Fashion

Tabatha McGurr Interview May 1, 2012Fashion1 Comment

Married to the Mob is the world’s leading streetwear brand for women, founded by entrepreneur Leah McSweeney and based in NYC. Deas McMorrow caught-up with MOB blogger, Tabatha McGurr to find out what it’s like to be involved with such a creative company

 TLG: In such a vast and male dominated market how did Leah find the confidence to pursue MTTM and establish it as a street band, at any point did she feel doubts about the project?                                                                                                                 

T: Well I’d say that Leah is just a naturally confident and secure woman in general, so when she gets an idea in her head to do something, the moment of doubt is over really fast. A lot of people spend so much time second guessing themselves that the end result is too contrived, whereas I feel like Leah simply came up with the concept and decided “I’m gonna make this work” before ever even considering it as an impossibility. Plus at the time, she was really one of the only females out there doing it for ladies in the industry, and just that alone earned her tons of respect from her male peers.

 TLG: You’ve been running the MTTM blog since you were 14, 15? To be motivated and capable at such a young age is both insane and impressive. Who would you site as your influences in terms of literature?                                                               

T: I believe it was 15 to be exact. 6 years…crazy! My influences are all over the place, especially back then. I remember being absolutely obsessed with Gavin McInnes’ original do’s & dont’s right when VICE came out, because he had this subtle, nonchalant way of shitting on people that I totally loved. But then again I was also wildly infatuated with Nabokov’s prose and Anthony Burgess’ use of English. Lately my favorite is Haruki Murakami, I want to read every one of his books!

 TLG: Who do the company look towards as their muses? Which females do you feel embody the reality of MOB living? 

Well the range of possible MOB muses is endless, it can basically be any girl that we’d wanna personally hang out with! If you’re on your grind, doing creative shit, have good style, and love yourself, then we wanna get down with you! As much as it can be world-famous icons like Lil Kim or Daphne Guinness, it can also just as easily be the homegirls from around the way.

 On the topic of MTTM women, Faye Reagan modeled the Summer 2010 campaign. A lot of women view pornography as offensive, considering the industry misogynistic – even those who aren’t entirely insulted by porn criticize the business for setting unrealistic standards for women. How did it come about that you decided on Faye? 

Well for starters, we’re all into porn over at MOB, so naturally we’ve got our favorite girls within the industry. I know there’s a lot of negativity associated with adult movies, but it’s 2012 – the majority of starlets making films these days are strong, independent females that are well in charge of their careers & lives, and making good money in the process. The point is, it’s their choice and I respect the hustle. We found out about Faye when a friend had sent Leah a picture of her saying “this kinda of looks like you” because of the fair skin & freckles, and we immediately all fell for her naturally sultry look. She’s got the porn star appeal, but without all the shiny plastic fake shit I hate.

The USA’s often criticised for being conservative – a bit less liberal than their French counterparts, yet the trial of DSK exposed the immunity with which high-powered men in France get away with the sexual abuse of women. What are your thoughts on the issue?  And as someone who’s family are French but was raised in Brooklyn – which country do you feel has a more sexist approach to women?

Wow, good question! It’s kind of tough to answer since I didn’t actually grown up full-time in France, so the sexist issues there aren’t as apparent as they are here, but I’d say they’re both equal offenders in different ways. I mean it’s not like Americans in power haven’t showed their immunity in the face of scandals here too. I just feel like in America there’s way more pressure on females to fit into a mold that will please stereotypical men, whereas in France natural beauty is more encouraged. At the end of the day though, no matter where you go, bigot men will have their asshole opinions about us – luckily it seems that the world is finally starting to turn in our favour. Like we’ve always said, Men Are The New Women!

The stereotype for stoners is pretty much established as being lazy, college drop outs. Your level of productivity and the company’s résumé as a whole contradicts this. Was your family ever concerned by the choices you were making before MTTM obtained such acclaim?

Haha, I very much take that as a compliment! For the record I’m extremely lazy when I’m not working. I come from a pretty crazy family, so in all honesty I think I could have been a way less well-behaved kid. Regardless of all the artistic chaos and early exposure, they certainly raised me right! I had some bad stints in high school, like all adolescents, but I feel like they always knew that I was in control of shit and that I’d never let myself go overboard. When the job position at MTTM was officially offered to me, they were thrilled and proud that I’d landed something so cool at such a young age, and throughout the whole journey they’ve been extremely supportive. In fact I think I’m personally more bummed about me not going to college than they’ll ever be, but it’s never too late I guess!

 Have you got any must-make stoner recipes you’d like to recommend our readers?

 Hm…I haven’t done any baking in quite a while, but fruity rice krispie treats are always a hit! Just make your butter using this easy recipe: http://www.thestonerscookbook.com/recipe.php/recipe/bud-butter, then follow basic rice krispie making ingredients substituting the weed butter with the normal shit.

 Now you’ve done collaborations with the biggest names in street wear, where is there for MOB to go from here?

 Well if I told you I’d be ruining any future surprises! All I can say is that whatever we do will surely not disappoint, just keep a lookout on our site and be sure to check out the latest collection for Holiday, shot at the incredible Black Apartment NYC – http://mttmnyc.com/lightbox/holiday-11/.

 

Tags: Leah McSweeney, Married to the Mob, Streetwear, Tabatha McGurr, Weed, Womens' Streetwear

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