“I’m a Ralph Lauren fool,” Louis Johnson Jr. said of the boundless inventory of polo shirts and denim in his closet. He has so many pieces that some people in his life call it a dry cleaner. “I will never wear the same outfit,” he said. “Never in my life twice.”
Blue was the theme of the day when we met on a Saturday afternoon in April: a denim work jacket that overlaid a multicolored polo with stripes of blue and green and pink, which was finished off with a silk scarf featuring touches of colors found throughout the outfit. He also wore a Seattle Mariners baseball cap, paying homage to his Pacific Northwest hometown. When I asked what inspired the day’s look, he said that he usually starts coming up with an outfit by looking up and asking, “What does the sky look like?”
Johnson, 58, is the owner of Harlem Haberdashery, a clothing boutique known for styling notable Black celebrities and athletes. Mostly though, he considers himself an image consultant, continually finding inspiration in the people who walk by his shop each day. “I just look at everybody and see what they’re wearing, see creative stories,” he said.
Simbarashe Cha is a Times photographer and visual columnist documenting style and fashion around the world.
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