During our editorial photo shoot for this Pop-In shop, we got to know supermodel Hanne Gaby Odiele and her then-fiancé John Swiatek (not a model, so he says). Both are core #wangsquad members, and, like everyone we worked with on Wang's team, were super friendly and down-to-earth. They seemed a lot like us, except a few weeks later, their marriage ceremony was covered in Vogue.
As Hanne and John got their hair and makeup done, this is what they had to say about castles, Lil Wayne, skateboarding and having too much fun while working with their friend Alex.
HANNE GABY ODIELE
Rumor has it you were discovered by Tommy Ton. True story?
Ha ha no. It was a different Tommy. Tom Van Dorpe. I was found at a music festival. I was just hanging out with my friends in Belgium, and he saw me and must have thought, "Oh—tall, skinny blond girl!" It was a very local festival, Novarock. My brother was actually playing. He has a few bands. He used to be with SX. They were big in Europe.
The hashtag #wangsquad: Do you identify? What does it take to be down?
Ah … I mean I've known Alex for a very long time. Ten years now. I work with friends, and most of the people he likes to work with are actually his friends—people that he gets inspired by and likes to have fun with. So yeah, why not?
So, on all those photo shoots are you actually having fun together?
Yeah, sometimes a little too much.
How did you meet Alexander Wang?
I don’t know. A party? It was a long time ago. A year after I was discovered. He was just starting out as a designer.
Which of his runway shows do you remember most fondly?
All of them. But one of my favorites was spring 2013, everything was glow-in-the-dark. It was really fun. They had the clothes lighting up in the dark and we had reflective stuff in our hair. The last one was really cool, too, in the church.
Deep question alert: what’s your astrological sign?
Ooh! I'm a Libra and a rabbit. I guess it means something to me. I'm so balanced! Ha ha. Rabbits are curious and out-of-the-box; they're creative and sensitive. It makes sense. And Libra is balanced. I'm maybe out of balance sometimes. But maybe that makes sense too. Libra is about both sides of the scale, right?
JOHN SWIATEK
Hanne's from Kortrijk, a small town in Belgium. On your travels there, did the architecture impress you?
Yeah, that's one of the few places you can see actual castles. But people there are living really modern lives. Maybe disconnected from the old culture, the history everywhere. I'm from New Hampshire, so it blows me away. We have nature, though, and they don't have that. They don't have areas that have nature just as far as you can see. Belgium is really small, and it's been there forever. It was developed a long time ago.
How did you and Hanne meet?
Through my best friend, who moved to New York before I did. He became a model accidentally. He got scouted on the street. He started dating a close friend of hers, and so I met her when I came to New York.
Did you become a model on purpose?
I'm not a model. I have no agent. I have a job. I model for my friends. So I work for Alex. I work with Hanne. If it's not organic, I don't like having attention on me. It's not my thing. But when my friends say they want to use me, like Alex, it's flattering. I believe in what he does, and I respect it.
What do you respect most about what Alexander Wang does?
His hustle. He's such a hard worker. He'll be a party animal at night but the first one at work the next day. And he's just on it. He's a machine. It's crazy. I respect how young he is and how he changed fashion so much, especially when he hit the scene in New York. Fashion wasn't fun like that before him. He was throwing afterparties where Lil Wayne would come out, and strippers, stuff that was totally anti what fashion was before that. He made fashion fun and made it relatable to normal people. His shows have the best energy, the best music, the best crowd watching the show. It's always a lot of fun, and everyone working for him is super solid, young and interesting.
Are you into fashion otherwise?
I am the wholesale director for North America for Acne Studios. I was working at a coffee shop, and when that closed, my manager got me a job at a boutique called OAK. That's how I got into fashion. Skateboarding got me into caring how I dress, but working at that boutique got me into fashion.
What’s your skating style like?
I don't really do tricks. I'm just trying to still skate after 15 years of skating. It takes a toll physically. I try to get out there and skate every weekend.
Did you see the Vogue Rodney Mullen video and article?
I saw the video. He's incredible.
How did you meet Alexander Wang?
Through my friend Dylan. We went to high school together. He's the same one who introduced me to Hanne.
Deep question: what's your astrological sign?
I'm a Leo. Sometimes when you read your actual day, I think that's accurate. More generally, I don't know. Leos are supposed to want to be the center of attention. And I don't feel like a full Leo. But I sort of do in another way. I like when the focus isn't on me in the center of the room, but when I'm part of something bigger and I get that recognition for being involved. But Leos seem like attention-wh*re type people. Which I don't feel like at all.
