Black Friday

Black isn’t Michael’s usual colour of choice. “I wear black only on Fridays because it’s the safest colour for casual Friday at work, and for parties after work,” he says. “On other days, my attire is definitely not as dull.” We wouldn’t call this outfit dull, however; after all, black most definitely is a failsafe colour, and we like how his all-black look is tinged with a bit of bohemian flair. His shoes, for example, are from Japanese label Visvim. “I’m a huge fan of Hiroki Nakamura’s design philosophy. I got into him pretty late, but in today’s era of temporary, fast fashion trends, I find his old world approach to materials incredibly fascinating.” Michael isn’t your average designer, as he tells us. “I’ve never had a formal education in design. I practised my craft by ripping websites, such as Depthcore and 2Advanced. I’d like to think I did a pretty convincing job then, as I received a cease and desist letter from their attorney when I was 14,” he says. “I thought it was way cool.” Michael works in advertising now, and although his path wasn’t always clear-cut from the beginning, his general advice is: “Do what you love. Be curious. Make mistakes. Screw up.” It seems that Michael tries to stay open even today, as evidenced by his musing answers when we ask him what else he might be doing if he wasn’t working. “I’d be a musician,” he says. “Or a philanthropist. Or a sushi chef. Maybe a disposable lighter repairman. Professional fish feeder? Depends on which day you ask!” This probably stems from Michael’s wide array of interests, as we find out. “I’m an avid bookworm, electric guitar nerd, Quora addict, shoe nut, and bedroom DJ,” he says. “I have a penchant for collecting too many things. I’ve got so many electric guitar hard cases that they’ve got to be stored in one of the toilets at home.” It seems like Michael’s got quite a colourful character behind his monochromatic exterior.