LA-based stylist Cathy Hahn joins forces with rising talent around the globe to create unique, one-off pieces for the subversive Texan rapper
From his awkward, wonky fringe and his subversive face tats, to his affinity for clashing immaculately tailored Saint Laurent with white Crocs, Austin Post – or as you’re more likely to know him, Post Malone – is a legendary style icon in the making (and, according to one writer, the epitome of male beauty). Eschewing the polished, copy-and-paste aesthetic of those making the mainstream pop scene their home, the distinctive musician exploded into public consciousness back in 2015 with brilliantly understated, drawling rap track “White Iverson” and we’ve been paying attention ever since.
Having travelled the world pretty much ten times over since then, playing gigs everywhere from Los Angeles and London to Brazil and Belgium, over the course of the last year or so we’ve noticed the musician’s style evolving in a new and wildly exciting direction. Step in Cathy Hahn, the California born-and-raised stylist and costume designer who has become Post’s right-hand woman when it comes to kitting him out for his tours, his videos, and the bougie, star-studded events he’s so often photographed at.
“It’s a really funny story when it comes to how we met,” Hahn recalls on an early morning phone call from LA. “Posty needed some new publicity shots and when it came to a stylist he told his label he wanted to work with me – I’d been doing movies for a long time and he’d seen one I worked on, Walk Hard (which was kind of a spoof of Walk The Line) and that was it. I always say its main character, this fake rock star Dewey Cox, brought us together. It was pretty wild.”
As curated on her own Instagram page, Hahn has since spent the last couple of years working with young designers and artists to create unique, one-off pieces - usually consisting of tailored jackets, oversized shirts, and loose trousers or jeans – which demonstrate their work, as Post becomes a kind of human canvas for their art. With almost 17 million followers on IG alone, the rapper is helping to put rising talents' work in front of a whole new audience and offering them a springboard when it comes to many of their careers.
But how did it all come about in the first place? That was all down to Post according to Hahn: “It all started when he had an idea before starting a European tour where he wanted to put flags on his looks to represent the country he was performing in, and I basically took it and ran with it,” she explains. “From there we started doing these two-piece looks, some of which are inspired by where he’s going to wear them. We were in Argentina recently so we did an outfit based on the Argentinian soccer team for example. His fans love it, and we love it as a way of connecting with them. And I feel like, now we’ve been doing it for a while, people are excited to find out what he’s going to come out wearing next.”
“It all started when Post had an idea before starting a European tour where he wanted to put flags on his looks to represent the country he was performing in, and I basically took that and ran with it” – Cathy Hahn
The last few months alone have seen him wearing psychedelic, neon-daubed overalls by LA artist Gentle Thrills, a hand-painted, glow-in-the-dark skull shirt by Adam Mars, a Cubist-esque set by Australian designer Robbie Simon, and an embroidered jumpsuit featuring a series of rock’n’roll-inspired tattoos by Bill Farrelly, as well as hand-sketched pieces by illustrator Jody Just. And that’s before we even get to the themed custom ‘fits featuring the likes of David Bowie and Elvis, Stevie Nicks, and (a personal favourite) Dolly Parton.
What started as collaborations with local artists Hahn was a fan of has become a global network encompassing hundreds of people getting in touch to see if Post will let them use him as their canvas: “And he loves it!” she says, laughing. “It’s so cool that we get to work with these independent artists who are working from their garages or in small studios. I have people reaching out all the time like ‘Hey, I’m an artist in Spain!’ or ‘I’d love to make Posty an outfit, here’s my work!’ or whatever. It’s nice – I feel like we’re building a community.”
The community Hahn, Post, and their collaborators have established looks set to continue growing, with the stylist finding herself on the hit list for a huge number of projects. In fact, Hahn was behind what was potentially the most anticipated video in recent memory: “I just got to do “Old Town Road” which was surreal. It was amazing witnessing all these firsts for Lil Nas X. His first time on a set, his first time on a horse – we all had so much fun!”
That said, Hahn’s number one priority is ‘for sure’ going to continue to be Post Malone. “It sounds crazy, but I’m always like ‘everything I’ve ever done in the past has led me to Posty’. I never set out to be a stylist, that just wasn’t the plan. But it’s been so fun to get to know him and to work with him and create what we have. Every shoot we are on people come up to me and say ‘How did you get so lucky? You work with the nicest person in the whole world! And it’s true: I can’t say enough good things about him - I just love him.”