013 | A Conversation With Jay Gats - Part Two

In this episode of Dressing for Wellness, Taylor (Inherent Clothier CEO) and Steven (Art Director) continue their conversation with Jay Gats, the founder of Real Black Menswear. They talk about how authentically Taylor found the mental health tie-in for Inherent Clothier, what it means to grow and change with society, confidence, and more.

3 Key Points

1. Be an artist who is distinctive and cannot be copied. One whose work grows and changes with society.
   
2. Confidence is the key to finding what you want to do and sticking with it.
   
3. You cannot and should not approach everything you do in the same way. You need to be able to adapt and be flexible.

Episode Highlights:

• Taylor founded Inherent Clothier during the darkest period of his life, when his marriage was under strain and his mental health was on a decline.
  
• The inspiration for the mental health theme came from Ian Lee, who recognized that he and Taylor both dressed in order to feel good about themselves.
  
• Today, men need to be able to talk about how they feel, and it’s a big difference between this generation and previous generations.
  
• Talking to each other about the real stuff is so necessary to cultivate empathy.
  
• Jay’s favorite comedian is Dave Chappelle because none of his jokes could be done by anyone else.
  
• There’s a difference between your material aging well and changing with society.
  
• There’s a difference between having a love for the world and being worldly.
  
• As a Black man, Jay has always felt like he needs to know everything and be the best to the point of undeniability, but he’s also found that he has to be humble enough to take feedback and criticism from his mentors.

Tweetable Quotes:

• “Style is my life story. Style helped me change my entire life.” –Taylor Draper
  
• “No matter how great I am, I’m still human.” –Jay Gats
  
• “If something’s bad, just tell me that. It takes 2 seconds. I don’t need 5 minutes for you to tell me why it’s bad and we’re not going to use it. Let’s take 10 seconds to tell me why it’s bad, and let’s use the other 4 minutes to talk about how we’re gonna make it better.” –Jay Gats

Resources Mentioned:

• Inherent Clothier Website
• Inherent Clothier Instagram
• Jay Gats' Instagram
• Real Black Menswear Instagram
• Richfresh
• Ralph Lauren
• Rubinacci
• The Rake: Sammy Davis Jr. Article
• Cole Haan
• Suitsupply
• Kevin Hart