Samuel Davide Hains interview: A few burning questions with Melbourne's 'bucolic jazz socialist'

'I was in Ikea once and I saw a stock painting of Audrey Hepburn​ and was moved to tears'

((Photo: SMH))

A street style segment from the Sydney Morning Herald rained retweets this morning thanks to the ornate and esoteric responses of 24-year-old web developer and general bon vivant, Samuel Davide Hains.

Hains lives in Melbourne, Australia and is currently working on a pop-up that fuses 'exotic Malaysian cuisine and deep, futuristic rap music'. We caught up with him to get some elaboration on that stunning interview.

UPDATE: Welp, it seems Samuel wasn't being entirely truthful. Did I know this all along? No. Did I have my suspicions? Absolutely. Does it ruin these fantastic answers? Hell no.

CH: 'Leon Trotsky meets Albert Einstein meets John Coltrane' is quite the sartorial triumvirate. What are some other historical fashion touchstones?

SDH: Basquiat for spontaneous street energy...like, my fly is undone right now but I'm not going to do it up. We must always embrace spontaneity in our aesthetic and in our creative practice. Linus Torvalds for utilitarian pragma-wear, open source philosophy and sharing the process (like jazz). The Simple Life era Nicole Richie – she gets it.

For the unfamiliar, can you please explain what ‘neo-hippie bush-doof couture’ might look like?

Son of an oil baron enlightened for the weekend at a forest festival, or a sex pest in disguise as a self-consciously grubby spiritual leader with a chain connecting every orifice.

Your self-professed ‘bucolic socialist’ style bring to mind the likes of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Would you consider a powdered wig acceptable for general street wear?

Absolutely. I'm into appropriating the justice system and Melbourne's legal district. Crime and punishment, order and corruption.

Aside from ‘feeling myself’, what other aphorisms speak to you?

'The best thing to hold onto in life is each other' – Audrey Hepburn. I was in Ikea once and I saw a stock painting of her and was moved to tears. Since then I've only smoked Vogues, so elegant. I'm also really into fridge magnet wisdom and ideology, such as 'keep calm and sparkle on'.

Do you have any photos from 'all-orange Fubu with a spray tan'-era Samuel Davide Hains you’re willing to share with us?

No photos remain, they were burned in a house fire in unfortunate circumstances along with my mother's first husband. But it's okay, artifacts of the past prevent one from staying in the present. The only thing that remains is one fateful image from the previous era, when I exclusively dressed as an astronaut. My father was a connoisseur of the cosmos.

(Photo: Samuel Davide Hains)

How can I work dock architecture into my wardrobe? My housemates will scream if I bring home a shipping container.

Life vests because there's something very poetic about an emergency situation. We need to be buoyed along in life. There's also the rich browns of Big Ms and meat pies and the dulled, organic hues of driftwood.

Aside from the docks, what other environments do you source fashion inspiration from?

The spirit of brutalism lives on in the accidental beauty of housing commission flats. Creative office spaces, they are what you make them. You can choose your own adventure, for example, my desk is covered with a curated selection of indoor plants.

Which major player in the 1848 revolutions of Italy do you most admire for their fashion sense?

Garibaldi because his use of neck ties was prescient and foreshadowed the sensitivity of the modern man, while his constant proximity to swords and flag poles affirm the ability to conquer. Such juxtaposition!

You won’t be seen in anything “less than extraordinary”. Can we please get some examples of more of your day-to-day outfits.

I have been getting into the label Vetements lately, like their yellow DHL delivery service shirt. I embrace the futility of subversion in the current fashion paradigm. Also, clergy wear and egg shell drapes.