June 22, 2011 |
FROM THE VAULT (SUMMER 2008)
Stephen Gan: Co-founder, Visionaire
Not too long ago I was called to a meeting with Stephen Gan at the all-white offices of Visionaire, the Visionaire gallery, V Magazine and V Man. I was very excited because I was told it was about a top-secret, really exciting upcoming project that he thought I would be perfect for. So I put on my favourite “fashion-forward but business-orientated” suit and headed down Mercer Street – just imagine my excitement when I’m told that Stephen has asked me to write a story to accompany a breathtaking story on Stephanie Seymour, which was photographed by Mario Testino.
Here I am, sitting at a desk with Stephen, thinking how fabulous a writer I am and how I’m finally getting some of the respect that I deserve, and then, out of the blue, he says the most amazing thing: “I think you would be really great for this story. Stephanie is really amazing, and you need to have someone who gets it, who gets that kind of decadence. So I immediately thought of you, and Lady Bunny. But I thought we’d ask you first.” Lady Bunny? What the hell? Me and Lady Bunny? Like we have so much in common, like our writing styles have so much in common? Thank you, Stephen.
Only later did I realise that, as the ultimate multi-tasker, that was kind of a compliment coming from Stephen. In a way, he wouldn’t be surprised if I was not only a full-time fashion writer but also a part-time drag queen. In fact, I don’t think he would have been surprised if I showed up at Stephanie Seymour’s manse in Connecticut for our little interview with fake tits in, a pink beehive wig and more sequins than a gay bar in Orlando, Florida. Just because I’m one thing doesn’t mean I can’t be another.
Since his early days in fashion, when he moved to New York from the Philippines, Stephen did everything. He was a photographer, stylist, art director, writer, muse, drawer, dancer, party boy, club kid and sometimes model. When he was the fashion editor at Details in the early 1990s, he was still in college and still styling and taking pictures when he wasn’t in the office or the classroom. He was only 25 when he and the gorgeous Cecilia Dean and make-up artist James Kaliardos started Visionaire. Gan is a man who has dedicated his life and work to the inspirational image, to the pursuit of fashion and beauty and that perfected moment recorded on the page. And he’s done it his whole life.
So, in hindsight, I guess I shouldn’t be offended at the thought that he might see a little bit of Lady Bunny in me. Don’t get me wrong – I would have preferred writer/actor or writer/male model or writer/physicist/inventor/ gallerist. But I guess writer/tranny isn’t that bad. I’ve been called worse.
by Derek Blasberg
