"What have I learned working at Slick It Up? Don’t give a Top anything with a butt zipper - you’ll never hear the end of it."
Artistic, hard working and swoon-able, Anthony Cabrera is a triple threat if I’ve ever seen one and an obvious pick for ‘Love Is…’ Based out of NYC, Anthony not only illustrates drool worthy men, but work for the fast growing brand, Slick It Up. Justin Gray got the chance to ask this cutie-pie some questions about art, work and men.
What do you do for work?
I manage the office of Slickitup.com, which basically means I deal with all of the customer service aspect of it. Packing/Shipping orders, emails, the rare phone call, product inventory. All the fun stuff.
How did you get your start with up with Slick it Up?
I followed David (the owner) on social media when I still lived and Florida and when I moved to the city I just so happened to be in the right place at the right time (totally on purpose) and got to hang out with him for a bit. A few weeks after that he asked me if I’d like to work for him just doing some grunt work and I’ve worked my way up since then.
Mariah and Kylie both used SIU to cloth their dancers recently, how did that come about?
With Mariah, her creative team got in touch with us through email and sent us some ideas of what they were thinking about costume concept wise. They pretty much knew what they wanted and just needed to make sure we had enough for a quick pick up (and luckily enough we did!). With Kylie, if I remember correctly, her style team just bought the items and had us ship them over. We had pictures of her dancers in our gear shortly after and it was pretty awesome.
Did either one of them have particular requests for the outfits?
I think they both had a clear idea of what they wanted, making sure we had the quantity was the big concern, more with Mariah’s Platinum Star Hoodie since we don’t generally keep a large number of those in stock.
Slick It Up has so many revealing looks in their collection have you had any hilarious customer complaints sent to you about any pieces?
Some of our emails are…interesting to say the least. Sometimes people are thrown of by zipper placement (don’t give a top anything with a butt zipper you’ll never hear the end of it) or by cutouts that aren’t directly advertised on the site for obvious reasons.
We love your illustrations! The cute scruffy guys are a treat for the eyes, but what is it about them that draws (pun intended) you to illustrating them?
I’m generally drawn to bushy beards or really chiseled faces or features. I love a good goofy expression and if they look like they could be something out of a comic book it’s always fun to attempt a doodle. But I don’t think there’s any one thing in particular about a face that makes me want to sketch it. It’s more of a feeling in a moment where I think, ‘I got this’.
If you could have any man, living or dead, sit and model for you, who would it be?
I can’t honestly say that I’ve ever had a real life person sit for me because I’m a giant ball of nerves and anxiety but if I got to pick I’d probably go Tom Hardy…because the man’s a piece of art.
Are you a Romy or a Michele?
I invented Post-Its
If you could be locked into any store over night, which one would it be and why?
The only store that comes to mind (and its really the only store I frequent on a regular basis) is a local Blick Art Supply in the city mostly because I can’t say I’d get bored. That and I’d try to hoard all the supplies I wanted and make a grand escape by the time the night was over.
Who are your Instagram loves?
Where to start?! I’d say for the sake of fawning over,
@ Strongjaws
@ isnathan
@ thom.austin
@ djpjm1
But I’ve been following more and more artists and I’m totally obsessed with,
@ kevinwada
@ silverjow
@ heimdallgazo
@ jerkmonger
…to name a few.
If you were stranded on an island and you only had an iPod with one Mariah Carey song on it, which one would it be and why?
I would have to say ‘My All’ It’s the only Mariah tune I can think of that I constantly go back to and can picture myself on a stage in a bright red dress with nothing but a spotlight on me as I belt out into the darkness hoping the right person is listening. And I mean, it’s basically what I would be doing on an island alone.
