I had the very fun opportunity to sit and chat with Hampden Clothing about fashion for their guest editor series. Check out the interview below.

If you live in Charleston and haven’t checked out this wonderland of garments then you need to get there immediately. If you’re already in the know then you already appreciate the magic their team curates. It’s a beautiful way to spend an afternoon just browsing through the racks and marveling.

-Lindsay

GUEST EDITOR: LINDSAY COLLINS

In this week’s Guest Editor interview, Lindsay Collins—producer, food & bev aficianado, and podcaster—shares her unique perspective on fashion, drawing inspiration from her eclectic background in music and food. Known for her effortlessly cool, “grunge-chic” style, Lindsay reflects on how personal experiences and her creative career have shaped her wardrobe. From her early love of musicians’ styles to her practical-yet-stylish approach to everyday wear, she discusses how authenticity drives her choices in fashion. Lindsay’s approach is a powerful reminder that what we wear can make a surprising impact on those around us.

Where did your love of fashion stem from?

I’m the middle child of three girls so I think I was always looking for a way to differentiate myself from my siblings. (Who both have great style of their own.) I was much more of a tomboy and as I got older was very influenced by the style and look of musicians and artists I loved. That effortless, “I had a rough night but I can rally” look. I loved the way musicians like Kurt Cobain sort of blurred the line between feminine and masculine fashion and I adopted that early on in my teens. I would wear a XL band t-shirt as a dress or wear baggy jeans with more feminine jewelry. My friend Robert Pratt, who has an incredible account called Fashion Habit, has taught me so much about silhouettes, fabrics, and the integrity behind well-made clothes, and is always inspiring me to grow and evolve my style while keeping it genuine to who I am. In college I scrawled “I feel like shit” on a white t-shirt with a Sharpie and every time I wore it people would stop me on the street and ask me where I got it.  I wasn’t even trying to sell them but it was wild how much that idea connected with people. I still carry that lesson into my perspective on what fashion is and how what you wear can affect someone else in a surprising way.

How would you describe your personal style?

My personal style is so based on my mood it’s hard to say. And as I mentioned, I’m obsessed with music.  I spend an inordinate amount of time selecting the right album or song to accentuate the moments in my life, and I approach fashion the same way. I have a lot of black. Mostly black in my wardrobe and I’m constantly stealing my partner, Jeremy’s clothes. I never want to look fussy or too put together.  I guess if I had to find words, it would be: Grunge-Chic? But that even that feels a little too reductive because I’m known to wear sheer leggings and heels with a dudes blazer. 

What inspires your current style?

Until I got into production, I worked in restaurants for my entire career, so I find myself gravitating towards a uniform even when I’m not required to wear one. Anyone that knows me will tell you I sort of fixate on an outfit and wear it repeatedly for spells, and then move on to a new one. I have a very tight/small closet and don’t like to have tons of clothes just for the sake of having them. I prefer to be selective with what I buy and then style a few items in lots of different ways. In my work now as a producer, I’m most comfortable in something more utility-based or functional (pockets are essential), so that I can get down on the ground to plug things in or move heavy shit or set up lights, but still feel like I look cool and not completely trash my clothes. 

How did you get started in the Food and Bev industry + sound/podcasting? 

I went to music school and played in bands for my entire high school and early adulthood so I was always waiting tables for the flexible schedule and nightly pay outs ha! If you can work when you want and walk with cash, it lends itself to supporting a musician’s lifestyle. When I moved to New York, I got a job at a 3-Michelin star restaurant called Per Se and ended up working at Noma in Copenhagen and The French Laundry in Napa. Those jobs were so thrilling and I got swept up and accidentally became more serious about restaurants than music. At the behest of Jeremy, I eventually started a podcast in 2016 about food and beverage called Effin B Radio to kind highlight the insider baseball and hilarious sidebars of the restaurant industry. The recording part was easy for me since I had gone to school for sound engineering to learn how to record my band and my friends’ bands. Eventually as the podcast took off, I started getting requests to help launch other peoples shows and LMC Soundsystem (my podcast production company) was born.  In 2024, I finally opened my very own Brick + Mortar studio in The Navy Yard at Storehouse Nine, and it has been incredible to be out there with everything that they have going on.  It feels like Brooklyn or somewhere not-Charleston. There are so many creatives and artists working out there, and it’s just a vibrant, rich, spot to make creative content. We shot all the photos for this edit out there, and you can see it’s just a very special place that’s been restored in the most conscientious ways.

What is a quintessential Lindsay Collins outfit?

Men’s jeans, an oversized t-shirt, and loafers.  I try to add feminine touches with jewelry and accessories, or how I wear my hair. 

How do you know when you’ve put a good outfit on?

It’s just a feeling. We all know it when we feel it. The older I get, the more I want to invest money in really well-made garments. I keep my clothes for a long time (I’m weirdly attached to them), and have creeping guilt about my past sins with fast fashion. It’s not about being fancy (I’m not rich)…it’s an energetic thing when you know you’re wearing something that an artist designed and made, You care about it more and you feel/look better wearing it. Above all, I just want to look like myself. I’ve never really understood trends.  It’s the worst feeling in the world when you walk in a room and there’s three other people wearing the same thing as you.  So I’m always striving to capture my own weird essence and express it through the clothes that I choose, and I think that’s something we should all do more often.