interview † sebastian simon

If unicorns had a human form and lived in Denmark, they'd be Sebastian Simon. (The gorgeous glittery unicorns with fabulous manes, not the weird virgin sacrifice Harry Potter unicorns.) I've enjoyed Sebastian's look, style, and attitude for a while now so I had a lot of fun putting together this interview for Amen. It turns out we have very similar beliefs about why beauty and fashion are such a big part of our lives, what style really is, and how important it is to be yourself.

Thanks so much, Sebastian. <3 Kisses from Salt Lake City!

How do you define what you do? Are there statements or messages that you're intentionally trying to get across through your videos and social media, or are you just being yourself and putting it out there? What made you decide to do it?

I think what I do is experiment with different things to find out what I like and where I want to go with it. For the past year or so I have been making videos on Youtube and getting involved with some really talented and creative people and it's been a lot of fun for me, but I feel like I've also learned a lot about myself. Seeing as so many people can so easily take part in whatever you are doing on Youtube, I feel like I have a good amount of people listening and supporting and it makes it a lot easier to reach out and share your beliefs. I guess behind all the beauty and fashion, what I'm really trying to get across is that whoever you are, you should always feel free to be who you want, that if you have respect for others you will get respect back, and that you should never let other people bring you down for the way you dress, do your makeup or dye your hair. I hope that by putting myself out there so much, I can inspire more people to also fight for their right to do whatever they want.

What's your favorite trend right now? What's your least favorite? I can't get enough of the galaxy print but I have my fingers crossed that the neon phase will fade soon.

At the moment I'm loving sad flower prints for fall mixed with everything violet, purple and magenta. Seeing all kinds of baroque inspired items coming out is very lovely. I have a love/hate relationship with trends though, all the mainstream fashionistas and popsingers dyeing their hair in bright colors and wearing studded jackets and shoes was fun at first, but if you've had a love for that for years and years it gets a little awkward when people suddenly see you as being ''mainstream trendy."

What are some pieces that you're totally lusting after? I'm all about the Jeffrey Campbell x Black Milk collaboration.

Oh my.. I'm kind of in a dont-buy-anything-you-dont-absolutely-need time of my life, seeing as I will be moving to Copenhagen very soon. I guess you could say that I've grounded myself from shopping. I am however on the look for the perfect pair of flatforms, and I am sort of eyeing the Jeffrey Campbell Stinger Spike. Asos also have a very fabulous Barbie meets cats meets the 80's sweatshirt/jogging pants suit, and I wouldn't mind getting that either. It may sound sort of horrible and tacky, but with just the right styling.. Ughh, so good.

I grew up (and still live in) a very conservative area and there were instances when I was young where a teacher or another adult would come up to me and straight out say, "You can't wear that here. You have to change your look or you have to leave." Of course, for me, being told I couldn't do something just made me want to do it more. Have you ever had someone tell you that you couldn't be yourself, or that you had to be a certain way to belong?'

Yes, absolutely! I was never really that great with people trying to change the way I am. I grew up playing with Barbie dolls and dressing up as fairies with long wigs and parents who would tell me the facts about what other people might think of me, but still be there to support me as long as it made me happy. In school the teachers would have meetings about the way I dressed and whatever in the world they should do about it, when in fact I had good grades and was very social when I wanted to be. I kept telling them off and today I'm so happy I never tried to hide myself to please others, whether it would be teachers, fellow students or anyone else! Actually.. I think sometimes I liked to look even more extreme, just to piss people off, knowing that they could do nothing about it. Oh, the early teenage years. Denmark isn't very conservative, but you can certainly get your amount of immature comments your way if you are different than most others.

Who are your style icons?

Screaming girls! No really, girls in bands screaming and being wild and crazy always inspired me a lot. I also love style icons from Audrey Hepburn to Siouxsie Sioux to the people you see online or in real world who just look like nothing you've seen before. I think you can easily buy good looks and fashion, but style is something you're born with and that's why it's so easy to point out those who just follow other people's footsteps instead of trying to do their own thing. That's what's inspiring, the people who mix and match and create their own style. I love it. Personally I think contrast can sometimes be the biggest part for me stylewise, and not with colors, but with things I take inspiration from. From colorful mermaids and rainbows and unicorns to the goth rockers in the 80's with big hair and fishnet tights on their arms.

What are your plans for the future? Where would you like to go from here?

To be honest, I have no idea.. If there's anything I've learned it's that you can never be sure of the future. I just wanna keep feeling inspired and happy and getting involved in lot's of exciting projects. I never really know where I will end up, but it's definitely going to be somewhere in fashion. I guess I kind of live for style, makeup, shoes, colorful hair and that's the way I'm gonna continue going. All I'm sure of is that you've not seen the last of me, haha!

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