By Jackson Dorsey
Dustin Hoyman, Phoenix fashion expert and creator of HYMN, the latest culture-driven and artist-centered media publication, began his fashion ventures in an unusual way – teenage punk rock bands.
“I looked a lot different back then,” Hoyman said with a smile, through his dark beard and gelled hair, clad in a lavender shirt with an accented floral tie.
“It was down and dirty, we were playing in dingy little clubs, and I was a punk rock kid wearing ratty jeans,” Hoyman said. “Our band even had a song titled ‘destroy the fashion revolution’ but I saw a big connection between what I did with music as an art form and what fashion designers do as an art form.”
Hoyman’s first dive into the fashion world started with PhxNoir, an exclusive news and culture website catered to the higher-ups of the Phoenix area. Hoyman pushed content to the site in its early stages, focusing on luxury goods.
“I decided I was going to sneak into Phoenix fashion week,” Hoyman said. “I received a media pass through PhxNoir and it was a great way to meet people. I went in not knowing anything and ended up falling in love with it.”
Falling in love is just what Hoyman did. Following his first fashion week, Hoyman spread PhxNoir across the valley, growing the subscription list by the hundreds through partnering with those vested in the fashion industry.
“He was really ahead of the curve when he started blogging with PhxNoir,” said Samantha Stull, an ASU reporter who partnered with Hoyman.
“He found other people who were similar to him in wanting to grow the culture.”
Even some of Hoyman’s early punk rock buddies spoke to his awareness of the fashion industry, perhaps before Hoyman himself.
“His love of fashion did seem to come out of the blue,” recalled Matthew Yoder, a former band member and longtime friend of Hoyman. “It was great for me when I would show him all these new styles and brands, he really had an early apprecication for the art of it.”
Yoder currently works in the fashion industry and has seen Hoyman progress as a person through fashion.
“When Dustin started to pick up fashion, it was like the difference between someone who was standing a little hunched as opposed to standing up straight, and you see the confidence in that,” Yoder said.
Confidence is a trait that runs through Hoyman, the former 2011 AZFoothills.com bachelor of the year. Hoyman has routinely started new websites centered around fashion and culture in the Arizona area.
Indie Stich, another of Hoyman’s brainchildren served as a fashion blog concentrated on outfits and style icons.
With his latest addition, HYMN, Hoyman says the site focuses on the creators in culture, specifically in art, music and fashion.
“I want it to be bigger than just fashion, Hymn is my way to do something different than anybody in Phoenix, Hoyman said. “Instead of just talking about an outfit, I want to talk about the design, the inspiration behind it.”
Those that’ve worked with Hoyman highlight his passion, devotion and attention to detail, characteristics vital to the fashion world.
“His level of focus is infatuating,” Yoder said. “With every project that he has done from indie stich and now to Hymn, he has a very clear picture of what he wants it to be and he makes sure that that is always the underlying theme to the brand.”
Hoyman says he wants to build Phoenix culture through HYMN.
“We have a really cool fashion scene, a really cool art scene, and a really cool music scene, but they don’t really talk.” Hoyman said. “For me, HYMN’s going to be about picking up people that have really good ideas and really good content who want to merge, and nurturing them with HYMN as the driving force to promote their brand.”
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