GENES #5 - Maya Napier
This interview highlights a local up-and-coming actor and her favorite overalls with an ultra-local story.
The first list of “potential interviewees” for this project mainly consisted of people I have an established relationship with in one way or another. Friends, fellow collaborators, people I’ve interviewed before, I’ve had some rapport with the majority of them and felt comfortable reaching out (again) to see if they’d be interested in collaborating.
Maya, on the other hand, was a bit of a reach. She falls into a category of people I’ve met in the neighborhood who are super friendly every time I see them, comment back and forth on social media on occasion, and in this case, she is someone I met earlier on in my photography journey but only have a couple photos of. Thankfully, she responded with a yes, and I was very excited to see what she’d bring, as the diversity of her clothing and style over the years has been impressive.
Our First Sit Down
I met up with Maya (@permanentmystery) on a sunny afternoon out on Commercial drive, appropriate, as that is where all of our interactions have ever been. Unlike the previous interviews in this series, I had no real background information on Maya as the majority of our conversations have been in passing or on social media, so we started from the beginning.
Born in “east Vancouver” this neighborhood runs deep in Maya’s blood, which as a transplant myself, is a rare occurrence to see these days. Although her family moved to North Vancouver for most of her childhood, she always found ways to come back to the neighborhood, which we will come back to a bit later in this story. Currently, Maya is working as an actor and when I asked her to describe herself, right now, the three words that came to mind were “exuberant, content, and comfortable”, which she claims is a newer feeling that she has been trying to harness.
Talking to Maya that day energized me, she was glowing with positivity and grace. As someone now raising a baby girl of my own, I probed a bit deeper about how she fosters this attitude and what led her here today; as an artist, Vancouver resident, and local style icon. Just in the hour we sat together I learned she is gritty, grateful and resilient, all attributes which are commendable but I know require work to get there. We spoke about some of the trials and tribulations which have led to this point, and in my assessment, I think it’s safe to say she has a bright future ahead of her. With a beaming smile, she waved to friends passing by as we chatted. It was fun seeing some locals we both know as the sun brought everyone out for this crisp fall day.
She described falling in love with acting as something that happened more recently, but that she always had an interest in “playing characters”. One thing I’ve always appreciated about her style expression is the way that these “characters” often translate into the way she’s dressed. She can be seen in a diversity of outfits around the neighborhood; comfortable, but elegant, rugged, but beautiful, it seems that she knows how to balance functionality with form, in my assessment, likely a skill sharpened by her love of thrift shopping in the area.
Now, before we go any further in discussing her clothing choice for this interview, I think it is important to discuss my position as a white-male writer. The only way I know how to approach this is with honesty. I want to relay this story, of course, because it is deep and personal, and I am so grateful that she shared it with me. So, as with all of these stories, I will use as much of Maya’s words as possible.
It was a fascinating conversation and we went in so many different directions within the hour or so that we sat and drank tea together, but the conversation of identity and race ran deep within the clothing choice, so I will do my best to amplify Maya’s voice in relation to the GENEs of her FUBU overalls.
The Overalls
It was clear when Maya met up with me that day, that her choice for this interview was the overalls she had on. She walked in with a swagger and confidence, which I often see her with, but with these overalls, it was elevated. I waited a little while to start talking about them, as I wanted to learn a bit more about her before we got going. Then I asked, so how have your roots influenced your personal style, and that’s when she opened up about the overalls.
“I’ve had these overalls think since… I don’t even know…2015 or ‘16? I know for sure though that I got them at the Value Village that burned down on Hastings. FUBU, a brand that my dad would rep so hard when I was a kid. I have a photo of him and I and you can just see the FUBU logo on the XXL Tee. Durag on, watch on, flexing his newborn. I feel like every time I wear these overalls, I think about my dad. It’s paying a little bit of homage to him, and that side of me.
When I was younger, I feel like I was a little bit more “PC” with what I would wear. I wasn't super open. I didn't want so much attention on me. But then I feel like when I got into high school, 15, or 16, that's when I started to get really experimental with my style. When I was living at the top of Lynn Valley, I would take the 210 bus all the way down to east van and get off at Powell and Commercial and then walk to the Value Village. That was my little weekend getaway. I feel like now it's just... I don't know. Out of all the clothing pieces that I've had, these have stuck with me the longest. I also feel like I definitely purged a lot of my clothing. It's easy to just hold on to things. It's hard to let go of them. But these have just stayed with me through and through, through every season, through every change. “
Maya had referenced this idea of dressing “PC” when living in Lynn Valley, not wanting to make too many waves a bit earlier in our conversation…
“To summarize it, I have gratitude for North Van for sure. I had a lot of good friends that came out of [living there], but I just knew that there was part of me that just didn't fully connect. I loved the nature and loved the friends that I had made. But North Van is just... well, Vancouver is really white to begin with, and in North Van, [there] was barely any representation. There were three Black kids [at my school]. I spent a lot of time not really knowing who I was. Because I'm half, I feel like I was just really catering to my white side a lot of the time. There were a lot of moments that I didn't think anything of and a lot of things that people would say or ask me that were just inappropriate.”
I probed a bit deeper into the fact that she picked a FUBU piece for this interview, and was rocking it with such pride that day. She mentioned that she didn’t wear it often, partially in an effort to preserve it, but also;
“I think that's the reason it was also just in my closet for so long because it didn't fit me. When I got these, they were like, baggy, like X-X-L. And now they fit me like a glove. And I feel like that's something that also I had to grow into. Maybe I wasn't ready to fully be, rocking a look like that. But now I just have a whole different perspective on it. I think there's definitely something deeply symbolic in there too. I definitely dialed [my style] down in North Van and then had a resurgence in myself, and I would turn it all the way up. I feel like I'm at a point where I'm just so unapologetic.”
As we were talking, sitting on the bench in front of a coffee shop, our heads would constantly turn back and forth as we gazed at all the outfits passing by. We talked a bit further about feeling comfortable in what you choose to wear, expressing yourself through clothing, and although at times growing up in this area she has felt like she wasn’t ready to express her “true self” in the way she dressed, she has an admiration for the community surrounding Commercial Drive.
“There's something so special about commercial drive and just everyone who's a part of it and contributes to it in their little way. I feel like once you break out of societal norms and what they want you to wear and how you think you're supposed to look, then it's like a whole other world.”
As someone who now lives near the drive, and has spent a lot of time on the drive growing up, I asked “How does this neighborhood inform your style?”
“I feel like I like commercial drive so much because obviously as you see, there's so many different walks of life, so many different style icons. I feel like whenever I come to the drive, I'm like, I want to see who's pulling outfits today. It’s inspiring and it's cool to see and it makes me more motivated to show up more.”
Conclusions
I stopped the recording and we chatted for a bit longer as the last sips of tea went cold in our cups. We continued to bond over our love for the neighborhood, locals whose style we admire, and the fact that in this neighborhood, you can wear whatever the fuck you want, whenever you want, and we hope it stays that way. I think we’d both agree, that this neighborhood has played a role in allowing her to become the confident, stylish, and positive person I sat with that day.
With plans to travel and keep pursuing acting, I’m not sure when I will run into Maya again, but I do know, I really look forward to another conversation with her and of course will hope to take a quick snap of whatever outfit she is wearing.
We headed off in different directions down the drive and her energy and positivity stayed with me all day.
I want to thank Maya again for sharing her story with me, and allowing me to publish it on this platform.
Maya’s GENEs Suggestions for future Interviews:
Local - Em (friend and local tattoo artist)
“Reach” - Issa Rae (Big time celeb)
As always, thanks for reading. This will be my last GENEs post for this year. I have a few interviews lined up for the New Year and am really looking forward to continuing this project. If you have anyone in mind you’d like to see interviewed for this project, either a local or a “reach” please let me know in the comments below!
For More GENEs Interviews: LINK HERE