23 December 2022 |
It’s a sticky afternoon in August when I sit down with Alec Maxwell. We’re chatting over coffee in the garden of his KLOFFISE, the studio aptly named after his creative moniker, KLOSS. The space is vast and located just off Ladbroke Grove, in West London, with walls painted white and left bare.
The only sign of decoration is a blown-up portrait of a young Edward Enninful, Maxwell’s husband, by the photographer Jason Evans, which rests in one corner. The flat the pair live in is a convenient 10-minute bike ride away.
You could say that the studio’s nakedness serves as a blank canvas for Maxwell and his intimate team. It’s here that the group has given fashion film a touch of humanity. In front of Maxwell’s lens, the industry’s biggest players are able to feel personable, honest and at their most comfortable. Whether that’s for British Vogue’s YouTube channel – Maxwell has been the magazine’s digital creative director-at-large since 2019 – or his commercial gigs for brands such as Fendi, Versace, Dior and Louis Vuitton.
There’s a kind-heartedness to KLOSS’s films that is a direct reflection of Maxwell himself. “I have been editing for 12 years but it still feels like a hobby, I still love it,” he says with a soft, northern lilt. He was born on the Wirral, the Merseyside peninsula that borders Liverpool. Growing up, he would immerse himself in music videos, watching Michael and Janet Jackson’s 1995 “Scream” video “1,000 times, rewinding it constantly and knowing exactly what the edit was”. He would then go into school and talk with his art teacher Mrs. Cissons – who he is still close to – and discuss what he saw, finding a refuge in her classroom away from other students during lunch hours.
“I was hiding away from being bullied. I was very creative and stood out like a sore thumb in my town. I loved fashion and was obsessed with Naomi [Campbell] and Alek Wek,” he says. “When I was almost finishing high school, I remember this group of people I used to go to school with were talking about what we wanted to do when we grew up and they were saying doctor or whatever. I said, ‘I want to be a creative person, I want to make celebrities look good and do things myself.’ They said ‘That’s not a job!’ and I promised them it was. I was aware of styling and aware of hair as a career. I knew that somewhere in that world is where I would be.”
After spending a chunk of his adolescence cutting up old curtains to make clothes for his two sisters and telling them what to wear, Maxwell was originally set on becoming a fashion designer, which he studied for at Northumbria University in Newcastle. After staying in the city for four years as a lecturer, he made the move to London in 2007. After spending time working on films in his spare time, he made the jump away from design two years later.
“When I was working as a designer, I’d watch something that I had created drift off into something that didn’t work because I wasn’t strong enough at the time to say, ‘No, it’s got to work like this.’ Whereas, when I was focusing on video, even in my spare time at that point, I wouldn’t compromise with it the way I would with design. I took that as a sign.”
It’s not like he’s completely abandoned his fashion background, though. Maxwell has created merch to dress the expansive KLOSS community he has fostered over the past couple of years, including an apparel line sold exclusively at Browns Fashion and Farfetch, which recently dropped at Cricket in Liverpool.
The community is a product of Maxwell spending “far too much time on Instagram”. For him, it’s not an elitist club. He will scroll through the app, scavenging around profiles until he finds someone he’s intrigued by. He’s drawn to a curated profile grid and mirror selfies. “I love it when I find someone who I’m curious about and they follow nobody I know, and nobody I know is following them,” he says.
After casually observing someone’s profile from afar, he will DM those he’s most fascinated by and offer them a KLOSS- stamped PopSocket, meaning that each time they’re posing in front of the mirror, their image suddenly becomes KLOSSified.
Those PopSockets have never gone on sale, with Maxwell gifting each one himself. Yes, they’re grips that are stuck on the phone cases of supermodels, influencers and renowned names globally. But they’re also gifted to students, aspiring creatives and those who, like Maxwell once was, are trapped in small towns, striving to escape to somewhere, anywhere better than where they live currently.
“It feels like a creative exchange. I will do what I can to support their creativity and, in doing so, I’m gathering this amazing archive of images,” he says.
Those KLOSSified mirror selfies came to be curated in KLOSS – The Community Album, a photobook featuring 250 images of his worldwide troupe. Some of these relationships have stayed solely online, but many have branched into real life. Like with model and filmmaker Karanjee Gaba, whose mother even invited Maxwell around for a night of traditional Afghani cuisine. Or DJ trio Hale Zero, who’ve gone on to soundtrack KLOSS projects and even played at Maxwell’s wedding in February.
“To be a part of this community is an honour,” says Carl Haley, one of three brothers who make up Hale Zero. “We get to work collaboratively with such experienced and gifted people, who all share a similar vision and are focused on creating something incredible every single time. We are a part of a community that challenges us to think differently, to approach each project with fresh eyes.”
Model Sophia Hadjipanteli seconds this: “Alec has singlehandedly unified so many different people with one common thread of community. So many of us never felt like we fitted in or belonged anywhere – for a lot of us it took KLOSS to know what that feels like.”
Maxwell has been able to weave a tapestry of creatives from a myriad of fields who not only are encouraged to collaborate and work together, but are there to support and encourage one another to be the best versions of themselves. In an industry that typically thrives on competitiveness over unity, it’s a joy to witness.
Taken from 10+ Issue 5 – WORLD IN MOTION – order your copy here.
KLOSS COMMUNITY
Photographer VIDAR LOGI
Fashion Editor SOPHIA NEOPHITOU
Creative Director ALEC MAXWELL
Text PAUL TONER
Talent KRISTEN MCMENAMY, KEKE OSEI, KARANJEE GABA, HALE ZERO, SOPHIA HADJIPANTELI, SMINTY DROP, BLACK PEPPA, DANIEL LISMORE and JUSTINE MILLS
Hair RICHARD PHILLIPART at Gary Represents using Schwarzkopf Professional
Make-up BERNICIA BOATENG at AGM Talent
Nail technician MARIE-LOUISE COSTER
Fashion assistants BRITTANY NEWMAN, HEATHER CLEAL and SHAHINAZ ALOTAISHAN
Production KYNZA K-J and TOM HARDERN
Production co-ordinator PAUL TONER
Retouching TOMAS HEIN
Special thanks to NOBU HOTEL and NOBU PILATES
