News feed
It’s hard to put a label on Evan Mock. Like many internet personas-turned-bona-fide-celebrities and style savants of his generation, the 26-year-old is the ultimate enigma; hard to put down on paper what they do exactly, but even harder to summarise the influence and megawatt charisma they possess.
To some, you may know him as the pink-haired skate rat who caught the eye of Frank Ocean in 2019, who quickly racked up modelling gigs like they were going out of fashion. Others may know him through his work with Virgil Abloh at Louis Vuitton—a mainstay on the Abloh-era menswear runways of yore. Most will recognise him from his performance from HBO’s short-lived Gossip Girl reboot.
Actor, model, designer, fashion icon, Gen-Z heartthrob, skater, tastemaker, we could go on—”Keep ‘em coming!” Mock interrupts me as I rattle off just a small number of his titles during our Zoom call—but the mystifying style star says it best himself; he’s made a living out of living.
Right now, Mock is revelling in his lull in schedule. He’s dyed his hair back to black, and the show that made him a household name to the TikTok generation, Gossip Girl, hasn’t been picked up for a third season. He’s not in between jobs—he’s got too much on his plate to ever be still—but this reduced schedule has given him a chance to regroup and think about what’s next.
“Now that I have somewhat of a normal person’s hair—I grew it out, it’s jet black—I blend in a lot more. I like the feeling of blending in and enjoying the incognito vibe,” Mock tells GRAZIA.
For someone with such a distinct aesthetic, inimitable allure and meteoric rise, it’s difficult to believe that Mock could ever just blend in. But, according to him, it’s even harder to plan what’s next. When the world’s your oyster, with everything you could ever want at your fingertips, where do you turn?
“It’s a day by day thing for me. It’s nice to plan a little bit but my life doesn’t consist of too much planning,” Mock says.
“Usually I like to take it slow and have that ‘aha’ moment slap you in the face when it happens. It’s hard to script the things that have been in my life and having so many different hats at the same time.”
“You have to deal with things, day by day and case by case.”
“It’s just about prioritising the things that are important to you. What keeps you going, what keeps you inspired. And to have fun with everything,” he adds.
It’s not demeaning to say that Mock is a walking vibe. Just like how Chloë Sevigny came out of anonymity in the 90s to become the poster-child It girl, Mock is today’s equivalent. The embodiment of authenticity, the acme of self-expression.
He’s the antithesis of a label-laden generation, and what makes him the perfect campaign model and spokesperson for Pandora’s latest ME collection. It’s not the first time Pandora has tapped Mock, and from his perspective there’s a natural synergy between the international jewellery labels way of working and his own creative modus operandi.
“Pandora is pretty flexible. They hear you out and listen to your ideas. That kind of makes not only the client usually happier, but also the person who’s in the campaign,” he explains over a static call in New York.
“I feel like that’s kind of hard to come by, because everyone wants to have their own opinion and be heard. But, collaborating with Pandora, it’s been a really easy experience,” he says. “It’s nice to feel like you’re all together part of a movement, instead of just one person kind of dictating what’s going to go down.
“We’ve done a couple of projects now and in different ways, either campaigns or parties, so it was just really nice to be able to shoot with people that you have already had a relationship with. Those shoots always end up turning out the most fun because you’re just working with friends. It’s just more of a pleasurable experience.”
For someone so in demand, repeatedly attaching his name to a project must mean that the partnership is more than just lending his face to the new bold hardware pieces.
“Over the years, I’ve learned to be a lot more selective with the partnerships and collaborations that I do and attach my name to. Everything kind of has to check out is a couple of boxes that I like to check before we proceed.
“And Pandora has checked those boxes. So we tried to make it as best as we could.”
His non-negotiables? “I haven’t gotten to that point… yet. It all kind of comes down to who’s involved…keeping the flow of a shoot is really important,” he says. Refreshing to hear someone as globetrotting as Mock isn’t fussed about the trivial details. Indeed, no Dennis Rodman diva antics here.
But, one thing did stick out above the rest in terms of importance: his choice of clothing. “ I definitely wore my own clothes,” Mock notes.
I asked if the layering an open blazer over his bare chest moment was of his own accord, which will no doubt be hung in the bedrooms of teenage girls around the world à la Jesse McCartney. “That was not my doing.” Cue: the sound of collective heartbreak.
“We [Mock and Pandora’s stylist] picked it together. I like a more elevated look, and then just kind of more of a me everyday look,” Mock says. It’s this effortless and relaxed everyday look which has cemented Mock’s social currency, which depending on which mood he is in, can vary from “incognito” to “feeling like I’m in my element when I start putting shorts on and it starts getting hot”.
“I like exploring that other end of fashion,” he explains. Because in a world dominated by which micro-trend is ruling TikTok algorithms, Mock stands out amongst a sea of sleaze and cores.
“I feel like there’s a lot of excess in fashion, we could just make things with what we have, and not have to go the extra mile to get all the extra things to tick the boxes. Sometimes it gets too much.”
His advice? “Be more selective and have things with intention instead of just dressing people up like a Christmas tree, I guess.”
“I just don’t want to, you know, follow something because it feels right and the time is now to wear a certain thing.” And that there, at the crux, is why Mock is Mr. Charisma. There’s something so rebellious, and in turn enchanting, about radically being yourself. No Kelvin filter here to hide behind.
I ask Mock what he thinks is his drawcard, and why he, a surfer/skater/model/actor/designer, resonates with people so much.
“I don’t know. That’s a hard question to answer,” he responds. “I feel like I’ve just been a people person, my whole life, I love being around people. I love to cater to people and host them and show them a good time. I don’t know, it just seems pretty natural for me to do all those things.”
The new Pandora ME collection starring Evan Mock is available to purchase online here.
