MULTIHYPHENATE EVAN MOCK IS SKATING THROUGH THE WORLDS OF TELEVISION, FASHION AND ART AT LIGHTNING SPEED.

Animation By: HUMXN @h_u_m_x_n

Evan Mock (@evanmock) is a man with simple pleasures, yet his life is far from it. Born in Oahu, Hawaii, Mock was essentially born with a surfboard in-hand.

“Growing up in Hawaii, you kind of have no choice but to spend every moment at the beach. Surfing was a big part of my life from the beginning because my sister surfed, my dad made surfboard fins and my mom grew up in Hawaii,” Mock shares.

“In New York, you go to Central Park on the weekends, but in Hawaii, you go to the beach and you hang out as a family, barbecue, surf—it was always a huge part of our lives.”

A natural surfer, Mock eventually took his athletic skills to land when he picked up skateboarding when he was around 11 years old.

“There was a skate park that was about a 30-second drive from my house, so I started going there and skating around more and more. I then started checking out other skate parks on the island and it made me realize I had such a love and passion for skating, so I dove head-first into the sport and became completely obsessed with it,” he recalls. “That skate park made my life, to be honest. I spent more time there than at my own house, and I eventually came to the realization that I wanted to master skateboarding to the best of my abilities.”

At age 18, Mock left the island and relocated to L.A., where he continued his passion for skating. To him, skating or surfing is a way to disconnect and thrive off the adrenaline the sports bring him. And during a very pivotal moment, singer Frank Ocean received footage of Mock skateboarding, which he then proceeded to post to social media— prompting Mock to become a viral sensation and kick-starting his modeling career further.

Full Louis Vuitton look and accessories, us.louisvuitton.com

Most notably, Mock landed the role of Akeno “Aki” Menzies on HBO’s reboot of Gossip Girl, which premiered in 2021. Portraying a character who shares some key similarities to himself—a keen sense of style, a love for skateboarding and a soft yet charming demeanor—Mock fell into the role with natural skill despite having no formal acting experience.

“Acting is hard and it was a challenge for me, especially with it being my first role, so it was definitely a learning experience,” Mock recalls. “But it was such a fun experience because it was something that I had no idea about prior and so different from anything else I’d ever done. So I found it fun to dive into it and learn a new skill.”

At the time of this story’s release, Gossip Girl’s second season will be making its premiere, where the first season’s drama and action will continue and grow.

“I think compared to the first season, the second season’s situations really turn up and you get to see a lot of character development with each person’s stories, singularly and together as well. So I think toward the end of the season, everything either starts aligning or falls apart completely, so it should be interesting to watch,” he teases. “It’ll be fun to see

everything unravel—it feels like we shot it 10 years ago, but it was only a year ago. We also got to fly somewhere really cool, which having previously only been able to film in New York during COVID, was especially fun and a great way to kick the season off.”

The transition to this role was also positive for Mock as he instantly connected with his castmates.

"We’re all around the same age and going through the same things, so we all started hanging out. I talk to Thomas [Doherty] and Eli [Brown] like every day—the boys are tight, the girls are tight, so it’s nice.”

Full Louis Vuitton look, us.louisvuitton.com; Welcome skateboard, welcomeskateboards.com.

When Mock isn’t filming in New York for the hit TV show, you’ll have a tough time catching him as he jet-sets between some of the world’s most glamorous destinations for modeling campaigns and fashion weeks, or takes a breather at home in Hawaii.

He’s had a wildly impressive modeling career in a short amount of time, modeling for campaigns with Fendi, Calvin Klein, Paco Rabanne, Aldo, Jimmy Choo x Timberland, Superdry, Pandora and UGG, among others, and walked in Paris for Virgil Abloh’s Louis Vuitton men’s spring/summer 2020 show.

While Mock’s foray into fashion is wide-ranging and inspiring, his favorite memory falls on the latter, as working with Louis Vuitton and Virgil Abloh was a truly special experience for him.

“I still think about how crazy it was—Louis Vuitton made mannequins following their spring/summer 2020 show, which I walked in, and I was one of the featured mannequins in the store. That was something pretty nuts to see. It was a crazy experience creating them as well—we went to Nice, France, where the factory is, and it was a room filled with cameras surrounding me, and I stood in the middle and posed in different stances,” he explains. “They digitized it and it became a mannequin. To walk into the store a few months after in Paris and see a double of yourself everywhere on each floor—that’s something crazy. It was a really surreal moment because in the past, I’d always gone in there but was never able to buy anything for years. And to see myself and also be like, ‘Yeah, we can buy something now,’ [laughs] made it really memorable.”

Full Louis Vuitton look and couch, us.louisvuitton.com.

Mock has also taken his love for fashion and passion for his homeland of Hawaii to create his own label, Wahine. Translating to “woman,” the line pays homage to Hawaii, but particularly his mother and sister, whom he credits as his inspiration.

“I wanted to have my brand relate to Hawaii, but also to my older sister and mom as they are a huge part of who I am today. It was nice to feel that something I was creating was glorifying how they raised me, because they’re such a huge part in supporting me in whatever I do,” says Mock.

The line spans outerwear, shirts, hoodies, knits, tees and bottoms for both men and women. As a true creative, Mock turns to his surroundings and the island’s history for inspiration when designing his pieces.

“Since creating the company, I’ve gotten to learn more about Hawaii and its history and what things stem from. It’s allowed me to learn a lot more about where I’m from, so my creative process includes doing research—if I’m not there, I do it online, and if I am there, I have been going to museums and searching iconic Hawaiian people like Duke Kahanamoku—he is a huge inspiration for me; he basically created surfing and was in the Olympics. He was a very prolific swimmer. All these people and stories have helped me get closer to where I’m from, and also there’s so many cool different design aspects from what they were wearing back then,” he says. “If there’s one thing I want to get across with having a brand that glorifies Hawaii, it’s that with my designs you can see and hear Hawaiian. And it either takes you back to or introduces you to the island—but hopefully you get a little taste of something different.”

As a multihyphenate on the rise to superstardom, creativity and art are in everything Mock does in one way or another. He’s not only an actor, model and designer, but he’s also a photographer and an appreciator of the arts. Always willing to try something new, take risks and showcase his personality through his iconic ensembles or inspiring photographs, Mock sees art in every form of life.

“I feel like I grew up with art all around me,” he recalls. “My first introduction to art was from my grandfather. He was a watercolorist painter and creative. He took photos; he gave me some of my first cameras I ever owned. So I think, hopefully, I’m trying to pull some creative things from him,” he says.

“But I feel like growing up in Hawaii, it’s so easy to get into art because, yes there’s beautiful landscapes, but there’s also art in so many other places. I look at food as art and how Hawaiians cook food underground—I’m really inspired by the things that I visually see—it doesn’t necessarily have to be paint or oil on canvas or photos printed; it can be just what people do in their everyday life. My dad works really hard making surfboard fins and he works all day—he’s a one-man band by choice because he wants to do it himself, and because he is a perfectionist and a workaholic. If he could tell you his whole process, it is an art form. It’s all handmade from start to finish and he works with resins and fabrics, floral fabrics, fiberglass and a lot of dangerous materials. He uses saws to cut the fins out and hand-sanding—it’s a whole process that inspires you to look at things differently and see art in every form.”

Throughout it all, Mock embraces each new project as a new learning experience.

“I’ve found that stepping out into something uncomfortable and super foreign to you is sometimes hard, but you just have to try to soak up everything you can and apply yourself. I’ve learned those tools from surfing and skateboarding, and now I’m applying that to my acting and designing career.”

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from my conversation with Mock, it’s that he is open to anything. As long as it excites him and challenges him, he embraces it wholeheartedly. And thus, while it’s clear Evan Mock is on a race around the world, conquering each new challenge day by day, I have a very strong feeling we’ve only caught a glimpse of what is yet to come from the rising star. Stay tuned to catch what’s next.

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