This content can also be viewed on the site itoriginatesfrom.
And Ando can feel it.
As with many artists, what seems like an overnight success story was actually years in the making.
Joe Ando
It made him crave stability, he says.
So much so that a job in a steady field like finance was initially the goal.
But, I failed statistics.
Alexander Chen, Joe Ando
From there, Ando made a U-turn.
A big one: fashion school.
I honestly just walked by [FIT] on my way to an acting class, he says.
They were like, Thats not a good reason, he says with a laugh.
Who knows when its going to end?
(I have another dress to make by Friday, he explains.)
Read on for the discussionand for details of his forthcoming ready-to-wear collectionbelow.
Glamour: Hows your Fashion Week so far?
I usually have to just keep making things.
Its like my hands [need to] sew, I cant really stop.
I need the hours, but Im trying to be better about it.
So yeah, Im balancing it.
Your parents have creative jobs.
How did that influence your decision to pursue a creative career?
Did their paths encourage you?
I think you just kind of come to learn that stability is not really a thing.
I was fully out of options on that front.
My plans always change.
Like I said, [I dont] really have a plan.
Tell me more about working with Ella Emhoff and collaborating on the dress she wore for the DNC.
We had a mutual friend.
I know of Ella because of her knitwear work, which I love.
She does these awesome knit canvases.
She knew of me and nicely enough was like, I really wanted to go with an indie designer.
She was nice enough to buy into the experience and want to be a part of the design process.
She was very involved in the whole thing.
Theyre like, Nah, if the colors good, Im good.
Ella wanted to touch it.
She wanted to see it.
This was for her moment.
Can I make you a dress?
It was so fun.
We went over a lot of designs.
It was a super involved, friendly, and warm design experience.
I also wanted to ask you about acting.
Is that something that youre open to in the future or has that door closed?
No, I still do it.
I have a movie,Empire Waist,that just came out.
Its going to hopefully be in 300 theaters.
It was a cute indie film.
And then another movie coming out next year, which is a thriller, produced by Bennett Miller.
Whereas, this has been something that obviously I can pursue more directly.
I still pursue acting.
I still give my time to the auditions.
It was something I was doing before, so that was my initial passion.
But Im someone who likes to be creative on all fronts.
I cant just sit still that well.
You share a lot of your personal life online.
As your audience grows, is that something youve ever reconsidered?
I dont mind it.
I dont mind it.
I like sharing my experience with people a lot.
I like sharing what Im going through.
I get to express really specific feelings about what it’s like to be alive to people.
As much as I used to think, Social media, who cares?
And then, eventually making a video about what that was like, I met people like me.
Tell me about your first collection, which youre planning to launch in the spring.
A little bit of both.
Were going to put a lot of work into it.
Whoever wins the raffle will actually do a fitting and fully fund making the thing.
Cost is no problem.
Financially, are you backed by anybody?
Or is this your own venture?
So youre just putting your own time and money into this.
Do you have a name?
I feel like I do, but I havent copyrighted it yet.
I dont want to say it yet.
And just to clarify, youre going by Joe Ando, not Joe Ando Hirsh?
My full name is Joe Ando-Hirsh.
I pretty much just go by Joe Ando more now.
Most of my hometown friends know me as Joe Hirsh.
Because I was super ashamed to be Asian for a long time, I tried to hide it.
So I went with it.
Its a totally different time now.
I remember [when] anime was not cool.
Now, everyone likes it.
Im like, Okay, now Ive got permission to talk about this thing.
Do you have a price point?
So, its a balance.
I dont envy your situation.
Having to figure all of that out.
I can figure it out publicly, too.
Youre acting and designing.
Is there another creative outlet that youre pursuing?
Something else that you’d always wanted to dabble in?
Those are enough for me now.
But I mean, dream scenario, I see myself being an old person and painting.
I think that is the coolest thing.
Paintings are little windows into different environments.
