Beef Star Young Mazino on Poetry, Pastries, and Loewe FW24

Loewe’s FW24 Menswear show felt like scrolling the feed. Hoodied hypebeasts followed shirtless hoopers and leather queens down a runway encased in a stark white cube where creative director Jonathan Anderson and artist Richard Hawkins collaborated on a series of video projections best described as an all-American “algorithm of masculinity.” One attendee who fit the fill was Beef star Young Mazino, who rang us afterwards to talk about poetry, Paris nightlife, and his favorite fits from the show.

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MEKALA RAJAGOPAL: Hi. Where are you at?

YOUNG MAZINO: I’m in my hotel in Paris. I’m leaving in 12 hours, actually. I’m heading straight to Vancouver to start prepping for my next project.

RAJAGOPAL: What’s in your system right now?

MAZINO: Some red wine from yesterday and some really good pastries. As cliché as it sounds, the croissants here are so elevated compared to the croissants in the US.

RAJAGOPAL: What are you wearing?

MAZINO: Right now? I’m not wearing anything.

RAJAGOPAL: [Laughs] Right. What did you wear to the show?

MAZINO: Loewe provided a cool fit. I was wearing some moccasin shoes and really nice green trousers with a cropped tank top. And then a nice blazer and an overcoat. It’s really cold today.

RAJAGOPAL: Moccasins are fun. Do you remember Sperry top-siders?

MAZINO: Yeah, oh my god. I remember when I first moved to New York in 2013, I was wearing my good old boat shoes from Silver Spring, Maryland. [Laughs]

RAJAGOPAL: That’s a very Maryland swag. What was the vibe of the show?

MAZINO: Really high energy, vivid, really avant-garde clothes, and it was a wonderful space. It was kind of like a cathedral where there were really high ceilings and white walls decked out with artwork. And the music was very upbeat. It felt like I was at the club that I was at last night, just with the lights on. Jonathan Anderson really nailed this one.

RAJAGOPAL: What club were you at last night?

MAZINO: It was called Silencio. My friend who brought me kept on saying it’s the club in Paris. It was madness.

RAJAGOPAL: What was your favorite look from the show?

MAZINO: I would have to say the tall overcoats. And I liked the way they had the socks and shoes on a lot of the fits. It kind of reminds me of when I play basketball. A lot of athletes like to merge their socks with their shoes and pants to make it somewhat of a uniform.

RAJAGOPAL: Some of the looks were very “Let’s go shoot some hoops,” like the shirtless look with swishy pants.

MAZINO: Yeah, there was something youthful and fun about it. It felt like a very unisex show. It was dipping in and out of masculine and feminine, so it was super dynamic in that sense.

RAJAGOPAL: I saw some leggings and booty shorts. What’s your ideal shorts length?

MAZINO: Ooh. Above the knees by a few inches. Full mobility. I prefer utility over anything.

RAJAGOPAL: Who were you sitting next to?

MAZINO: Nicholas Hoult was supposed to sit next to me, but they moved him around. I ended up next to an actor who adjusted his beanie six billion times. I was also kind of close to Nicholas Braun, and it was great to catch up after seeing him at the Emmys. 

RAJAGOPAL: Did anyone look hot?

MAZINO: I saw Taylor Russell there and she’s always incredible. There were some celebrities from China and Korea there and they looked like legit Ken dolls. 

RAJAGOPAL: What did you do after the show?

MAZINO: I went straight back to my hotel and jumped into the pool and swam for an hour. I like to be underwater to decompress. I just lay at the bottom of the pool and drown it all out.

RAJAGOPAL: Are you doing anything tonight?

MAZINO: There’s an after party for Loewe, if you want to come through. I’ll probably stop by there.

RAJAGOPAL: I’m in not in Paris but that sounds cute. So you mentioned all the art by Richard Hawkins, do you have any artistic talents besides acting?

MAZINO: I write really terrible poetry that nobody ever sees. I wrote a poem last night at Silencio. I like to make music in my spare time, too. Lately, I’ve been influenced a lot by King Krule and acoustic folk sounds, but usually I like to make loops that are chill ambient bedroom hip-hop. It’s study music or sleep music.