Taylor says that for him, style is incorporating his surroundings and developing his own interpretation of what he sees. He is from a small, “WASP-y” town on the Gulf of Mexico in Alabama - “we go sailing on the weekends.” His life is a visual journal, communicated through his grandfather’s cardigans and WWII sunglasses, his grandmother’s broaches, a studded bow tie and jackets given to him by friends, and a black leather bomber from the Lower East Side. Interior design and painting are all included in his illustrated story, but it’s done with huge overtones of humor and irony. Madonna, among other things, were windows into “another world” as a child. Thus, he painted a larger-than-life portrait of her in his bedroom, which he finds “liberating.”

I admire that Taylor feels so deeply about the people in his life, and that he feels more compelled to wear their things rather than the latest and greatest. He says that he would rather have a hug than a new bag, and he feels that we are heading towards a time where humanity means more to people than consumption. Taylor is clearly not short on depth in his thinking, and he feels a tremendous connection to the South and to his Baptist heritage, both of which have provided him with the belief that to receive positivity, you have to give positively.

When we came to shoot Taylor, he had made an apple pie for us. This was not only a testament to one of his favorite symbols in pop culture, the apple, but also to his very apparent gratitude towards life in general.

If you like Taylor, you might also enjoy Paul Johnson-Calderon, Rachel Ballinger, or Jack Sehnert.