Joe Taylor wants to take on personal, political, and societal issues with his clothing label Denial
Joe Taylor’s creative journey as a designer went from designing a small range of T-Shirts for fun, to classic items that contain a contradictive, or even controversial piece of writing. A prime example of a more controversial creation is one of the pieces he designed ahead of last year’s General Election, with the writing ‘Piss, Shit, Cum and Boris’ on the garment.
“There isn’t so much a process, as just me thinking ‘oh I like that’, then putting a shirt or suit on a table and just planning on where stuff will go,” says Taylor. His ethos is what makes his clothing label, State of Denial, so authentic. He is said to be the designer to bring back the punk fashion-era, but his journey is much more complex than that.
His focus was always working with text, specific phrases or sayings that start to get a more poignant meaning when placed in the context of Denial.
Additionally, he blames his love for clashing classic things and his love of vulgarity for his progression.
“There is something behind foul language in block text on a nice suit that I really, really, enjoy”, he says. “It’s vulgar!”
Running his own clothing brand, however, hasn’t always been on the board for the 23-year-old designer. After having graduated from college, he went to the University of Warwick to study theatre.
Having always wanted to become a professional actor, he pursued drama, while also working in fashion retail, which he recalls as being incredibly frustrating. Throughout this time, another passion awoke, and he started designing his own clothes. He told me that he believes “clothing is the right medium” to bring across his message.
This then takes us back to January 2019, when Denial was born!
Since then, Denial has grown so vast and encompasses so much more. To the question of how he would describe Denial in three words, Taylor hesitates and says that this is very difficult to answer, but the only thing that comes to mind is “strength in weakness”.
Accepting your own weaknesses, toxic masculinity and struggling with mental health issues have had a big impact on Taylor’s life. So much so that he calls them Denial’s heaviest influences. “Denial kind of birthed from various family issues that had a big effect on me,” he says. “Struggling with mental health and masculinity. I have seen so many people bottle up their feelings and repress any anxiety or sadness they have in an attempt to keep up a ‘strong’ personality or just to try and convince themselves that they are fine.”
The young designer’s aim to challenge toxic masculinity and gender is mainly visualized on his Instagram account, which simultaneously acts as the brand’s account. He works closely with other London-based creatives to bring his designs and message to life.
For example, one of his recent, and also most controversial pictures, were shot by local photographer, Will Reid, and modelled by Taylor’s friend Alice, and Taylor himself. It shows Alice wearing the signature Denial suit while holding Taylor, who is wearing nothing except a yellow balaclava, on a leash, accepting his own weakness.
Additionally, to designing clothes, he puts on shows at Brixton’s The Windmill pub. One of them, ‘Last Days of Sodom’, took place on 26th October 2019 and featured bands such as Modern Woman, Rattletooth, Lynks Afrikka, Peeping Drexels and the event’s headliners, Lumer. The bands wear Denial clothing during their sets, which allows Taylor to showcase his work and therefore gives the event an off-fashion week vibe.
Collaborations such as these are the best thing that has come out of Denial so far, Taylor says. He explains: “I think it’s one of the most fun and beautiful things you can do, to create with someone means your art grows more than it would than if you were just working on it by yourself.”
Contrary to what some might believe, Taylor doesn’t think of his work as particularly shocking. He says decidedly: “My aim is definitely not to shock or wake people up, I feel like [having] that as an aim would be incredibly obnoxious.”
Even though Taylor doesn’t want to focus his art on politics, his ethos is that what Denial represents does not co-exist with the greedy and selfish way in which this country is being run. Denial for him is a platform where he can do what he wants to do and open it up as a platform for like-minded creatives.
Listen to Joe's favourite songs below and follow him on Instagram!
Cover photo credits: Will Reid
Johanna is our web-designer and writer, follow her on Twitter!