Brandon Maxwell Is Looking Towards The Light After A Decade In Fashion

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Brandon Maxwell has been making a name for himself in fashion since his namesake label burst onto the scene in 2015. Following his career as a celeb stylist —including Lady Gaga—Maxwell quickly became known for his sharp, sophisticated, and modern collections imbued with inspiration from his Texas roots. Today, he’s reflecting on his ten years in business after a wide swathe of career highs and internal and external challenges. On the eve of his tenth anniversary runway show during New York Fashion Week, the Daily exclusively caught up with Maxwell on lessons from a decade of design, memories from his first-ever fashion show, and important lessons for today’s crop of young designers.

You’re celebrating your 10th anniversary this year. How does it feel to reach that milestone? It feels good. It’s not something I’ve spent a ton of time thinking about. I’m at a place in my life where I’m very much looking forward, and looking back is not always the most interesting to me. In my earlier years, I was interested in looking back at a lot of things. It does feel like an accomplishment, and it’s something I’m working on—to find moments to be proud of myself. When I started, I remember my mom was saying to me, “Well, how will you know if it’s successful? Is there a marker for you that will be something that you will know if it’s successful?” I always said to her, “I think if I’m in business for ten years, that will feel like successful to me.” When I was starting, the landscape was really challenging, so it felt that would be a big deal, to make it to ten years. Now that I’ve lived through those ten years, I realized—and I’m reflecting on it as we go into this show—it is an accomplishment. I’m proud of myself, and, most importantly, grateful for all of the people who have helped me get here. Fashion is definitely a team sport. I haven’t done any of it alone. It’s really weird that you walk out at the runway at the end by yourself, because it’s you’re in a group with people the entire time who are doing it together. I’m just walking into tomorrow with a sense of pride that I’ve kept going, and gratitude for those who have helped me stay the course.

Let’s go back to 2015. What led you to start your own brand while you were a full-time stylist? When I look back, I’m not sure many people had transitioned from being a stylist to a designer. Andrea Lieberman had, but I’m not sure many people had done it. I grew up in a clothing store with my grandmother. I went to school for photography and learned to make clothes, and I was obsessed with fashion photography. Being a stylist gave me the opportunity to interact, have face time and creative time with some of the most important designers in the world. All three of those experiences—my time with my grandmother, my time in art school, and my time being a stylist—were my education. I did not go to school and study to be a fashion designer. When people ask me, “Did you grow up wanting to be a designer?” No, I didn’t even know that was something that was available to me! I did go through a series of things in my life that highlighted my deep love and passion for clothes and dressing women. By the time I became a stylist, having already had the the history of watching women get dressed with my grandmother for years, dressing women for photographs that I would take from 13 years old until I was an adult, and then being a stylist, through all of those I can see that I did love making clothes. I loved seeing how women felt in those clothes, and that interaction between both of us. There was something in me that was bubbling up when I was at my grandmother’s store, and certainly bubbling up when I was teaching myself photography and learning to make fashion photographs. It felt like I couldn’t ignore anymore that there was something coming out of me that felt like, “I have to do this.” I turned 30 when I launched the brand. I felt like it was a “now or never” thing. It’s so interesting that I started at a specific age, because I’m 40 now, going into the 10-year anniversary, and I can see those decades are so defining of my life. I couldn’t ignore the fact that as I was sitting there, working on things, I felt like, “Oh, I’m meant to do this. I need to do this.” I could only have made that decision then, because I actually look back a lot and I’m like, “How did I make the choice to do that? That was wild that I decided I’m just going to start a collection.” As cautious I am at 40, I would never have done it now. But I’m so glad I did do it at 30.

What are some major moments you remember from your debut Spring 2016 runway show at Mr. Chow? My most defining memory from that show is one, all of my best friends were there and helping. Everyone was helping, just running different errands during the day. It was like we were putting on a birthday party. I go to the productions now, and someone’s already building out the show production. There’s all these teams I’m so grateful to work with to handle every little thing. That was not the case ten years ago. We were really in there, “mom and popping” it, all my friends—known, not known, childhood, grandparents—everybody putting stuff together, sweeping the floors, getting everything ready. It was a really joyful time. Obviously, my grandmother has been a big part of my brand, and has been in the campaigns and on the runway with me, and I’ve talked about her a lot. That was probably the last show that she could fully remember, [before] she passed from Alzheimer’s. She was very present at that show, and it was a really proud moment for me, because she raised me so much to be like her. I’ve always felt I was running, racing against the clock to get there for her to see success for me. The second defining memory that I will never forget, is that I made a list of like things before I started, things I hope to achieve in my career one day. One of them was that I dreamed of being at Bergdorf Goodman, as any designer does. I had made that a goal to get into Bergdorf’s in 10 years, and so that would have been today. My friends and family stayed at Mr. Chow after [the show], and Linda Fargo showed up two hours after the show. She met my family, and then she bought the collection. That’s a fairy tale story. It doesn’t happen that often. I was so busy then, and there was so much happening that only now, as I’m saying this to you 10 years in, I recognize that it’s a big deal. Now that I’m saying it and sitting here the day before the show, I’m like, “That is so wild.” She was a champion of mine, and continues to be. That was a “pinch me” moment.

You’ve put on so many shows during your career. What was one of the most challenging to produce or design for, and why? The pandemic collections were very challenging. We have an atelier in the city, and I work with my hands, and that was definitely a challenge. It took me a few years to come back from that. I look back at some of my work, and I’m proud of those collections, but that was a major shift that took adjusting. I have a fear of getting sick. This is something I have—everyone knows. It impacted how I interacted with people, so that’s taken some time to get over. I will still go into the studio now wearing a mask, and I have a lot of nervousness around it, so I worry if everyone else is okay. That took over my psyche for a few years. One collection that that was really, really challenging, that I’m so proud of, that I loved so much, was Fall 2019. That’s probably my favorite Brandon Maxwell show ever. It was logistically very challenging to create. I had just come off of a really big moment, this big Texas show where everybody’s sitting in the back of trucks. It was the Met Gala year. It just this big thing, and I felt a lot of pressure. Fall is not a good season for me—traditionally, I struggle creatively with the weather, the temperatures, and not so much light. I felt such an intense pressure, which took over my mind. Everyone was getting behind me in September, and I felt like, “Oh no, I’m gonna let them down in February.” I remember my mom got sick with breast cancer at the same time, and that was really challenging. It felt like a double thing that was happening, and I had to fight through a lot of mental things to stay very focused, clear, and just try to keep the train on the tracks. I still look at that show today, and I think I was more focused in that show than I’ve ever been. It shows in the construction, and it shows in the quality of the production of the show. I’m really proud of it. It was a major challenge to get there and to get through it, but it’s a bar for myself that I try to always get back to.

Do you have a specific routine, rituals, or traditions you have to do on show days? A latte and a panic attack will get me through. That’s pretty much what I’m doing all morning! The last two shows, I haven’t really panic attacked. Generally, I will wake up and I’ll take Dottie out for a walk. I used to get there really early and observe everything, but I’ve realized that’s not helpful for me, or anyone that I work with, for me to start spiraling earlier than I need to. Every show is different. I’m sensitive very sensitive to, “Is it sunny? What’s the weather? Is it cold?” I go through a range of emotions on show days. It is really challenging for me to put myself out there in front of people. It may seem like it’s not, because I’ve been doing it for a while. I am a pretty homebody person, so I do have a lot of social anxiety. The day can feel very overwhelming for me, and the older I get, I’ve had to try to really, really search for normalcy on a very abnormal day for me. And if I don’t, we’re not in a good place. But the last couple shows, I’ve been able to root myself in normal routines during the day that make it more fun. In the end, if I go into it super stressed, everyone’s going to be stressed. But if I just walk Dottie, stay home for a bit, put my headphones in and try to read the paper and do normal things, then we’re going to be good.

You’ve been sharing your own reviews and behind-the-scenes stories of your past runways on Instagram. How did that start? My best friends were pushing me to do that! For the last couple years, I stopped being on social as much. I was trying to figure out how to have a life. I’ve been so into my work for so long, and I really was trying to understand balance and coming into full adulthood. People came to the brand because I was, in the very beginning, pretty open with sharing myself and talking with people. That is very much who I am. Before the last show, I just wrote a little thing on the grid, just acknowledging I’ve not really been around, I’ve been here the entire time working really hard, but I just haven’t been sharing myself as much. In that letter that I wrote, I said I want to be out there a bit more, so I’m going to do that. These videos were a good step for me to make good on that promise to be out there more. And they’ve actually been fun! I don’t really know how to make TiKToks, and that’s been a journey. I had to figure out green screen—apparently, to be on a green screen, you have to be on a white wall. You can’t just be walking around your living room! I’ve had to learn how to do concise thoughts, which I’m not good at—I’m not short on words! You have to make a hook, talk in two minutes, and get in and out. That’s not my thing, but I’m getting better at it. It’s been really fun to relive them, to laugh a bit, and to learn a new skill. I’m not great with technology. It’s not that I’m a millennial—I wasn’t even good with technology when I was nine years old!

You won our Best Designer Debut trophy at the 2016 Fashion LA Awards, which Lady Gaga presented to you! What do you remember about that night? My number-one memory from that is spending time with Alber Elbaz. I have always had such a deep love and respect for him, and any face time that I was able to ever have with him was so meaningful. I had so many good laughs with him, and he made so many jokes about me, and at me, and with each other. It’s something I really hold on to. I always felt lucky to be in his presence. I think he was one of the greatest ever. Kindness and talent don’t often go together, right? He was all the right things, and is deeply missed. I always reflect on that night and think about the little jokes he made with me, and things he said. That’s such a standout memory for me that I’ll always have.

You have very close ties of Lady Gaga, so have to ask; have you been to the Mayhem Ball yet? Yes! I went a couple times last week. My sisters landed last night, on the couch, and they went to see her when they landed. She’s always extraordinary. She is putting on a great show. I loved it!

What advice do you have for young designers who want to launch their own brands today, especially when the industry’s changed so much? It’s certainly a choppy environment. That being said, creativity is always valuable, always matters, and is always important—now more than ever. Something for me that has always kept me going is engaging in arts and creative mediums that remind me there is joy and beauty in the world when it can feel otherwise bleak. The passion that you have for something is important, and should be walked towards and chased. The most defining theme for me over these last ten years has been the word “success,” and what does it mean to me? The world will change. You will change. What will never change is that you’re always trying to find the bar, or you’re trying to gauge where you sit and where you matter. Before you do anything, sit with yourself as much as you can. I wish someone had told me this when I was younger, to be really clear on what success means for you. When I was younger, success meant maybe a lot of people will love me, like me, or fill in something for myself that I don’t necessarily have filled in yet. Or it would be a store, or it would be an award, or a magazine cover, or validation from a certain person. For me, success now means something vastly different than it meant 10 years ago. I’m able to ride things really differently, and because of that, I’m able to engage with my work in a more honest, real way. Success for me is not about outward validation. It’s, “Am I looking at my work when I come home, and is the work evolving? Is the work growing? Is the work intellectually taking risks, in a way that it wasn’t ten years ago? Through all the good and the bad, have I grown?” I have to know that beforehand, and it’s taken me 10 years to get there. So many of the failures that I’ve had for myself, or missteps that I’ve had, have been because I wasn’t clear on who I was—and therefore I would let opinions of others define that for me. Being clear on what success is for you is really, really, really important. Really sticking close to that when things don’t always go your way—in a career, they won’t! Not everything will be perfect in a career, if you’re lucky to have one. The last thing I’ll say is, ten years in, is obviously I’m in a heightened state of emotion 24 hours before a show. But I feel super grateful for all my failures. I really feel very honored to have had the successes too, and so grateful for the people who’ve given them to me. I’m really proud of the work I’m making, I’m really proud of the person I’ve become. It’s taken me ten years and a lot of missteps, and it’s made my work more interesting and more layered. I would say for people to do it. Don’t listen to any person who’s already doing it. Your journey will be your own. You’ll look back at some point in your life. Hopefully, you’ll have ten years to reflect on it all.

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