Evan Mock is launching a three-part collection with RVCA. He talks to Vogue about the collaboration, Hawaiian style, and filming that highly-anticipated GossipGirl reboot
by recently modeling for Calvin Klein, Gap, and Louis Vuitton. But even though he’s transitioned into the world of high fashion, Mock tellsthat his laid-back approach to style continues. He grew up surfing and skating in his native state, after all. “I still walk around shirtless everywhere,” Mock says. “Being in Hawaii, I was also in board shorts all the time. But I don’t do that in New York as much.
After taking over the runways—and, soon, our TV screens—Mock is dipping his toes into design as well. Tomorrow, he launches the first of three collections he created with RVCA, the Californian lifestyle brand specializing in surf and skate clothes. “It’s really special because it’s so intertwined with my family heritage and Hawaii’s history,” says Mock. “It’s all things I want to wear.” He wanted the clothes to be timeless and classic in spirit, in addition to channeling his Hawaiian roots.
For the ongoing collaborations, Mock wanted to involve his family in Hawaii, as a way to nod to his roots. “I wanted to glorify what my family members’ talents are,” says Mock. His dad, for instance, made the palak-print surfboard fin. “He’s been making fins since the ’70s; he’s done the fins for everyone in the surf world, like Gerry Lopez,” says Mock. “I base my whole work ethic around him. He touches everything by hand and is involved in the process from A to Z.