NERI OXMAN
Age 36
Occupation Designer and innovator, assistant professor of media arts and sciences, MIT Media Lab
Residence Brookline
A lot of what you do and study is how we approach design versus how nature approaches design. How does that play into the way you dress?
I appreciate good tailoring as much as good details of construction. But given the work that I do, the world that engages my thinking is so complex and multifaceted, I like to simplify it in the way that I dress. I like to mostly wear very simple clothes. Specifically, I appreciate Celine and Jil Sander. I’ve been following a lot of the work that Raf Simons has been doing. He’s at Dior now, and it will be very interesting to see how he evolves at Dior.
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When you are in an academic setting teaching or making a presentation, do you put a lot of thought into what you’re wearing and the message that it sends?
Yes and no. Yes, because it is always an opportunity for celebration. When you celebrate a new idea, it immediately comes through the way you hold yourself and the clothes you wear. But at the same time, I don’t find myself thinking much about it, because I truly believe it’s an organic process. To wear a beautiful new garment is like wearing a new idea, and I see them as the same thing. Opening my closet is a form of meditation. I pick whatever I feel is right for the day. It’s usually only a matter of seconds before I’m out of the house. — C.M.
Interview has been condensed and edited. E-mail comments to magazine@globe.com.