LAST CALL
Vance ‘Macc Mulsane’ Wentworth Worcester clothing designer
V
ance Wentworth’s handcrafted clothing line, Haus of Maccadü, (https://shopmaccadu.com) was created for the creative, right here in Worcester. What makes your brand unique and how did you guys get started? I’m self-taught. I started in high school with a senior project. I was really into clothes and I wanted to find a way to seamlessly incorporate that into my school work. I also wanted to figure out what I was going to do with my life because it was senior year.
For people who aren’t familiar with your brand, can you explain what ties all your pieces together and what kind of apparel do you make? First off, my brand is called Haus of Maccadü. The reason is because everybody calls me Vinny Macc. My name is Vance, but they started calling me Vinny Macc. My friends respect the work I’ve done with art media and they said, “Mac can do anything.” If you hear it enough, it starts to sounds like a ringer: “Maccadü.” Basically, what I do is hand sew clothing from scratch. I source the fabric, cut it up, make patterns and fit the models.
What are your goals for the future? Honestly, I have two goals. One is an expansion goal, and the other one is personal. I want to become the greatest designer to ever come out of my city. I don’t just want to use my brand to make millions; I want to impact millions. I want my clothes to have the power to change your attitude when you put them on. I want to use my platform to create high-quality products and a high-quality reputation to expand people’s ideas of what it means to be “high-end.” They think that high-end only comes from overseas. In that regard, I want to expand my business to become the greatest ever. My personal goal is to be able to show the kids in this city that just because maybe school didn’t work out and
then they told you to try HVAC and that didn’t work. You don’t just resort to being bitter and upset and doing reckless things to get by. I want to show that there’s another chapter. If school doesn’t work for you, that doesn’t mean you’re not smart. Maybe that curriculum, that structure, didn’t fit your brain and your spirit. There are so many ways that you can express yourself and still create financial stability without losing yourself in the process. Resorting to selling drugs creates a negative energy around you and your people. I want to eliminate that as an option and replace it with artistic expression to create a profit, all while remembering that the profit is not the main reason why we create. – Sarah Connell Sanders
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In terms of your own influences, what designers do you admire? You asked the golden question. My favorite designer of all time is Alexander McQueen. My “SADBOI” hoodie is kind of like an extension of him. He was somebody who faced deep, dark depression. I also relate to Jerry Lorenzo because he didn’t have a fashion background; no one in his
family sewed. His dad was actually a manager for a baseball team and Jerry Lorenzo basically took his own path and created a whole clothing line from scratch by working to understand the business through research and by putting his head down. He worked with Justin Bieber and now he’s one of the most respected brands known to man. My other favorite brand is Dior. It’s because I love the elegance and the structure of Dior, but I also love the mystique of it. It’s not as prominent as Gucci and Louis, but it still holds the same cachet because of its history and richness. Those are my top three.
WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM
How did you end up back here? I spoke to my guidance counselor because literally everybody from my principal to the custodian was asking to buy my shirts, and she was like, “Do you want to do this full time?” I said, “Yeah. Something clicked for me and I’m trying to pursue it.” She told me, “Well, you can not do this in Virginia. If you want to be taken seriously, you have to go up north to New York or Boston — places with strong media, where they can capture you.” And me, being the Sagittarius that I am, said, “Alright, let’s go.” I came back in 2012 to attend the Art Institute of New England.
That’s incredible. And you moved to Worcester? I ended up in Worcester in 2013 and that ties into why my brand is so unique. I moved around a lot when I was a child, but eventually, we would always come back to Worcester. I put two and two together. I said, “If I’m going to do this clothing line, I want to do it in my forgotten city.” I based all of my designs off of my own personal experiences that led me back to the heart of Massachusetts.
D E C E M B E R 3 - 9, 2020
Did you go to school in Worcester? I had gone to Worcester East Middle and then I moved down to Virginia to live with my father. I went to a school called Goochland High School in Goochland County, Virginia. That year, there was an earthquake in Virginia and then a tsunami that hit Japan. We made two separate shirts for charitable foundations in order to raise money. And that was my first introduction to fashion. I got hooked.
DYLAN AZARI
What did you study? I went there for fashion, retail, marketing and management. Unfortunately, I had to drop out due to financial problems. My brother was the one who financially supported me to go to college and he was incarcerated. I basically had to muscle from the ground up, after I had to drop out.
