Friends of Superette:

Josh Alex Young

Josh Young has built a career out of caring deeply about how things look. A content creator, a self-described perfectionist, and someone whose wardrobe tells you exactly who he is on any given day. We sat down with him in Tāmaki Makaurau to talk creativity, getting dressed, and the Kenzo sweater he sniped at a friends and family sale.

Josh Young's days are self-directed and deliberately structured. He wakes up, does something active, gets outside, and then settles into the work. Scripting, filming, editing, or as he puts it with a grin, playing dress-up. For someone whose entire career is built around how things look and feel, the line between work and life is thin by design and he would not have it any other way.

The editing is where most people would be surprised by how deep it goes. Josh films everything properly, obsesses over the lighting setup, and then disappears into the edit for hours. Sometimes until four in the morning. He has made peace with the perfectionism that drives it, mostly. The bar keeps rising because he is the one raising it, and he knows it. The rule he comes back to when the obsession threatens to swallow the work whole is a simple one.

"A finished video is better than a perfect video."

Where the editing is controlled and exacting, the wardrobe is intuitive and immediate. Inspiration can come from anywhere. Something he has seen, a feeling he woke up with, or whatever happens to be playing when he gets dressed. Music is one signal among many. Led Zeppelin in the mix might pull him toward heeled boots and double denim. Something else entirely might mean baggy pants and sneakers. The outfit is never planned. It is a response.

That understanding of clothes as expression rather than just appearance came gradually. He will tell you he was confident before he got into fashion, ripping tie-dye shorts and cut-off singlets with genuine conviction. But watching PAQ as a teenager changed something. Four guys with four completely different styles, each of them communicating something specific about who they were through what they wore. The air the clothes brought about, as he describes it. The way a garment could shape character rather than just cover a body.

"I'd wake up and depending on how I'm feeling, what music I'm listening to will completely dictate how I dress."

Superette entered the picture later on. An invitation to a store event, a moment of walking through the door and finding everything in one place. He describes it with the kind of warmth that only comes from a genuine discovery rather than a curated one. Trumpets. An angelic voice. The realisation that this was the room he had been looking for. He hasn't had a bad experience since. Looking around the space we are sat in confirms it. Maison Kitsuné sweater. Salomon shoes. Trousers. Jackets. All from Superette.

The piece he holds onto most carefully is a Helmut Lang jacket, one of his first ever designer purchases. He does not wear it nearly enough. Every now and then he takes it out, puts it on, decides he cannot do it justice, and puts it back. The reverence is real.

But the most worn piece, the one that actually lives on his body rather than in the wardrobe, is a Kenzo sweater sniped at a Superette Warehouse sale. He watched someone else deliberate over it, try it on, decide it did not fit quite right, and put it back. He was behind the racks the entire time.

"They took it off and put it back. I'm like, thank you. Yes please."

That is probably the most Josh Young story there is. Patient, observant, and completely certain about what he wants once he sees it.