Yuen: Twin Cities designer has tips on how Minnesotans can dress to express

How does one define men’s contemporary Minnesota fashion?

You may not notice a distinctive regional style here until you take a trip out of state and return home to a sea of hoodies and Carhartt tan. Brewery-merch ballcaps, jeans and Vikings sweats. A polo shirt or a quarter-zip if they want to class it up.

Denimani Livingstone is more concise. “Safe,” he tells me. “Minnesotans dress very safe.”

The 31-year-old Twin Cities clothing designer doesn’t mean to offend. Minnesotans are generally too pragmatic for trends on either coast that will evaporate by next year, so they often prioritize comfort over cutting-edge, he says.

“There’s a lot of sweatpants and sportswear and things like that, which is cool,” said Denimani, known by his first name in creative circles. “Dress however you want to dress. But also try to push yourself. We’re all individuals on the inside. Why not express that externally?”

“But, but ...” I hear myself protest, explaining why you’ll often find me looking the part of harried soccer mom, replete with fanny pack and leggings, under the firm belief that I have no use for bespoke luxury clothing.

“You’re definitely right, there aren’t too many events here that warrant a particular type of style,” he conceded. “But on the other side of that, that soccer mom fit can be a chic soccer mom fit. You can go to a soccer game in style. I’m championing people dressing like who they are, not necessarily championing them to look fly. Just be and dress yourself, and that can look interesting.”

After showcasing his garments at New York Fashion Week and original artwork at the Minneapolis Institute of Art in recent years, Denimani is unveiling his latest collection of both menswear and womenswear this weekend at a historic Summit Avenue mansion in St. Paul where he has spent the past several months as part of a creative residency. The Ghanaian-born artist, raised in Minneapolis and Brooklyn Center, talked to me about how even the most risk-averse among us can find our fashion flair.

How he describes his clothes: “Creative formalwear at the intersection of formal and casual,” he said. “Garments you can wear to a meeting, but also wear hanging out so you’re always looking presentable.”

From his new collection: A pair of long black women’s skirt-pants (it looks like a skirt from the front, pants from the back) represents his aesthetic of simple everyday silhouettes that can be dressed up for professional settings.

First artworks sold: In first or second grade, he traced “Dragon Ball Z” characters onto paper and sold them at school for 25 cents each.

How he learned to sew: In his early 20s, Denimani bought a secondhand Singer sewing machine from Savers for about $15. He quickly turned to his mom, who worked as a seamstress in their native Ghana, for a tutorial. “I went straight to my mother and was like, ‘Teach me,’” he said. His first project was to take his younger sister’s measurements and develop original patterns. He also created traditional west African dresses for some of his mom’s clients here in Minnesota.

What he learned by spending a year in New York: “You have no choice but to hustle to survive,” he said. “No one cares about you. Everyone’s busy, everyone’s broke, everyone’s in a hurry. I was just fending for myself every day.” But he also learned how to leverage his resources and connections in order to stay afloat, skills he has expanded upon ever since moving back to Minnesota last year.

Advice he has for safe dressers: Start with something unusual and add it to your typical wardrobe. Gradually add new pieces that “push you further away from what you are accustomed to, but aligns with what you’re interested in or how you’d like to represent yourself.”

What else? “Everyone should have a tailored suit and some go-to leather boots that you can pull out at any time.”

If you go

Denimani will unveil his new collection as part of his artist residency at TELL, at 490 Summit Av. in St. Paul, between noon and 6 p.m. Friday through Sunday. Measurements can be made on site and items can be ordered for purchase. (Private viewings can be arranged at tell-world.com/pages/denimani.) The event will also feature works by visual artists who have collaborated with Denimani.