When you think of fashion designers -- if you do -- you think of Versace and Yves St. Laurent fluttering through the room in a cloud of lavender and perfume, saying "Darling, reduce the hem by a quarter inch! This sash is hideous! And be sure to confirm my dinner with Liza and Tom at La Petite Huître. I had their confit de canard en feuille d'or last week."
Left: Edgar Ramirez as Versace
You don't think of a mountain man with a long beard and multiple tattoos. But here he is, Spencer Phipps, changing the world of fashion with his line of affordable, environmentally friendly, Western-inspired men's clothing.
Spencer grew up in San Francisco and attended the Parsons School of Design in New York, where he tried to combine his interest in fashion and men to create comfortable, durable designs suitable for the no-nonsense generation. After graduating, he worked for Marc Jacobs in New York and Dries Van Noten in Antwerp before moving to Paris to start his own brand.
Phipps Designs was a finalist in the LVMH prize in 2019 and a runner-up in the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund in 2024.
Spencer doesn't use many models, preferring to model his designs himself. Here he prepares for New York Fashion Week.
Designing and the gym keep him busy, but occasionally Spencer takes time to indulge in masculine beauty. The boyfriend on the left is Mathieu Chevalier, a French fashion model who has appeared nude on occasion.
Here Spencer and model Timo Nuñez shoot "A Story of Shorts" at the Tom of Finland Foundation for Out Magazine. Is that a confessional or a glory hole, guys?
More of Tino and Spencer after the break. Caution: Explicit.