‘I am 38. These days, running Styleforum is my main occupation. I have a few related projects in the works, and I also hold a faculty position in Atmospheric Sciences. I went to Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, my hometown, and then went on to do a doctorate at Caltech in Environmental Engineering and Science, and a postdoc at Harvard. I’m probably highly overeducated for my accidental career – but from what I’ve heard, critical thinking is always useful. I am married – have been for nearly 8 years now, and I four kids – a 14 year old stepson, two daughters, one five and a half a and one three and a half, and a one and a half year old son. My wife likes fashion and style, though not to the fanatical extent that I do – she dresses in either a very simple, classic, elegant style, or wears things with a punk edge. I think that is part of my influence.

Products from Pukimo Raivio

Kiton, grey sports jacket, size 50EU
Ralph Lauren, Black Label suit, size 52EU

Mr Leung at his home in May 2013, sporting the rare,

masculine adhesive bandage accessory

My mother is a shopper on a massive scale – clothing and jewelry, with a penchant for diamonds. She’s a big bargain hunter though, and would probably say that I overpay for my clothes. My father has never bought any clothing for himself that I know of. He used to go to work with a sports jacket and tie, but was thrilled when this custom went away. His main criterion is comfort. I mean, sweatpants and loose shirts comfort. But my mother makes sure he actually wears clothes. Two of my brothers care about clothes. One knows the value of a tailor. He always says that he looks better than me. The other likes fashion, and I think has an account on Styleforum, but he is not that knowledgeable. The other brother mostly likes novelty tee shirts (mostly based around Star Wars and comedy shows) – but his wife dresses him.

My entire family used to think that I was overly vain. These days, they are mostly mystified and slightly impressed that I’ve kept at it this long.

I don’t remember a time when I wasn’t interested in clothing. I remember going to Hong Kong from small town Ontario (Canada) during the summer between grade 4 and grade 5, and finding Polo was the biggest objective for me. During my trip to Hong Kong, and aunt told me that it would be hard for anyone in Kingston to know anything about fashion, and that was pretty much true, so I resolved that it would not be so. There were a few good, old fashioned, men’s stores – there are more choices these days – and I remember browsing whenever I had free time. And I would read GQ, Esquire, books, anything I could get my hands on. In the early 90s – I was really taken by the idea of the Grunge movement, and Marc Jacobs (women’s) collection for Perry Ellis in which he paired feminine dresses with Doc Martens. That type of style has colored what I like ever since.

I really started to learn about apparel and the fashion industry when I went to graduate school in LA. I did a short stint buying for a small boutique – or rather, I was with a girl (not my wife – don’t get me in too much trouble) who was a buyer, and I helped her. That was really my immersion into fashion – I moved to LA in 1997, and it was a revelation. I was immersed in places like Maxfield (though I usually had to wait for stuff to hit the outlet, Maxfield Bleu, to afford it) and Ron Herman at Fred Segal, and Traffic in the Beverly Center, and there were boutiques everywhere. American Rag was still a big deal then, though it was past its peak. It was designer style and vintage together in one store. There was Scott and Co., and Scott Hill. I just got to be very familiar with clothes and collections. I pored over every collection I saw, and what I saw on the racks. My memory is not stellar compared to some people – I think that I put all those mental resources into remember which designer did what, when.

From the beginning, I was most interested in styling, rather than garment construction itself, though I learned a lot about that just so that I would have that body of knowledge. I did some personal styling, and I figured that having a comprehensive body of knowledge would help me.

Me?  I have a uniform. Dark, slim, indigo jeans which become progressively more worn, and a pullover or cardigan of some sort over a tee shirt or henley. A leather or boiled wool jacket, depending on the weather, and a scarf and military cap. Boots, chukkas, or sneakers. And always an interesting belt. Belts were always in my budget, no matter the maker, and I love leather goods. And I lived in LA, so belts were the natural way to make my outfit a little special when it was sunny and really hot. I know that some guys say that you only need a brown belt and black belt, and that most of the time, the belt is hidden anyway. I say that those people are wrong. It’s the hidden things that make me most happy. Anyway, my uniform is a more grown up version of what I started wearing once I got out of my high school uniform.

These days, I wear a lot of S.N.S. Herning sweaters, which are rugged and handsome and unfussy. I supposed that that is how I would describe my own dress. A friend of mine, and part of the original Styleforum crew, once described my style as “Killer Cowboy”, which I really like, and which is somewhat accurate. Other brands I wear a lot of are Engineered Garments, RRL (Ralph Lauren’s higher end, “heritage” brand), Martin Margiela, Robert Geller, Dries van Noten, Wings+Horns.  For jeans, I like RRL, Jean Shop, and Triple Works, which doesn’t seem to be producing any more – hope they start again. My boots and chukkas are mostly by Trickers, and my sneakers mostly by Common Projects, though I’m really liking Buttero sneakers these days as well. I also have a lot of random pieces from any brand from Jil Sander to White Mountaineering. I have a closet full of tailored clothing, but I never use it. I also have a ton of stuff in storage, but most of what I wear comes from 2 huge piles stacked on top of an old steamer trunk. Some Styleforum members have these great, organized closets that look like a store installation.  I could never do that.

Styleforum was created by my business partner, Jeremy. A bunch of us were on GQ forums at the time, and it was terrible, so he made a site where we could discuss men’s clothing. My join date is about a month after that. At first, it was just a place to kill time talking about something about which I am passionate, but it grew and grew and grew. We were a little smart, and a lot lucky. These days, making sure that it runs smoothly, and that there is continuity in the community is pretty much my full time job. Like I said, it’s an accidental career, and one which I love. I’m constantly thinking about how we can do better – giving our members better tools to find interesting topics on the forum, making sure that it is a fun and not too ponderous and serious, making it a social place. Our unofficial motto – it’s actually printed on our business cards – so maybe it’s official now, is “Come for the clothes, stay for the company”, so we try to keep the company welcoming.

The founding posse is pretty much gone now, but it was a very chill group of guys, interested in all sorts of things. Jeremy was always interested in thrifting. I was interested in designer and contemporary, Manton was interested in tailoring. Brian (SD) was interested in designers and streetwear. RJ Man was always a classic menswear type of guy. There was a guy, pstoller, who had encyclopedic knowledge of sweaters who is no longer around.

There are lots of fine communities out there, but we are the largest men’s online community, (with over 130K members, and over 1.5 million unique viewers per month), and I feel, the friendliest. We like the idea of Styleforum as a big tent, with room for lots of different styles, and consequently, a lot of knowledge about all those styles. And we have the most fun with fashion. Sometimes people can be so ponderous about clothes…  If you don’t enjoy it, what’s the point? I like to say that we grew from a little “bar”, more like a neighborhood tavern, and we have always kept the mood the same casual, collegial, atmosphere. We also give opportunities for people to talk about things other than clothes. Their lives, the other fun things they do, the silly things that happen to them, funny internet memes. I hope that answers the original question adequately.

Well, I used to do MMA. These days, I’ll still practice a bit in the gym – kickboxing or jiujitsu, but I am too old and lack the motivation to take a compete. I do work out regularly. I also like to eat, and the competition between eating and working out is heating up as I get older. Also, after years of eating, I’ve learned to cook a bit. I’d call that a hobby though, and not a passionate one.

I wish that men would learn to love clothes. We are in 2013. With some notable and obvious exceptions – if you are in finance, you might need to wear a suit, and if you are not a stripper, you probably need pants – you can choose what you wear to work, and no one will blink an eye. It would be great if men would really embrace this. Women were excluded from the workplace for a long time, and so, as they have integrated into the workforce, they have brought with them a lot of difference styles of clothing. Men? We stick to chinos and a boring (and often cheap, and cheap looking) shirt. There is one professor I know who dresses like a pirate, and wears Yamamoto and Comme des Garcons. It’s not me, but it’s inspiring.’

www.styleforum.net

Picture: © Fok-yan Leung