interview JANA LETONJA

Tyler Omeed Mazaheri is a multidisciplinary artist who has created a name for themselves in fashion and art through their do-it-yourself mentality. Amassing attention through self-directed vignettes, they've become a constant collaborator with historic fashion houses like Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, Maison Margiela, among many others. Whether in front or behind the camera, Tyler has deftly established themselves as dually creator and muse of their unique creative vision.

tops EKKE
pants and boots MM6

Your work blends fashion, art, and storytelling. How did your journey begin as an artist?

When I was younger, I never once thought to myself “I’m going to be an artist one day.” It just sort of happened. One day, I discovered that I liked clothes, thanks to my older sister. Another, years down the line, I discovered I liked photos. From then on, I was a sponge: consume, dissect, consume, dissect. Little by little, parsing out the things I respond to, and with time, educating myself on the dialogue that exists between the two, and how the two can work in tandem to create something larger than their equal parts.

Having grown up in the American Midwest, how did you first connect to the fashion world? How did your distance from the fashion world shape your perspective?

You could say I was a little Nigel, Stanley Tucci‘s character in ‘The Devil Wears Prada’. In my hometown, there was only one bookstore. I’d go and sit in the back with my giant stack of fashion magazines, flipping for hours. From a young age, I knew I wanted some slice of the pie before my eyes, I just didn’t know what that might entail, and I surely never anticipated what I was yet to be served in the future. But being so far from everything fueled my drive to forge my slice, which is why there’s irony in the “do-it-yourself” part of my practice, because I had no choice. If it weren’t by my hand, no one else was going to hoist me out of there, out of Arkansas.

coat WHO DECIDES WAR
headpiece SIDEARA
shoes ZOE GUSTAVIA ANNA WHALEN
brief STYLIST’S OWN

jacket and skirt LUAR
headpiece HEATHER HUEY

The impression of your work seems to be a carefully crafted singular vision of your own. How does collaboration play a role in your creative process?

If I’m to be completely honest, collaboration is something I’m actively learning to embrace. Admittedly, I was the sort of kid who overtook every group project because I needed the presentation to read or look a certain way, but I’m proud to announce that I’m officially a convert. To feel the synergy flow between a group of people who you admire to make a story come to life, there’s nothing else like it.

You've collaborated with several historic fashion houses like Saint Laurent and Balenciaga. What has been the most memorable project or collaboration?

You can’t pick your favorite child, but it’d have to be my fashion week at home in LA.

I’d reached out to a few of my favorite brands to model and direct my own mock campaign stories while I took a break from the fashion month rat race. It turned out to be my dream lineup - Balenciaga, Maison Margiela, Prada, Saint Laurent - and my challenge was to immerse myself into their visual language. Comprehensively, I think that was one of the most creatively fulfilling months of my life pouring myself into those. I remember the night after sharing the Balenciaga installment I had strangers coming up to me in LA congratulating me on my campaign. I still even get compliments on it to this day.

shirt ALEXANDER MCQUEEN
briefs, stockings, shoes, eye mask STYLIST’S OWN

jacket and pants FERRAGAMO
socks ZOE GUSTAVIA ANNA WHALEN
slippers STYLIST’S OWN

Your self-directed vignettes have gained a lot of attention. What does your creative process look like for those stories?

It all sort of depends on what the initial seed is. If we’re talking about my brand-focused work, I research through their archive of campaign imagery, pick out the visual bits that I find interesting, supplement them with more contemporary works that I think may be scratching at the same itch, and then from that I have a base to start carving out what I want to say. Then comes the more practical logistics, coordinating the looks, locking in time and the location, capturing the images, and then finally, I sit and stare at photos of myself on my monitor until all the pieces come together.

You’ve reported for Vogue Italia as well as spoken on a panel with Forbes on mastering luxury. How do you prepare for those public speaking opportunities?

I honestly just remind myself over and over that, in the grand scheme of things, the only person watching out for me to stumble is myself, and if I do, to just keep going and never look back. My only responsibility is to communicate my perspective to the best of my ability, not to give an award-winning speech that will shift everyone in the room’s life around me.

jacket, shirt and pants BALENCIAGA
heels STYLIST’S OWN

briefs LUAR
headpiece (MOHAWK) LYNN PAIK
headcap and boots STYLIST’S OWN

top ISEDER

left
briefs LUAR
headpiece (MOHAWK) LYNN PAIK
headcap and boots STYLIST’S OWN

right
jeans and boots DSQUARED2
wings STYLIST’S OWN

What is a fashion, art, or cultural movement that excites you right now?

Wear whatever-the-hell-you-want, mix-match-everything. I want to see things that make me feel something. Give me grit, give me texture, anything.

In the spirit of manifesting, is there a collaboration or project you’d like to let be known to the universe at this moment?

I’ve had my fake billboard, now it’s time for the real one.

jeans and boots DSQUARED2
wings STYLIST’S OWN

left
jacket and skirt LUAR
headpiece HEATHER HUEY

right
briefs LUAR
headpiece (MOHAWK) LYNN PAIK
headcap and boots STYLIST’S OWN

jacket, skirt, pants BALENCIAGA
heels STYLIST’S OWN

TEAM CREDITS:

photography and creative direction TYLER MAZAHERI
styling EMMA OLECK
makeup ALEX LEVY
model ZEKE LINDSEY
photography assistant NICO DANIELS
styling assistant JACK NOVOTNY
production BRADLEY VOISSEM
executive production KENDALL WERTS

IN CONVERSATION WITH TYLER OMEED MAZAHERI

IN CONVERSATION WITH EVAN HOLTZMAN

IN CONVERSATION WITH MARTINA CARIDDI