Curated By:

Hasan Minhaj

We’ve been fans of Hasan Minhaj since we first caught him on “The Daily Show” (and noticed he was wearing one of our shirts on his Wikipedia page). And for anyone who has been looking to laugh at the seemingly dire state of the country this past year, his Netflix series “Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj” was a great weekly pick-me-up. No surprise the 35-year-old comedian was scooped up for the cast of Apple’s addictive backstage drama “The Morning Show” where he’ll play a new anchor alongside Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon. Todd caught up with him a few weeks back to talk about his style and his recent move to the suburbs.

“JERRY SEINFELD TOLD ME: WHEN YOU’RE DOING STAND-UP, YOU NEED TO LOOK PROFESSIONAL… THE AUDIENCE WANTS TO SEE A GUY WHO LOOKS LIKE HE CAN LAND THE PLANE.” Shop The Look

TODD SNYDER: GROWING UP IN DAVIS, CALIFORNIA, WHEN DID YOU FIRST BECOME AWARE THAT STYLE WAS A THING? HOW DID YOU DEVELOP YOUR PERSONAL STYLE?

HASAN MINHAJ: I’m a child of immigrants. My parents came to America in 1982. And one of the rules that my dad had was I wasn’t allowed to watch The Simpsons because the kids talked back to the parents, but I was allowed to read anything I wanted. So I subscribed to this basketball magazine called Slam, and in the back was a section called “Slam Kicks.” If I had good grades, my mom would let me choose one pair of sneakers every year, And at twelve or thirteen, those sneakers became the pieces I built my entire wardrobe around. So my look was a North Face Puffer and Air Jordans.

TS: BUT BY THE TIME YOU HAD YOUR OWN SERIES YOUR LOOK HAD EVOLVED?

HM: I was dressing like a fifteen-year-old until my thirties and joined the cast of The Daily Show. That’s when I needed to buy suits and learn important things about men’s fashion...like I’m a 40 Regular. And, Todd, I have got to give you credit. What you did for men’s fashion when you opened The Liquor Store is you provided a lot of clarity and curation.

TS: THANKS, MAN. ONE OF THE REASONS I GOT INTO THE INDUSTRY IS THAT I’VE ALWAYS HAD AN APPETITE TO HELP GUYS LOOK BETTER...WHEN I WORKED IN A STORE BACK IN IOWA, A GUY WOULD COME IN AND SAY, “I HAVE TO GO TO A WEDDING.” IT WAS ALWAYS ‘HAVE TO.’ BUT THEN AFTER YOU FOUND THE RIGHT SUIT FOR HIM, YOU COULD JUST SEE HIS SHOULDERS LIFT AND THIS FEELING OF CONFIDENCE.

HM: Totally. Now the right clothes give me confidence. Like Deion Sanders said, “If you look good, you feel good. If you feel good, you play good. If you play good, they pay good.”

TS: THAT’S A GREAT QUOTE...ANY OTHER STYLE INSIGHTS?

HM: Another thing I’ve learned is that color looks good on melanin. As a guy with brown skin, I can pull off a Dylan Jacket in Eucalyptus Green or Burnt Sage. Beyoncé should do a PSA: Brown people wear color.

TS: WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO OTHER UNDERREPRESENTED VOICES WHO WANT TO BREAK INTO MAINSTREAM MEDIA?

HM: Go build your thing! Social media and the internet are making it easier and easier to find an audience. I had a little web series on YouTube called The Truth with Hasan Minhaj, and those videos started going viral and some of the folks at The Daily Show saw them and asked me to audition.

TS: AND DESPITE THE PANDEMIC YOU WERE ABLE TO KEEP DOING PATRIOT ACT FROM HOME DURING LOCKDOWN...

HM: My producer moved in with my wife, my two kids and me. This past year has been like one giant slumber party...But I miss a live audience. It’s tough doing a monologue in a vacuum, and my wife, who did the camera work, is my harshest critic, so it’s like I’ve been bombing for a whole year.

TS: YOUR SON AND MY DAUGHTER ARE ABOUT THE SAME AGE, WE WERE PREGNANT BEFORE THE PANDEMIC. I KNOW SO MANY PEOPLE WHO MADE A BABY DURING THE PANDEMIC...

HM: COVID has turned relationships into a NBA negotiation: People are either signing max contracts or demanding free agency.

TS: SO YOU’VE MOVED OUT OF THE CITY?

HM: We were living in Hell’s Kitchen when the pandemic started and our three- year-old daughter is a spunky, spontaneous girl, so she was running around touching everything, licking elevator buttons, hugging strangers in the bodega... We’re doing a one-year rental in Connecticut.

TS: WE LOST YOU TO THE SUBURBS FOR GOOD?

HM: I’m oddly optimistic about New York. I think good times are ahead. The city needed a reset, and now it’s ready for a bunch of young artists to come in and start innovating, creating new things.

TS: I AGREE. I REMEMBER A SIMILAR THING HAPPENING AFTER 9-11. HM: I guess we’re just two optimistic guys with small-market roots.