Interviewed by Olivia Emigh

Griffin Maxwell Brooks

Style, Sound, Subversion

Photo of Griffin Maxwell Brooks against a white wall wearing a design by Benjamin Medina

We caught up with Griffin Maxwell Brooks in New York during September’s Fashion Week, where we shot their Icarus editorial, a concept exploring ambition, transformation, and fragility. The theme, “Icarus Falling,” captures that impossible moment between ascent and collapse, when beauty still burns before the fall.

Shot across The Oculus at the World Trade Center and Trinity Churchyard on Broadway, the images juxtapose steel and sky, industrial light and ancient stone. Styled in designer Benjamin Medina’s pieces, Brooks’ look fused delicacy and danger: feathered corsetry and harnessed leather, sheer mesh and metallics, pearls that caught the light like sweat. It’s ethereal but grounded, a myth rewritten in the language of the city.

For Brooks, it’s new territory, a chance to step away from nightlife’s immediacy and into something more cinematic. The shoot plays with contrasts they know intimately: control and chaos, ascent and exhaustion, confidence and collapse. The result feels like a portrait of both the artist and the moment, luminous, teetering, and alive with heat.

Photo of Griffin Maxwell Brooks in front of the Oculus World Trade Center

When Griffin Maxwell Brooks walks into a room, you know it. Whether they’re behind the decks, in front of a camera, or cracking jokes to their million-plus followers online, Brooks carries a palpably catalytic presence. Our New York shoot captures that electricity: a figure who isn’t just part of the moment but shaping it.

Brooks’ rise began in the early pandemic, when TikTok cracked open a new space for queer creators to connect and build community. But they’ve never been content to live behind a screen. While many first discovered them through humor and sharp social commentary, Brooks has built an equally formidable career as a DJ. In just the past few months, they’ve played packed shows across Denver, Toronto, Seattle, and multiple New York dates, all while teasing their debut single XTC, a pulsing, energetic techno track that cements their shift from nightlife personality to full-fledged artist.

“I always perceive my online presence as a character based on myself,” says Brooks. “It’s authentic, but it’s never the whole story. The rest happens on the dance floor.”

Among their touchstones are Honey Dijon, Kerri Chandler, Eris Drew, 2manydjs, Octo Octa, and Eli Escobar, artists they cite as both teachers and torchbearers. Their dream stage? The “perfect” Panorama Bar at Berghain, a room built for stamina, intimacy, and surrender. Until then, marathon sets across New York and North America let Brooks channel that same spirit: expansive, uncompromising, and rooted in community.

A New York State of Mind

New York is the backdrop for many of Brooks’ TikTok videos, but they describe New York as more of an ethos; the clubs, subways, 4 a.m. bars, and sprawling queer community have shaped how Brooks creates, dresses, and connects. “New York has such a strong queer community, stronger than anywhere else in the U.S.,” they tell us. “It has this rich culture of nightlife and dance music, but also a history of queer resistance that still lives in the walls of the clubs.”

That lineage fuels them. The city’s energy pushes Brooks to play harder, dress bolder, and carve out spaces that feel as liberating as the ones that welcomed them. The rhythm of New York life mirrors its own creative drive.

As a visible queer figure at the intersection of fashion and nightlife, Brooks treats visibility less as a burden than a compass.

“Being true to who I am is what built my following, and it’s what keeps me grounded.”

Whether in six-hour DJ sets or nights that turn strangers into chosen families, their goal is radical in its simplicity: to keep the dance floor alive as a space of freedom, connection, and joy.

Photo of Griffin Maxwell Brooks in designs by Benjamin Medina at night

Fashion Ethos: Club Classics

Brooks’ style is a blend of glamour, defiance, and pragmatism. What began as high-concept shock value has evolved into a refined but unmistakable aesthetic rooted in repetition, sustainability, and character.

Their early experiments were legendary: a Coachella look stitched from second-hand leather belts; a dress made of chain-linked MetroCards; a toilet-seat corset grinning with Dolly Parton’s face. At their first DJ gig in 2022, they wore the front half of a wedding dress, ribbons laced up their legs, and a necklace of antique watches. It was a look that, knowingly or not, marked the start of their new era.

In recent years, Brooks has distilled that chaos into something more signature. Black leather boots, often by Miista, vintage silver jewelry, and custom pieces from New York’s underground designers now anchor their wardrobe. They’ve moved toward a more minimalist, practical approach, repeating signature accessories and dressing with the club in mind: durable fabrics, height that commands space, and looks built to move through the night.

“You can’t be a style icon if you don’t repeat,” they tell us. “It’s about building an aesthetic people remember, and that you feel powerful in.”

What’s Next

Right now, Brooks is in full creative bloom. They’re throwing their own parties, touring nationally, and expanding a sound that’s getting darker, heavier, and more hypnotic with each set. Future releases will build on XTC’s kinetic energy, merging the mechanical precision of an engineer with the emotional release of the rave.

“I just want to keep the chain alive,” they say. “To bring people together, to make them dance, to give them space to be themselves.”

Photo of Griffin Maxwell Brooks in designs by Benjamin Medina