STUDIOWITCHDOCTOR Delves into Romantic Addiction
The brand is centered around power, romance, and death.
Photography by Shayla Pizzo
Daniel Tagbo is breaking the binary. Based in New York, the 21-year-old artist and designer is earning his stripes in the fashion industry through his creative art, leading to his self-made empire and fashion brand, STUDIOWITCHDOCTOR. It focuses on surrealism as it pinpoints topics centering around power, romance, and death. In his latest project, he joined forces with the multifaceted artist and former Hood By Air runway star Hirakish Ranasaki. With the help and experience of Hirakish, Tagbo created a photoshoot that represents the fine line between love and addiction. They spoke with 1202 MAGAZINE on their various aspects to capture the essence of style, creativity, and storytelling.
How did you guys come about this collaboration, and what is STUDIOWITCHDOCTOR?
Daniel: So I would say with the collaboration, I was working on the photo shoot and planning it out a little bit ahead of time. Then, Hirakish came out with a film in Office Magazine, and it was great because I've been a fan of his music for a good amount of time. I know the film was a little bit older, but I always felt like with what I'm doing with STUDIOWITCHDOCTOR, I always felt like a rockstar in that specific place and culture; they always kind of embody a lot of the philosophies I try to portray in fashion. It's very rebellious, very anti-system, very anti-status quo. Higher education has always had a good relationship with the fashion and music industries. I'm always looking to do things in other genres, whether music or film. I'm always working to collaborate with people in other spaces. So, I just thought it would be a great opportunity. And STUDIOWITCHDOCTOR is a brand I've been building for the past few months, and we're still working on a lot of the rollout stuff. But like I said, it's not something that is for everybody. It's not really supposed to be going with the mainstream or what the mainstream would feel where fashion is now. So, it's been a topic that I've started that allows me to express those ideas through fashion. Hirakish has been someone who I feel has done something very similar in music and with the brands that he worked with in fashion.
Hirakish: Yeah, I think collaborating with Daniel was sick because I was at a show, and his group came through and were like, “Yo, we have this idea. We wanna shoot with you.” And I'm not a veteran, but I've been doing this for quite a while, so I didn’t know if I could just let these kids take these photos. But it's like kind of fucked up to say something like that, so I just trusted the process, and I actually enjoyed what they had to offer. And then, on set, it was way more than I thought. You guys came with some type of perspective, and I enjoyed that. And it was smooth and easy. It was cool to collaborate with the younger New York crowd with a vision. And I thought to myself that everyone who likes my music or my art is an artist. So I think it was a good direction and not so eerie and crazy. It was just some beautiful photos. It shows this relationship between me and Asia a lot. The homegirl, Rose, also in the shoot, is Asian. And it was like a natural thing where it wasn’t forced. I don't want people to think I'm forcing myself to look like this Japanese Eastern dude. This is naturally the Eastern philosophies and how the black culture keeps meshing for me. It was a unique way of being natural. It's like black anime. It's like Blacks and Asians are creating this little bubble, which is cool as both cultures are very popular in the arts to me.
And Daniel, you said the shoot portrays the thin line between love and attachment. So, what was the exact message both of you were trying to depict with every aspect of the shoot?
Daniel: So, with my work, I always like to show the binary, and I also want to break that binary. We were starting off the photo shoot with the idea of this hunter and prey. And then I'm kind of breaking that where you see towards the end of the photoshoot. That dynamic slips to where it's not completely on the shelf, but it implies that Harikish passes away. There are some shots with the framing and the posing that kind of seem similar to maybe an overdose. That was the frame that we were going for with the second half of the photo shoot. But we did that because you had this hunter at the beginning, and he was hunting Rose at the time. What we're portraying is addiction because when you’re hunting something that you're addicted to, that thing ends up being something that can kill you. So we're breaking the binary between people who always think that a hunter kills its prey, but we're showing that the prey can also kill the hunter. Both things can exist at the same time in this world of addiction.
Photography by Shayla Pizzo
Did you take any creative direction advice from Hirakish when you approached this project?
Daniel: Yeah, a lot of the styling came from Hirakish. We had planned out so much of it, but also, so much of that photoshoot just happened while we were on set. I would definitely say we were able to meet each other. It ended up being a collaboration and not just me talking about what we would do because I didn't know 100% what we were going into getting into that photo shoot, but thanks to Hirakish because he's been doing this for a long time. He already knew the vibe we were going for. Because that's something he's been familiar with for a long time. And that’s why I picked him for this shoot: I had seen it’s something he was very experienced in. I definitely learned a lot, and I definitely took a lot of advice from him.
Hirakish, tell me how you took your experience and skills from modeling and working in the fashion industry and applied them to the shoot.
Hirakish: I knew that we were under time constraints with the location, and I knew from the fitting that we already had a certain amount of clothing, and I had things that were available to bring and use to style with. I like to watch Hood By Air and Vogue, but I'm always kind of imposing myself creatively naturally because when I work with other companies, I will always impose what I feel is necessary to last the way I want it to. It's not even just a learning thing, but more just a vision type of thing. This is my vision: cohesiveness. I should pose like this, or this dynamic has been done before. I didn’t want ours to look outdated.
How do you feel like this shoot could be philosophically interpreted?
Hirakish: I think it shows a lot of astronomy. The room we shot in was very much like a style that I would live in. Or even the clothes or the colors we chose, it's like you are psychologically always projecting what you are. Even the concept of the shoot is about learning how to be fluid with your sexuality and letting that be real.
How do you both think society evolves with fashion and pop culture?
Daniel: I think that with all art, whether it's biased, or you like what you’re looking at or you don’t, you can't ever separate it from society. It will always reflect something from somebody, so it's about what part you want to reflect. When you look at mainstream music, especially hip-hop, some people think it’s not doing so well. But I think that's a sign that our society isn't really being there for society. And a lot of things need to change. I see art as a mirror, which is always reflected in society.
Hirakish: I think the same thing. I think minimalism and futurism are very much needed in an organic, tasteful way. And I've worked through all those expressions of being rebellious in certs utilizing the spiritual component, with my style being spiritual but not this one viewpoint of how it looks. It keeps me more in line with doing more fully accomplished things that are properly effective on ourselves.
Photography by Shayla Pizzo
How do you both think that fashion can tell a story? When it comes to telling emotional and universal experiences that aren't commonly spoken about, how important do you think fashion is when it comes to that?
Hirakish: It's very important, but not at the same time. Everything is basically an art form in itself. People do too much of that and think their art has to be about the racial inequalities of the world. To me, it doesn't. Just be you. So, I necessarily don't talk too much about politics in my art, but not because I don't understand it. There's so much rebelliousness in the status quo that I would just be quiet about it. So I just try to be a leader of a thing myself. And if you see that I'm on more culturally rebellious shit and you identify with it, it can just be known through the art.
Daniel: Yeah, I agree with that. Art, at the end of the day, has to be honest with you, and it should be in a lot of ways about yourself. I feel like a lot of people take time to kind of force topics into their hearts just because of what people are talking about right now. And if it’s coming from you, that’s okay, but if you're saying that because that's what everybody else is saying, then it's like you're not doing anything different. I think that’s the hardest part of art. Whoever resonates with your art they're going to resonate with that. Sometimes, when people try to make their art universal, it becomes boring, and maybe you don't want to talk about universal experiences; maybe you should talk about it, and then whoever relates to your experience relates to your art. You can't always control who's going to like your art.
What's in store for both of you with the new year?
Hirakish: I’m just on some chill shit. Being normal. Whatever that means. And let things be what it is. I'm kind of not really interested in focusing too much on extorting myself to be some type of creative artist. I'm just gonna be. And be a dude who's like, if you find my art, you find my art, but I'm focusing on more like a personal thing. I just came from a world tour by hanging out all throughout Asia, and I went to Egypt too. So, just be doing more of that.
Daniel: I'm just trying to continue a lot of what I did with this collaboration and what I've done before. I have a couple of films I'm trying to do. I'm trying to collaborate around New York City because, not being from New York, it's like I got to take advantage of that. I am trying to take this above. I'm trying to take it one thing at a time so I can give each project my full attention. Hopefully, I'll have some more collaborations made through, but even if I don't, I will be making films, photoshoots, and clothes. And I really want to do some type of private event when I get the collection ready to release.
