Kent Anthony: Closet Craftsman
Kent Anthony is an inspiring emerging designer, a stylish individual, and a confident fashion icon. His brand Kent Anthony is a “multidisciplinary design practice that delivers reimagined classic looks showcasing a combination of soft tailoring, complex minimalism, and art forward design.” Kent Anthony has a background in Track and Field where he played the sport in high school and college which helped inspire his new ready-to-wear collection. Track and Field inspires his clothing pieces because he feels athletes' uniforms are similar to body armor. His brand is meant to have buildable clothing items, and he has pieces that are worn for many different occasions and events. With his background in the fine arts, Kent Anthony's goal is to create an enriching experience for customers through his clothing designs. Kent Anthony finds fashion inspiring because it allows him to try and test different looks while still being his authentic self. Kent Anthony is a naturally calm, charismatic, and highly innovative emerging designer!
Special thank you to the incredible photographer, Amelia Hammond, who made this closet portrait come to life.
How did you develop your personal style & how did it evolve?
My personal style has developed and changed over the years. I think it's pretty clear that I take direct inspiration from whatever creative mood I'm in. When I was younger, I was doing a lot of drawing and painting, working a lot with colors, and my personal style kind of reflected that. Now I'm in a bit more in a design space, things feel a bit more minimal, a bit more architectural, & a bit more refined. But I think that my style is always a reflection of whatever creative inspired moment I'm living in.
Do you remember a time in your life when getting dressed gave you a boost of confidence?
I don't think there's a clearer moment than running track. I think that if you look at the way an athlete performs, their wardrobe is all part of the prep, all part of the process. I ran track throughout high school and college, and I remember in high school when you would go and you'd get ready for a big meet and you'd get in a new uniform, just putting on that uniform…was like you were putting on armor, and so that was always kind of a feeling that I never lost even through college.
What do you wear when you feel most confident?
I feel most confident in, going back to this idea of a uniform, for me, it's high-waisted, wide-leg trousers, a great pair of boots, and a white shirt. That's the perfect outfit. You can't get any better than that. And so, when I feel most confident, that's what I'm wearing! And then, if it's cold, a great piece of outerwear. Keep it simple, keep it sweet.
Can you elaborate more on what track and field means to you and how it inspires your brand?
We sat down with the team and we always just kept coming back to these moments about Track and Field, and so while it is a solo sport, there is such a capacity to learn these really beautiful valuable life lessons and also just to have some fun fashion moments. Whether it is the swag of getting dressed or the attitude of competition, all of these are different little beautiful moments that get retranslated into clothing.
What does your brand symbolize to you?
Kent Anthony is a multidisciplinary design house. For me, it's a platform to be able to kind of push and explore creative boundaries and all assets in many different facets, and so if we look at kind of what the brand symbolizes to me, it's just an outlet for us to come together and push ourselves creatively and create some really beautiful products no matter what space they might fit into.
What do you think about when creating an outfit?
I start with a signature item, and then make sure your silhouettes, your colors, the textures all work within and are complementing that one piece.
If you could describe your brand in one word what would you say?
I think the word I would use is relentless in our pursuit of our craft, relentless in our pursuit of pushing creative boundaries, and relentless in our pursuit of telling stories.
Where do you get your style inspiration from?
I get inspired by life every day, just by living, by walking around, seeing new places, traveling, and by the people around me.
How important are silhouettes to an outfit and how do you find the right one?
I think silhouettes are really important and it's, once you understand it, it's a really powerful tool that you can use to manipulate your outfit or how you're perceived. I think that, for example, you can make yourself look taller, you can make yourself look shorter, you can make your shoulders look broader, you can make your waist look smaller…It's probably one of the key factors in being able to communicate what you are looking for.
Favorite way to find new brands?
My favorite way to find a new brand is through friends. I'm not a huge social media guy, and I think that Instagram can get a bit overwhelming. But I like to know what my friends are wearing, what they think is cool, and let those people kind of put me on to new things.
Your anti-gatekeeping advice for fashion?
As far as anti-gatekeeping goes, I would just say, I don't know if I have advice, but as somebody who's running, as an emerging designer, if you like our work, share it! Fashion is not the easiest space to be in all the time. And so we can use all the support that we can get. Trying to keep something new and hot and fresh is a cute concept, but in reality, we need eyeballs on our work. We put a lot of energy and time into what we do, and so the more eyes the better!
If you could swap closets with one person, who would it be and why?
It would be Lenny Kravitz. Lenny's been my style icon for as long as I can remember. And I would love to go shopping in his closet. Also, I would love for him to go shopping with me!
What's a major fashion red flag?
Oh fashion red flags there are so many and there's at the same time none at all, and kind of what I mean by that is there are so many things that personally I don't love the aesthetic of like Crocs, shorts, athletic apparel, and Uggs. But at the same time whenever I start talking too much crap about one thing, especially in New York, you see somebody out on the street just killing it!
Tell us about the four fits we shot and the occasions, styles, & vibes you associate with each!
Look 1: “The first is our raincoat, and with the whole idea of kind of these looks, I wanted to be able to show that these outfits are buildable, so you'll see kind of the same shirt and the same pants as in look one, then we threw a jacket over it, and we kind of built outfits out like that, in that way, for everything. These are all kinds of just looks that I would wear throughout my everyday life, whether I'm just running around, running errands, or going to the store…all of the looks are just more of an everyday situation.”
Look 2: “The black jacket with all the white stitching, with the matching pants and the draped t-shirt, is kind of my version of sweatpants, super dressed down, super comfortable, pretty relaxed silhouettes…You can still be comfortable and still be put together.”
Look 3: “Then when we look at my version of a suit, that's the gray jacket with the matching trousers and the printed shirt underneath. That is kind of a very 70s, a little 70s vibe. Big collars, that's about as formal as I get. And so, that would be something that I would wear out if you would normally wear a suit.”
Look 4: “There's not a huge gap between my sweatpants look and my dinner suit look. Kind of just living all in this middle ground is just personally where my style is and where I like to be.”
