it.
Jordan Horton: Well the outfit I was gonna wear, it was like a sweater, but it’s too hot for that. So I was like, alright. Let me get a shirt, and this shirt is actually from my friend Aislee, which I think you featured. She was cleaning out her stuff and she was like “you you want this?” And I was like bet this’ll be wavy. And the hat kind of matches with the shirt. I got this from a sketchy website off Instagram. It took a month to come.
And then I like corduroys. I’m a big texture person, the texture of corduroys and even the implied texture of the shirt. Even like my sneakers got a velvet feel to it. Yeah, Adidas Superstars. And I’m a sock person too so I gotta make sure my socks are decent.
BM: What are your favorite places to shop?
JH: H&M. But H&M getting sketchy so I don’t think I’m gonna buy from them anymore. I lowkey get most of my jeans from Old Navy. Don’t sleep on them. I thrift every blue moon. I kind of invest most of my money on sweaters and hats cause I can wear the same shirt and five different sweaters and it looks new every time.
BM: So what’s your process when you’re trying to decide what you’re gonna wear? Is it random?
JH: Nah it can’t be random. I wake up and sit in my bed for a minute. I’m like alright, what I got to wear? What’s in my closet? I’m big on coordinating. It’s a difference between matching and coordinating. So matching is, like, same color head to toe. I want my hat to match my sneakers; ‘cause it’s like enough distance between it. That’s kind of my thought process. What texture goes with what? I was gonna wear these, but me wearing brown pants is like alright I can’t wear brown shoes. So I gotta pick something else. Which works cause my white matches the white in my shirt. I think really hard about these things.
BM: Is there anybody in particular that influences your fashion or is there a kind of movement that influences how you dress?
JH: Well my dad is a big Adidas fan. So that’s kind of where I get my love of Adidas. I’m not a brand person. But I don’t like Nike because I’m an Adidas person. And then everything else, I kind of don’t like brands. So you can’t see the brand of the shirt. And you can’t see the brand of my pants either. So I try to keep it as generic as possible.
BM: Why do you not like brands? Does it take away from your aesthetic?
JH: I don’t wear things for the brand, you know? Then that goes into a sense of coordinating. You can’t wear Adidas with Nike or things like that.
BM: Now a days in the fashion industry, people will wear these things just for the name of it. What do you think about that?
JH: Well the thing with brands- they get outdated. Juicy Couture was everything when I was growing up. And now if someone wears that it’s like “yo, what are they wearing?” Versus like a white t-shirt don’t go out of style and it’s no brand to it. If there’s no brand it kind of is able to stay around longer.
BM: What do you think about brands like Yeezy with the holes and stuff like that?
JH: It’s hypebeast as hell. It’s like an example of how hipster culture and hype culture kind of plays off of trying to look urban. It’s kind of like biting off lower class and middle class, inner cities. Depending on who’s wearing it, it kind of describes the status. So if it’s Yeezys, Kanye has some of the holes versus someone who can’t afford something, then it’s a totally different look. I think it speaks into social class and how something increases in value depending on who’s wearing it.
BM: So I notice your accessories too. Does your watch or your rings or your bracelets have any significance?
JH: I wore a uniform up until I got to college. So there was no room for expression and this was the loophole in it. And I got my piercings like my nose piercings when I got to college. But my earrings, my rings, and necklace; that was the closest I had to a sense of individuality. In a sense, it’s kind of a uniform too. You’ll never catch me without these things on, so it still kind of plays on having a uniform.
BM: Would you say that your style in general is liberation almost?
JH: Freedom. Sure. And then it’s like a signature. You know when you see me, it’s rings. No matter what I got on, I’m gonna have my rings on, a watch, bracelets, etcetera on. So it’s like “yo, that’s Jordan.” I’ve had these rings since high school or middle school. I’ve always worn rings, different ones, but that was a thing. And then even for anxiety, two of my rings spin cause when I get nervous I can fidget without it being so obnoxious.
BM: Tell me about your jacket.
JH: I got it from Forever 21. It was just a basic ripped denim jacket, and I was like ”yo I can freak this.” So I got patches from Amazon. They were like two bucks and a dollar. And just cool stuff. So an eye on the back; just the concept like “watching your back.” The cloud is kind of like just a play on the rip. To make it look like precipitation, like a raincloud. And patches like a rainbow flag for my identity with an Audre Lorde quote. And a phoenix ‘cause that’s my sorority name- my Zeta name- and then a white rose ‘cause that’s also for my sorority: that’s our symbol. Things that are a part of me. Things I like.
BM: How would you say your identity and being on a campus like DePauw has shaped your fashion or how you carry yourself?
JH: It’s definitely been a way that I can express myself, and it’s definitely helped me see the way that I’ve grown up. Coming from always wearing uniforms to having to pick out my clothes everyday was kind of difficult when I first got here. I did not dress super well when I got here, I ain’t gonna lie. And then I guess if you want to go into identity, I guess in a sense it showed my queerness. It shows that gender is so stupid ‘cause, I guess I’d say I dress a bit more masculine, but all my clothes come from the women’s section of stores. So it’s really just how something looks on different bodies. How you carry it too.
