Mikel Mitchell, Musician

Photo: Lucas Michael

Nice skirt.
It’s not a skirt! Everyone thinks it’s a skirt or a kilt, but it’s a scarf that I’ve tied around my waist. One morning I was painting, and I didn’t realize I had gotten paint all over my pants. I had to run off to work, so I just grabbed a scarf to cover it up. Then when I got in, everyone was like, “That’s cool, that’s cool,” so I kind of just kept doing it.

Where do you work?
Well, I’m a musician—I’m in a band with my girlfriend, who lives in Germany—but I work at Urban Outfitters, in Soho.

That must be a hectic scene.
Definitely. It’s a great place to work, but we get so many shoplifters. Today, I saw a guy blatantly just fill up one of our shopping bags with clothes and try to walk out the door. The stuff that happens in that store is crazy: customers trying to fight employees, employees trying to fight employees. But, you know, it’s Soho.

Interview by Alexis Swerdloff

Mikel Mitchell, Musician