Gregory De Anda almost gave up on fashion, then success came calling. The founder and creative director of MANNISH sat down with Parlé Mag to chat about his new collection artists+immigrants. De Anda also did a deep dive into how he found his passion, and what ultimately made him see it through despite the tumultuous lifestyle of being a creative.
Parlé Mag: How do you feel now that your collection is in the world?
Gregory De Anda: Feeling great. Thank you. It’s been a labor of love for sure. There have been some very high moments in this situation and some lows, but it’s been a learning experience, and I’m grateful for it all, to be honest.
Parlé Mag: What would you say have been some of the highs and some of the lows for you?
Gregory De Anda: I’d say the lows were right before it actually happened. There was a moment there where I hadn’t given up on clothing necessarily, but I was looking to find other creative outlets. The clothing industry is a fickle business. It’s not for the faint of heart. It takes a lot of connections, a lot of love, and a lot of support. And if you don’t really have that, it’s a true uphill battle.
I was willing to fight it, and I was fighting the good fight, but creatively it wasn’t really feeding me at the moment. So I had pivoted to creating a scent. I was really interested in figuring out how to create a fragrance and build one for the brand. Then right as I was finishing the scent, I found the pattern maker I’ve been working with, and everything just kind of took off with the collection.
Watch the full Gregory De Anda interview below:
Parlé Mag: It is a long journey, and I feel like a lot of people don’t necessarily talk about that kind of thing and how you do have those moments where you’re like, “Okay, maybe something else might be of interest to me.”
Gregory De Anda: Yeah, I don’t think creativity or success is something that happens in a straight line. I think a lot of people go into something thinking, “This is going to be my everything, my forever.” Then during that journey, they find something else that maybe interests them even more.
For me, creativity is something that I’ve always wanted to have fun with. It’s something that means a lot to me. So maintaining that childlike sense of curiosity matters a lot. I was sensing at the very end, right when I started creating the collection, that I had maybe lost that with clothing. I was putting too much pressure on myself to figure it out.
So I wanted to give myself a little bit of grace and take my time, really building something with intention. That focus ended up being the collection.
Parlé Mag: The title artists+immigrants is really powerful. What did that mean to you personally when you were creating this collection?
Gregory De Anda: Personally, my mother is an immigrant. She immigrated from Mexico when she was a teenager. Having that in my family, having Spanish be my first language, growing up in that culture and understanding how hardworking everyone was, you know, now I can look back on it and kind of theorize and see what was happening.
Back in the day, my whole family was very strict. They were very much, “Get it done, get a job, work that job until you die.” That attitude has shifted completely. Now they’re so much fun. They want to party and enjoy life. I think that survival mode of being an immigrant has kind of faded. It’s like, “The kids are good. We can relax now.”
Seeing that journey for them has been beautiful to watch. That solidified the importance of making immigration one of the underlying themes within this collection.
As an immigrant, your resources are limited. You have to make decisions that may seem easy, but if you choose the wrong type of clothing and it wears out on you, you can’t afford another piece at the time. So you have to choose fabrics and clothes that will last you through whatever you’re doing.
The artistry aspect of the collection comes from me believing that immigrants and artists are the lifeblood of society, specifically in America. They’re the ones who tell the stories. We can’t necessarily believe the media. We can’t necessarily believe our politicians. But we can believe our artists because they’re coming from a place of honesty.
That means the world to me. Providing clothes to those who are giving voices to the voiceless and helping them feel more comfortable in their creativity by feeling good and looking good, that’s me doing my part.
Parlé Mag: Do you think coming from that background and growing up in that survival mode made you really hone in on something early on?
Gregory De Anda: Yeah, I can only speak from my experience, but for me, coming from where I came from, when my family didn’t have anything and my grandma was watching me and my cousins because my mom and my aunts and uncles all had to work, it was like eight of us growing up together.
Seeing that struggle, I think it’s important to start a journey from a place where you had nothing and had to build. MANNISH is the same way. I came into this not knowing anything design-wise. I didn’t go to school for this. But I had a vision and I stuck to it.
As I waded further into the industry, I made sure I was a sponge, soaking up any information I could get. Any free game I could get, I was listening. Then I kept compounding on that and building it into MANNISH.
My personal journey reflects the same thing. We didn’t have anything, and we had to build this brick by brick. Now I’m so proud of my family because I believe we’re the true American dream. We immigrated, we played by the rules, we got everything done, and now we’re three generations deep into this country.
A lot of my cousins have served. My uncles have served in the military. I’m very proud to call the collection artists+immigrants based on where I come from.
Parlé Mag: How did your family feel when you initially went into fashion? Was there any pushback? Did they not understand it?
Gregory De Anda: Yeah, there was one conversation that stood out to me in the beginning. I told one of my aunts that I was going to be an artist. That was my goal.
She very patiently had this talk with me about how she knew that was nice and she liked that for me, but she would prefer that I go to school and maybe go into nursing because she’s in the medical field.
I remember walking away from that conversation thinking, “I know she cares about me, but that’s not what I’m going to do.” I was going to hear her out because she deserved that and she has my utmost respect. But I knew I was built for something different.
To her credit, years later she pulled me aside at a family wedding and said, “I’m so glad you didn’t listen to me. I’m so glad you followed your heart and went after this with the tenacity that you did because I’m so proud of you.”
Having her say that really meant a lot.
Thankfully, I’ve had a lot of support in my family because I feel like it’s rare to have a first- or second-generation artist in an immigrant family. Usually it’s, “Go get that job. Go to the military. Find stability.”
My family had those talks, but they also said, “Let’s see. We trust you. Let’s see how this plays out.”
Parlé Mag: I think that’s a good lesson for any artist or entrepreneur because a lot of times people think the haters are standing on the sidelines. Sometimes it’s well-meaning. People believe in you, but they also want you to have security.
Gregory De Anda: Right. I can’t get mad at that. She’s looking out for me. She loves me.
But when you have that voice in you, you need to listen to it. I think that’s a gift. Denzel Washington speaks about that. He has an amazing quote where he says that’s a gift. Your job is to hone that gift and then give it away.
I feel that’s what the voice was telling me. It was saying, “You need to see this through.” I could live with anything but regret at this point.
It’s important to listen to that inner voice that’s speaking to you.
Parlé Mag: I love that. This new collection is described as a modern interpretation of workwear. What drew you to that specifically?
Gregory De Anda: It was kind of a combination of things. Growing up in Montana, that’s what I saw a lot of workwear. Your clothes really had to withstand literally anything because Montana throws a lot at you.
Whether it’s dealing with everyday life on the ranch, helping a friend who got stuck somewhere, getting caught in a blizzard you just don’t know. You had to be prepared.
Understanding clothing from that perspective was really enlightening. I chose to build that into the brand as well. It’s going to look good, but it’s also going to withstand whatever you need it to do.
Parlé Mag: Growing up in Montana, how do you feel like that influenced the looks in the collection?
Gregory De Anda: I speak about this a lot, but growing up I was always around a lot of cowboys because of what my dad did. He was a designer for championship rodeo buckles on the PBR circuit.
That was just the culture. These guys were effortlessly cool. They always had their outfits put together, but I don’t think they were laying things out the night before. It was just what they wore, and they’d been wearing it for years. Everything was beautifully worn in.
I have those images in my head when I think about piecing things together. Thankfully, finding my pattern maker and having him on the same page, creating beautiful pinstriped silhouettes alongside camo and the fabrics we were using, it all reminded me of home.
As soon as that started happening, I was like, “Okay, now we’re onto something.” I knew I had a voice within this and was coming from a perspective only I know.
I feel like a lot of artists are searching for that. To me, that’s the sweet spot.
Parlé Mag: So it’s Montana, it’s ranches, and then also blues music. Tell me how that all collides?
Gregory De Anda: Yeah. Also, Sinners came out shout out to Ryan Coogler. It was crazy to see the finished collection and then see Sinners drop and notice those silhouettes reflected in the movie. That meant to me that I’m on the right track.
Blues music has always been a huge influence. I think blues music was one of the first things Black people brought into American culture that couldn’t be denied. Elvis stole the music from us because it was that good. He built his career off that sound.
To hear those stories is like hearing the ancestors pass down knowledge. Once I started acknowledging that, it was hard to deny.
Specifically, Muddy Waters is what I consider the godfather of blues. His foundation helped artists like Etta James and Little Walter. Even The Rolling Stones named themselves after one of his songs. His influence is massive.
After I heard the song “Mannish Boy,” there was a time in my life before I heard that song and a time after. It really inspired me to go after what I wanted with more tenacity.
In the song, he talks about how his mother told him he’d be one of the greatest men alive. I feel my mom had a similar talk with me about applying myself and seeing how far I could take things, and not listening to what anyone else had to say about my limitations or goals.
Parlé Mag: You’re still enjoying the success of this collection, but what are your plans for the future?
Gregory De Anda: The future is bright. I like what I’m attracting at the moment.
One of my biggest goals is to feature more artists. Social media has helped in a lot of ways, but now we’re fighting the algorithm. I hate that artists now have to ask themselves, “Am I making something for me, or am I making something for the algorithm?”
Creating is already hard enough.
I’d love to support more artists in a way that actually helps them, collaborating with them, creating collections with them, featuring them wearing the collection, and being a true collaborator. Giving them another platform to help people see their art.
Finding independent artists, as well as mainstream artists, and helping put them on is something I’m really looking forward to.
We also have a scent that’s coming out soon. I’ve been tinkering with it here and there. I’m super proud of it because I didn’t have that background, so it took me a while to learn what I was doing.
Then we have another collection on the way. I wear a lot of black personally. With the artists+immigrants collection, I felt color was speaking to me: blues, earth tones, those kinds of things. But now I’d like to get back to what I wear personally.
So I’m building a collection with blazers, more structure, and something a little more elegant.
Parlé Mag: That’s amazing.
Gregory DeAnda: I’m extremely grateful to have the opportunity to speak on this. If I would’ve told my 15-year-old self that this is what I’d be doing, I don’t know if I’d believe it, but I’d be really happy to hear it.
People always say you should be creating for your inner child. I feel like this has been a journey to heal mine. For people to embrace it and love it as much as I do is truly a blessing.
