By Kelly D. Harrington | Photography Ebi Kagbala
Some people try to downplay their presentation like their image isn’t important, but it is. It gets you in doors and allows you to stay in,” says Kevin Stewart. And he should know. After all, his “Professor Badass” moniker comes from a 2008 photo taken of him simply strutting down the street in his normal, everyday mode that went viral. As a fashion, creative or style director for some of the largest titles in the publishing world, including ESPN The Magazine, Vibe and Details, in addition to once working as a visual merchandiser for luxury retailers Saks Fifth Avenue and Barneys New York, Stewart has long been at the forefront of dictating fashion trends, not following them.
But when did fashion happen for him? Although he admits, “my father dressed his ass off,” his fashion career took its cues from his music career. “In the early ’80s, I was getting into a rock band and [the two] kind of go hand in hand. You play and you can dress up. And then I got a job and I started shopping, and it all went from there.”
About seven years ago, he moved into a new arena to create Roger Charles New York, an upscale men’s shirt line harkening back to the 1800s. The line, however, didn’t take off until he refashioned it earlier this year, on New Year’s Day actually, as Old School Shirt Makers New York.
“Roger Charles wasn’t sexy,” he admits. “It was very [much] based in tradition, Americana and the 1800s. Old School Shirt Makers kind of revved me up with real shirt making that makes a man stand out in a room [today].” In addition to Daddy Badass’ crucial assist and music’s influence, Stewart also counts the ’70s blaxploitation era as hugely impacting his celebrated sense of style and that of many others. Jim Kelly, Jim Brown, Fred Williamson and Melvin Van Peebles’ film Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song, Stewart says, have all helped create what he describes as today’s American man: “A man who wants to be fly, a man who’s confident, like American men used to be.”
And his philosophy is not just reflected in his wardrobe; it has permeated his life. While working as the fashion director of Savoy magazine, he did a bold and unprecedented shoot in Egypt. “I decided that Savoy needed a photo shoot that was global, and the opportunity came up to shoot in Giza and Sharm el-Sheikh, which is where the very rich Arabs go for holidays and vacation. So we just went. All-black crew.”
Stewart didn’t ask permission either. “If you wait around for a consensus from a committee,” he says, “you’ll be waiting a long time to do anything. You kind of just have to put yourself out there. You can’t be creative and worry about what’s the right thing to do. You have to go with your gut.”
But life has not come without unexpected complications. When he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis seven years ago, just as he delivered the Roger Charles line, everything almost came to a screeching halt and he thought he might not live at all.
“The world kind of stopped turning, and I stopped walking,” Stewart reflects. “I had really been living life to the fullest before that happened. So it didn’t really change my way of thinking, I just had to change how I operated.” That wasn’t easy at first. “I physically could not walk. I was holding on to the walls of my house. My eyes would turn, but my brain was telling me it was turning the other way. So there were a lot of things that changed,” he says. “MS is a very life-altering disease. I learned a lot about the human body. More than anyone should know.”
Through diligent medical treatment, Stewart regained his life. “When things started to slowly come back to center,” he says, “I was like, ‘Well, I can keep on living.’” And he’s done just that. “Smell it, see it, that’s all part of living to me. I want to see it. I don’t want to miss a thing.”
Not content to be dismissed as an “urban” menswear designer, Stewart is confident his designs are imbued with the vision of what he believes America needs. “I [want] somebody who looks like me, in my skin color, to leave an impression upon the fashion community on a global scale, on a Ralph Lauren–type scale, on a Calvin Klein–type scale,” he says. Class is clearly in session.
