Workwear: Artist Rob Ryan on the clothes he wears, and what they mean to him

London Fashion Week is fast approaching, so we decided to cover it in our very own special way: visiting artists and creatives and interviewing them about the garments they wear day to day. First up is Rob Ryan, a visual artist whose romantic paper-cut works bring squishy happiness to cold hearts all over the world.

We visited Rob at his east London studio, which is full of overflowing shelves of printed matter and the sweet sounds of Todd Rundgren coming from the speakers. The nice thing about Rob is that most of his clothes come from friends: people he’s shared studios with, or pals that have printed T-shirts or jumpers at some stage. Rob was even kind enough to slip on a charming denim boiler suit when we asked him – what a gent! Here he is on what fashion means to him.

What are you wearing today?

These are my standard work clothes. I don’t live around here, so I cycle to work. Basically I’m normally in pure Lycra. So what I do is I just bomb over here and change into my work clothes. These are my work shoes – I bought these 14 years ago and have worn them every day since. There’s an interesting story behind these shoes, I was walking down the King’s Road and it started raining really, really heavily. I was with my wife and we went into Office, and it rained for so long, like half an hour, and it was torrential – so I had to buy something.

These were the cheapest shoes in the shop, I think they were about £25 and they are so good – I have worn them every single day since, when they finally go I’ll be really upset. They’re Nikes! Funny little shape. These socks are from Marks and Spencer: I get all my knickers and socks from there. I’ve got a Barbour that I wear on the weekend, it’s practical and has big pockets for my asthma inhalers and my phone.

What about your trousers?

My trousers are from a company called Old Town and they are incredibly luxurious, really warm. This is the bottom half of a suit actually. I don’t really wear them together, if you wear the jacket with this it’s like being a big teddy bear. This belt sort of goes with my shoes, it’s by a woman called Mimi, she used to have a shop on Cheshire Street off Brick Lane. I kind of know her and have done some work for her, I must have got this off her at some point.

And do you wear different clothes to work than on the weekend?

I don’t really do anything on the weekend. When I get in I take all my clothes off and put on my cut-off shorts and a T-shirt. My home-wear at the weekend is really just jeans and a T-shirt. I don’t do a lot at the weekend, I go to the movies, watch TV, go for a walk…This shirt is from Uniqlo, and the T-shirt I wear underneath says “love ’n’ skate” and was made by my friend Stu.

Do you get a lot of clothes from friends and things then?

Yeah I do. There was this really great girl who I used to share studios with who made sweatshirts, and Stu as well. So you never bought any jerseys, T-shirts or sweatshirts. The vibe was always “Is he throwing it out? I’ll have it."

Do you ever go out and shop for clothes?

At birthdays and Christmas my mother-in-law sends me one of those gift token cards and I always buy a Fred Perry with it. I like a Fred Perry, I like the fabric and the feel of it. I’ve got a few of those. And some Old Town jackets and stuff. I’m not a very dressy person – I don’t think I’ve even got a suit-suit. If I go to a posh private view in Bond Street or whatever I’ll just wear my cycling clothes because I’m on my way home, I’m only popping in so not gonna dress up for it. Although sometimes I think “Wouldn’t it be nice to have a dinner jacket?” But I don’t.  

Did your style chop and change a lot when you were younger?

That is a completely different thing to what I am now, a 52-year-old man. Back then I was obsessed with having the right clothes and the right cut of my trousers. It’s funny when you hear people talk about punk and stuff because history gets rewritten by the kind of people that say “Oh yeah Vivienne Westwood did this” but no kid could afford Vivienne Westwood clothes, they were ridiculously expensive – more expensive than they are now! People used to go to second-hand shops, because everything was flared and baggy, you had to go to second-hand shops to get 1960s trousers that were narrow, and jackets with narrow lapels, then you’d do whatever you liked with them to make them your own clothes. That was the idea.

Was that a big part of culture growing up, that DIY attitude?

It was quite niche, in a school there might be like four or five kids that are into it out of about 100. I got into the Mod scene for a bit – which my mum loved because I looked smart. After that I got into Northern Soul and started to go to all-nighters, and that was a non-fashion thing – no-one cared about what they wore at all. Then it was the 1980s – I was into fashion then I suppose more than I ever was. But still not in a way that I could massively afford to buy designer labels. I remember I had a BodyMap T-shirt and I wore it until it fell apart. And then I had a PX T-shirt. Whatever you could afford you’d get. Weird to think I used to go out in DM’s and cycling shorts! But that was perfectly acceptable in those days.

What about your glasses?

I’ve had this style for about 20 years, so I stuck with this. I think they are just basic RayBans. Before that I had little gold circular ones, that’s what I had for 20 years before that. Do you know I actually go swimming in them, and the only reason I get rid of my glasses is when they get covered in chlorine stains!

Have you thought about trying prescription goggles or lenses?

No. Don’t like them. These days I’ve got a very definite list of what I like and what I don’t like.

The clothes you used to wear back in the day – do you keep any now? I had a hunch you may be something of a hoarder.

Nah! The opposite. Not clothes. I don’t have anything from my childhood or anything. I just get rid of it all.

Workwear

In time for London Fashion Week kicking off on the 20 February, we have spent time travelling around London visiting artists and designers who may or may not be too busy to bother with following fashion, to find out what creative people really wear, and why. From dusty boiler suits and pyjamas, to homemade T-shirts and one-of-a-kind jewellery, the stories behind these creatives’ clothes are far more interesting than they are de rigeur. All photographs were taken by the wonderful Nina Manandhar who created the book What We Wore. Enjoy!