Spotlight on... Jordan Nassar

Author: Kelsey Smith

You've seen him around. Tall, skinny, attractive boy in tight, ripped jeans and old-school Nikes spray-painted gold complete with slap bracelet and very '90s hat with the word "Peck" cocked to the side. And of course, large headphones and a cigarette are always part of the package. Jordan Nassar '07.5 is a Japanese major from Manhattan who brings a little bit of outside counter culture in music and fashion to Middlebury. The Campus took a few minutes to find out a little more about him.



The Middlebury Campus: Describe your J-Term project concerning Tokyo's mix of gay, fashion and clubbing culture.

Jordan Nassar: I wrote a creative independent 500 project for my Japanese major featuring creative non-fiction vignettes about the intersection of these three cultures. While I was abroad during spring 2006, I met mad awesome people. Some of them work in fashion, some are gay and others DJ or organize club events. I noticed an overlap in these three identities: many of my friends fit that description. I knew I wanted to return to Tokyo and decided to write about it. I wasn't drawing conclusions, I just wanted to show this alternative subculture to others and remember my experiences in the process.

TC: Have fashion and clubbing culture always been a part of your identity? Or did they emerge after you came out?

JN: I've always liked music and dancing - clubbing came later just because of my age. Fashion-wise, I never wanted to draw attention to myself before coming out because I was always internally afraid of being called gay. When I came out I called myself gay and it was no longer a fear. There's a certain freedom of expression that comes with coming out. These identities linked, however, in Tokyo where my friends ran parties at clubs for fashion kids.

TC: Tell me about how your life in Tokyo artistically compares to your life here.

JN: Well there are no clubs and not that many gay people at Middlebury, and even fewer people with an interest in fashion that extends outside the newest color of "Ugg." However, I am involved with WRMC as Music Director. That keeps me connected to what's going on in the world musically. In terms of a club, I'm working hard to get the Hamlin Club idea, Xanadu, off the ground. We're having a "dry run" (i.e. no alcohol) with a WRMC dance party Friday, April 6.

TC: How do you see yourself making these things a part of your life after college?

JN: Tokyo is a place where being involved with the world of fashion and music means being young. Therefore I am planning on going there directly after college. Some of my older friends, who are only 28, own magazines and clubs, and I've been offered jobs through them. I'm thinking I'll follow in their footsteps. I can't think of anything better than being there. Here, people look at me funny because of the way I dress. There, I get offered jobs as a stylist or a fashion editor's assistant.

TC: I understand you've also done some modeling?

JN: I've been in a few men's fashion magazines. One time I was noticed on the street in Tokyo but the jobs have mostly been organized through friends. There's something ridiculous about getting paid to stand there and wear really nice clothes, but then again I love Vivienne Westwood and Comme des GarÁons. Getting to wear their clothes was sweet because Lord knows I can't afford that. I know it's silly, but I'm getting paid, so I figure, why not?

TC: Aside from your Japanese 500 project, you've also done some writing for Sweatervest. Any thoughts of becoming a writer someday?

JN: I write for me and about me - it's like keeping a journal but it comes out less frequently and in the form of creative non-fiction. I would love to be a writer because I don't have the urge to settle in one particular place, and I think it would be a good way for me to work and travel at the same time. But at the moment, I'm just going to go with whatever will put food on the table after graduation.

-Kelsey Smith