SYN: Tell us a little bit about yourself.
MICKEY MIRACCO: I’m a skateboarder, musician, and content creator from Long Island. I’m always running around looking for the next exciting thing that sometimes I forget to slow down. Meeting and connecting with new people is my favorite thing in the world, and I love hearing other people’s stories as much as I love sharing my own.
SYN: What is creativity to you?
MICKEY MIRACCO: Creativity is taking what makes you “you” and running with it in what you’re passionate about. It’s being unapologetically yourself when you put your mind to something artistic. It’s going outside the box and breaking rules. Be unafraid to be different.
SYN: One thing or phrase that you live by?
MICKEY MIRACCO: “Be comfortable being uncomfortable, and nothing is impossible.”
SYN: What’s a hidden gem in New York that you think every creative should experience?
MICKEY MIRACCO: Lower East Side Skatepark. I skate there all the time and am always seeing creatives being creatives there. You’ll go there and see people doing modeling shoots, drawing, painting, writing, filming, everything. It’s just a place that gets people’s creative juices flowing. You can’t really explain it, but you can feel it when you’re there.
SYN: How do you balance staying authentic to yourself with adapting to industry trends/brands or expectations?
MICKEY MIRACCO: Study why trends become trends. Work backwards. If you’re noticing that baggy jeans are trendy, figure out why. Skateboarding, Hip Hop, Breakdancing, Japanese street fashion. Those are all where baggy clothing stemmed from. Then study the aspects of fashion in those areas, and see if anything else calls out to you. As a skateboarder, baggy jeans have always been something I saw, as was skinny jeans. My eyes were always on the trends in that space because I’m a skateboarder at heart. I dressed how my favorite skaters dressed. From there, I would navigated how I wanted to dress, but as a skater. If nothing about baggy jeans culture calls out to you, but you notice that baggy jeans are trendy, maybe they’re not for you. and guess what? That is totally, 100%, non-negotiably okay.