Judson Harmon

Stylist / Shop Owner / Bitch

Judson Harmon readily cops to a certain reputation. “People like how much of a bitch I am,” he says, explaining the strange appeal of his ever-expanding social media presence. However, he tells me later as he shows me around his Lower East Side boutique, Odd, “I’m a lot nicer than I look!” At over six feet tall, the 21-year-old stylist and designer is an imposing figure, draped in a billowy black coat from his own line and knee-high Ann Demeulemeester boots, with pale skin as flawless as any of Anne Rice’s moody vampires, his close-cropped hair a ghostly ash blonde. He has a model’s exasperated glower—until he cracks a mischievous smile. To look at him, you’d never dream that the willowy Harmon is actually a California native. “Most people don’t,” he says. “Before they meet me, like if they see me they assume that I don’t speak English! They’re expecting some accent.”

In just under a year, his brand, Odd, has gone from e-commerce start-up to budding phenomenon, with an international following and a recently opened brick-and-mortar location on Rivington Street. It’s also turned Harmon himself into a much-sought-after stylist. He’s styled shoots for Interview and campaigns for Obsessive Compulsive cosmetics. He’s even starting to accumulate celebrity clients, though he’s hesitant to drop names just yet. “I don’t want to jinx anything!” Harmon explains. “I’m very paranoid—not philosophical about jinxing things, I’m just paranoid.”

Harmon came to New York in 2010 to study musical theater, but two days into his second semester he dropped out of school. Both his parents had been models, but it wasn’t until he moved to the city that he really fell in love with fashion. “I wasn’t very happy with theater because it’s too—you’re doing someone else’s words. With fashion I can present my own theatricality and present anything I want my way.”

Harmon’s way is radically different from most retailers. The influence of darkly avant-garde designers like Demeulemeester and Rick Owens is apparent in his collection and in his aesthetic. And his shop isn’t arranged into male and female sections. Instead he hopes to encourage people to disregard the rigidness of gender norms. “I like the shock value,” he says. “You just open so many doors for yourself when you don’t stick yourself in a box. Particularly with what you wear, because you can always command a room.”

In February, Odd will show for the first time during New York Fashion week. The spring collection will feature both men’s and women’s wear, and will be an entirely vegan collection. And, of course, there are all those upcoming projects Harmon is still so cagey about. He shows me a prototype of Odd’s first shoe as we head outside. “I never expected to be where I am with it today,” he says, lighting up a Marlboro Ultra Light. “I thought it was just going to start out as a side project and now we’re sitting in the backyard of my store!”