NOT YOUR TYPE Portrays an Endless Summer in Its Men's Fall/Winter 2017 Lookbook
Founder Louisa Meng showcases her passion for curating streetwear and vintage pieces.
Stylist Louisa Meng is part of a new generation of creatives, using her online platform to amplify her vision of streetwear mixed with vintage pieces. Born and raised in a small suburban city outside of Boulder, Colorado, Meng had bigger ambitions than what she saw in her town. “Being an underdog, especially as a young creative coming into a new community, I’ve never had home field advantage but I love it. It makes me less biased, more observant and more open. I feel like it defines my work and the team around me – they usually are also out of towners or misfits; people that didn’t inherit opportunities or clout by association, but had to work for it. Those are the people I find who are pushing the culture forward,” says Meng.
Along with her passion for style and culture, Meng was interested in engaging more with social trends, gender dynamics, and generational changes, so she launched NOT YOUR TYPE to connect with other like-minded individuals. She chose Squarespace as her platform to showcase her talent. “As someone who has no experience with code or web development, Squarespace made creating my dream website so seamless and intuitive. Since launching, one of the compliments I hear most about NYT is how impressive the website is! It’s my baby.”
Check out her new men’s lookbook above then scroll down and see how she got her start in the art of fashion. When you’re done head over to Squarespace.com to build your own custom website.
Tell us about your personal style
Streetwear mixed with vintage baby girl style (I don’t think that’s a thing but I’m making it mine). My personal style draws from many inspirations in my life, from the pieces I find thrifting to hip hop. I love androgynous pieces I can mix with feminine touches — a band tee with knee high boots, a lace top with vintage joggers. Whatever it is, the real test is if I can still go out in it and fuck it up one time on the dance floor.
What’s your earliest fashion memory?
Probably thrifting for the first time and realizing how many gems I would find that had to be given up, sitting on a rack for $3.99 and NO ONE had grabbed it yet… like so many things had to happen for me to find that one of a kind piece in that store on that day. That still is mind blowing to me. Everytime.
What’s the history behind Not Your Type?
NOT YOUR TYPE was the subsequent of many years of thrifting, styling, content creation and experience in grass roots marketing. At the time I decided I would start the brand (winter of 2016), I had been fashion blogging as a side project for maybe 4 or 5 years but I realized I was hitting a ceiling. I wanted more points to connect past a computer screen, to be more tangible, to create something that can be shared and consumed by the audience I was trying to connect with.
Tell us about your first menswear collection?
The vintage I curated for the NYT menswear line is for the guy in the room that is both effortless and expressive. Maybe he’s not the most obvious or the loudest in the room but there’s something about him you want to pay attention to. I think the biggest challenge with vintage is the mass appeal of vintage being about designer brands – but as much as I love finding a vintage Giorgio Armani bomber as the rest of them, I think a guy who pulls off vintage in a more subtle way has just as much swag. I wanted the men’s collection to be where you can buy an old school Tommy Hilfiger jacket AND cop a more inconspicuous piece for its vintage fit and style.
What would you say is your niche or trademark?
Style with substance – NYT curates the wardrobe and creates the content that strays away from typical product narratives so each piece can be seen as a standout and part of an ensemble simultaneously.
How important was building an online presence for you? And how has an established online store really helped your brand?
Building an online presence was instrumental establishing the brand’s identity and the product narrative. Since the clothes are so versatile and unique, an online store and social media has really helped me showcase how each piece can be reimagined through styling and for vintage in particular, I think that’s key. I had created a website for my blog via Squarespace before putting together the website for NOT YOUR TYPE but it was no where near as intricate, so developing the website for NYT was definitely a whole different beast of a project.
How does your Squarespace template exemplify your style?
There was so much more than just the clothes that went behind building the brand that I wanted the site to be equal parts visual and contextual. The template I chose allowed me to showcase that in an elegant and seamless way.
Any future collaborations or projects?
The brand recently curated and produced an editorial shoot that highlights the underground creative community from photographers to models to producers to dancers, the project wants to provide a glimpse at some of the most promising and dynamic influencers that are making an impact in counter-culture, often times under the radar.
