I first met the 2 of the Four Eyes Blog boys, Alex and Mino, last year at Mercedez Benz Australia Fashion Week in Sydney. Street style photographers, trend-setters, bloggers. I was stoked to run into them again on the top of the Empire Hotel, amongst a sea of bloggers, at a New York Fashion Week shindig on our babymoon 5 month later, where Alex and Mino told me that they’d just launched their photography book!
But it wasn’t until a few weeks ago in Sydney that I finally met all four of EyesEyesEyesEyes. And yeah, they really are a force to be reckoned with. Each armed with a camera, impeccable style, great hair and sometimes a hat, it’s difficult to not stop in your tracks for the awesome foursome. This time, the news was that Mino (3rd from the left) had just collaborated with emerging New Zealand label Daniel K for their showcase at the New Generation show at MBAFW. The collection consisted of bold hues and sharp tailoring in sheer silk organzas that had hearts aflutter. But despite their burgeoning fame, as you will read in the interview below, Cheng, Danny, Mino and Alex are still super relatable and down to earth.
Since I have a decent number of male readers, I thought it would be fun for the boys to share their insights on fashion and style. Oh, and enjoy some of their favourite street style snaps they’ve captured from all over the world!
1. Why do you love fashion so much?
Alex: I know you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover but fashion allows you to portray a personality, a mood or just an aesthetic that you love. It’s the self-expression and interpretation part of street style that I love.
Chin: Fashion allows you to play a character or a role depending on how you’re feeling.
Danny: Whether it’s design, photography or fashion, I think I’m quite a visual person and I’m just very interested in the aesthetics of things and how they can communicate a mood or concept.
Mino: I love it because you can have fun with it. It’s one part of life that you can’t take too seriously and I love the fact that you can be anyone you want to be or dress for a specific mood – the possibilities are endless!
2. How do you create your outfits?
Alex: I like classic silhouettes and usually start with a central piece and build on that. I think that way, you can keep things simple and you don’t have pieces competing with each other that can look over-complicated.
Chin: I sometimes start with a particular item of clothing like a hat or a shoe and base my outfit on that.
Danny: I’m usually inspired by either an item of clothing or accessory, or an image I’ve seen and I just find other elements to create a full look from that.
Mino: I like bold items of clothing, whether this is a colour or a print or and exaggerated silhouette, I like to stand out and be unique rather than blend into the crowd.
3. What are your favourite trends right now?
Alex: For me trends are quite difficult to pin-point as we see so much of so many different styles on the streets when we are photographing, I tend to get inspiration from people and their outfits rather than trends. Having said that, I have noticed the use of zips and metallics a lot recently which is a detail that I like in more structured pieces.
Chin: I’m loving artificial fabrics like polyurethane, mesh and neoprene.
Danny: I try not to follow trends too closely but I do love all the bold, painterly prints we’re seeing everywhere at the moment, like in Céline’s SS14 collection. So fun.
Mino: I love layering as I feel like it never goes out of style so that is one trend that I continue to be drawn to. I’m also loving faux fur at the moment so bring on the Winter wardrobe!
4. What’s on the map for Four Eyes in 2014?
Alex: Who knows! That’s the thing I love about what we do, you never know what you will find yourself working on next. I really enjoyed putting together the FOUREYES book that we published late last year so to work on another project like that or even trying my hand at design would be amazing.
Chin: Travel and hopefully attending more international fashion weeks.
Danny: It’s bound to be another jam-packed year! At the moment I’m just trying to keep on top of what’s currently in our inbox but I’m looking forward to a few more projects and collaborations and some more international travel later this year!
Mino: I just showed a collaboration I did Daniel K at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia as part of the New Generation show and it was the highlight of my life! I would love to work more on design and would love to work on a range of my own – watch this space!
Photos courtesy of FourEyes & Sam Lee
Chinese Translation by Teresa Ruan (Click below to read)
中文版
我第一次见到Four Eyes Blog boys中的Alex 和Mino是去年在Sydney举行的时装周上。街拍摄影师，
潮流缔造者，博主。
我非常兴奋再一次在我怀孕五个月时参加的纽约时装周又见到他们，
并且听闻他们的新摄影书也发行了。但直到几周前我才在Sydney见到他们全部四个人。
他们的确是一支不可忽视的力量。每人都有一架相机，
毫无瑕疵的造型，漂亮的发型有时还带顶帽子，
真的很难不停下来看他们。除了他们迅速增长的名气，
你会在下面的采访中读到，Cheng, Danny, Mino 和Alex还是很接地气滴。鉴于我有一些男性读者，
我想听听这些男生分享他们对时尚和风格的看法应该很有意思。哦，
也请你们欣赏他们在世界各地的街拍。
你为什么这么喜欢时装？Alex：
我知道你不能以貌取人但是时尚可以让你描绘出一个人的个性，
心情又或者是一个你喜欢的美感。
街拍让我喜欢的是它的自我表现和理解。Chin：
时尚让你有机会根据心情扮成一个角色。Danny：无论是设计，
相片又或者是时尚，我觉得我是个挺视觉的人，
我对有美感的东西和他们如何传递心情或概念感兴趣。Mino：
我喜欢它因为你可以得到乐趣。这是生命的一部分你不需要太认真。
我喜欢你可以扮成任何你想成为的人或根据心情着装－
这有无穷无尽的可能性！
你们是如何搭配的呢？Alex：我喜欢传统的轮廓，
通常我找一个重点然后围绕它来构造。
我认为那样可以让你的穿着简单不会相冲不会过分复杂。Chin：
我有时从某一样东西开始像是帽子或鞋子然后以它为基准穿衣。Da
nny：
我经常从衣服的某一样东西或饰品又或者我看到过的一个影像得到灵
感，然后我找其他元素来创造一个完整的样子。Mino：
我喜欢衣服上有醒目的东西，可以是颜色，花纹或夸张的轮廓，
我喜欢不一样有特点而不是融入人群。
你现在最新欢的流行趋势是什么？Alex：
对我来说趋势很难定义因为在街拍时看到各种各样的造型，
我的灵感通常来源于人和他们的服装而不是趋势。话虽如此，
我发现最近用拉链和金属的东西较多，
这也是我喜欢的有结构的服装的细节。Chin：
我喜欢人造纤维好像聚亚胺酯，网眼材质和氯丁橡胶。Danny：
我尽量不那么紧追潮流趋势但是我仍然爱我们现在看到的所有醒目的
艺术的图案，就像时Celine2014年春夏季的服装。
很有意思。Mino：我喜欢层次因为我觉得他永远不会过时，
这个趋势一直吸引着我。我现在也很爱假的皮草，冬季行头快来吧！
Four Eyes 在2014年有什么打算？Alex：谁知道呢？
这就是我喜欢现在从事的事情的原因，
你永远不知道你接下来会有什么项目。我非常享受去年出版的书FO
UREYES，
所以在做一个类似的项目或者是参与设计都会非常棒。Chin：
旅行或者参加更多国际时装周。Danny：
一定又是行程塞的满满的一年！
我现在在努力做已有的工作但是我很向往接下来的项目与合作还有年
底会有更多的国际旅程！Mino：我刚刚在澳洲时装周展示了作为
New Generation秀和Daniel K的合作，这是我一辈子的最精彩的一次！
我很想在参与设计或有自己的一个系列 － 大家要关注我们哦！