Looklyn: Ballad of a ‘beautiful broken-hearted brown boy’

By Johnny Cirillo

Personal style isn’t the same thing as fashion. It’s … more personal. It’s rooted in self, an outward expression of attitude, vibe, swag, panache, aspiration, time and place. In this semi-regular series called Looklyn, we hold a mirror up to the borough to show us how we dress now … and what it tells us about who we are.

Here, photographer Johnny Cirillo introduces us to Julián, who is a little bit “Soul Train” dancer, and a little bit Rhinestone Cowboy. Read more about him below.

Name: Julián Carlos
Age: 26
Occupation: Teacher, wannabe runway model, aspiring stylist
Where are you heading?: To take the Whitney Houston record to my friend
Fashion inspo: My fashion inspirations are all over the place. Sometimes I want to look like a “Soul Train” dancer, other times I want to dress like a rhinestone cowboy. Sometimes I want to dress like a rap star, other times I want to dress like a video vixen. I think it’s safe to say that music is my biggest inspiration for my fashion.
About the fit: The biker jacket is something that I thrifted at Walter’s Wonders in Williamsburg, the shirt is Wrangler that I also thrifted. The pants I got on somewhere on the internet, and these boots came with me from Austin, Texas, the goodwill on Riverside to be specific.
About me: I am a beautiful broken-hearted brown boy with big dreams from Austin. Fashion is something that I have always enjoyed since being very young. Being a queer Puerto Rican boy from central Texas who’s parents are from New York, I am grateful to benefit from the intersectionallity, versatility, and dichotomy that comes with those worlds. My personal brand is 50 percent high fashion, 50 percent hood rat, but 100 percent silly. My goal is to have fun and inspire others to be comfortable enough to do the same. We’re all dying; might as well look cool while we’re doing it.