Jacket vintage JACQUES SAINT LAURENT

“The messages I get from people who say I have made them feel like they can be themselves, find love one day or that I helped them come out to their friends or family… talk about humbling,” Taylor Phillips tells Man About Town. He’s reflecting on the impact of sharing his life with over a million followers online in the past seven years. With a following of 625k on TikTok and just under 400k on Instagram, Phillips’ metamorphosis from small-town life in his native Indiana to pursuing a modelling career in New York and finding love has offered inspiration, camaraderie and entertainment in spades to the many fans he’s taken along for the ride.

The wins in his personal life, as a queer person, have perhaps resonated most strongly. His documentation of meeting once-boyfriend Jeff, their marriage and building of a home together has made him a beacon of queer-joy-in-action to those navigating their identity watching on.

And, the journey continues, as he mentions below, blessed with a Sagittarius knack for reinvention, the many strings to his bow are constantly evolving. Parenthood is something he'd like to be on the horizon in the not-too-distant future. And, his creativity is now gracing the fashion world too. In 2022, he launched apparel line Goodpark, a clothing brand which, consistent with the ethos uniting his heterogeneous range of pursuits, has inclusivity at its epicentre. The business acumen clearly isn’t lacking either, however – the brand’s latest collection sold out in just five days.

As he continues to go from strength to strength, Phillips talks life online, thriving as an LGBTQIA+ person in adulthood, the key to successful creative diversification and the joy of being a proud ‘guncle’…

Hi Taylor! Can you tell us about the day you shot your Man About Town editorial? How do these images make you feel when you look at them?
Hello, Man About Town! The day felt like a scene right out of The Searchers and I was living my John Wayne fantasy. Owen had a concept and a dream and the photos speak for themselves [laughs]. We found this insane little prop town out in the middle of the desert and we packed all the leather, denim and cowboy hats we could find and set our sites out west. The day was great, it felt like we hopped in a time machine and in the blink of an eye we were in the Wild West. I’m obsessed with the photos. Owen sent me all the raw images for us to make selects and I told him not to even worry about making any edits, everything was perfect right out of the camera. I love how they turned out.

Thinking hypothetically – you’ve given up your current reality for a rural cowboy lifestyle. What do you think your biggest attributes as a cowboy would be? 
The dream! I’m an early riser and I find myself to be most productive and active first thing in the morning. I also don’t mind spending time on my own, I recharge my battery in solitude. I’m no historian but I feel like, in the movies, the cowboys were clocking in before the sun came up and were out tending to the cattle by themselves most of the time.

Back to reality, you shared your life on social media for seven years! From that vantage point, what would you say are the biggest boons of documenting life online? Which aspects of the online world would you discard forever?
Well, it was nice while it lasted. There are honestly so many great things I’ve experienced over the last seven years of sharing my life online. The friends I’ve made and the people I’ve been able to meet have truly changed my life. And, also, the messages. I have a folder of screenshots of messages and a box of letters I’ve received over the years that I look back on often. It really is a feeling that’s hard to explain.

With the good comes the bad and the ugly, that’s how it works, right? If I could get rid of one aspect of the online world I think it would just be unwarranted negativity. It’s the internet so you kind of open yourself up to everyone’s opinions but sometimes people are just nasty. I never knew that me being myself was such a hindrance to anyone living their life. Oh, wait. Also, the unsolicited nudes. What happened to “Hi”, “Hello”, “How are you?”?

You’ve been a big advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community throughout your career. You seem to be at a point in life where you are really thriving, both personally and professionally. What do you think your younger queer self would think of your life now?
That is an incredible compliment and not something I take lightly, so thank you! That’s one of my favourite questions and plays into my life mantra of “Be the person you needed when you were younger” and hints at the inspo behind the GoodPark Original tee! I think my younger queer self would be so proud. I grew up in a small conservative town in Indiana. When I was growing up, I thought the biggest thing I could do was work at the local bank. To see where life has taken me compared to what I dreamt of as a kid is crazy. I always knew I was going to make it, it was just a drive I had in me. I still do. I just didn’t know what making it looked like. But I think my younger queer self would say, “Look! We made it!”

Congratulations on the success of GoodPark and the recently relaunched GoodPark Originals! What made you want to branch into the fashion world?
Thank you! It’s been a dream come true. The success is, again, very humbling. I’ve always loved fashion but GoodPark was really a byproduct of my online community. I love sharing my life and living authentically and inspiring others to do the same but after doing it for so long there was a point where I was starting to burnout. I wanted to create something that I could work on that would be a part of me but be able to live outside of me. I figured merchandise was a great way to scale and spread a positive message, which was what the first two GoodPark collections set out to do. GoodPark’s mission in the beginning was to inspire others and to get people to connect with one another while I took a step back from sharing so much. I, of course, never took a step back but I have loved growing GoodPark alongside continuing to share my life.

Do you find, coming from the online world, it’s easier or harder to expand your career?
I definitely think there’s a little bit of public scrutiny anytime an influencer tries to do anything outside of what people know them to do. You’ll see people say things like “Oh, now she wants to do music?” Like, what if she always wanted to do music? People have a hard time letting other people live outside of the box they created for them. It’s a double-edged sword because when you have a following you automatically have an upper hand and if you’ve been monetising that content you’re even further ahead, but, on the other end, it’s sometimes hard to switch things up when people know you for something else. For me, I think the proof is in the pudding. You want to do music? Great, get in the studio and make a hit. You want to get into fashion? Perfect, make something that’s great quality that people are going to love. I think there’s this idea that influencers are sell-outs or looking for a cash grab so it’s hard to trust them. You just have to prove people wrong and make something great.

Jacket vintage VERSACE

Regardless, it’s an exciting opportunity for reinvention. Does that excite you? We’ve seen multiple sides to you already – model, content creator, entrepreneur, but what’s another discipline you would still be keen to explore?
That’s the Sagittarius in me. I want to do it all, see it all, experience it all. Life is not just one path forward, it’s all paths forward. The first thing that comes to mind when I think about lives to explore is fatherhood. The idea of being a dad really excites me and gives me a feeling of peace when I think about it. When you think about it, being a parent requires you to explore all the sides of yourself – teacher, protector, role model, showing unconditional love. To me, it feels like the ultimate gift.

One piece we love in GoodPark Originals is the Guncle cap! Did you low-key make that so you could wear it? What is your favourite part about figuratively wearing that hat in family life?
Guncle hat supremacy! Selfishly, yes, I made it for me but seeing the response to that hat makes me so happy. Being an uncle is the best, it’s like being a dad without all the responsibilities which has been perfect for my life the past few years. I just love spending time with my niece and nephews. Watching them grow into little people is so fun. I just want them to feel like I am always there for them and that I will support them no matter what.

If your nieces and nephews had to describe you, what would they say?
I called them to find out (talk about a confidence boost). The first thing they said was kind, then crazy, then fun to be around. My niece's favourite thing about me is that we share a love for Taylor Swift. They also like when I “throw them really high in the air in the pool.”

Finally, we’re roughly at the halfway point of the summer – what’s your biggest goal before winter rolls around?
Time really does fly. My biggest goal before winter? I would say to finalise the AW collection for GoodPark. I’ve been working on my first menswear collection and I am really excited about what’s to come. Also, soaking up as much sun as possible. I need that vitamin D to last me through the winter!

Jacket VINTAGE JACQUES SAINT LAURENT

Photography Owen DeValk

Styling Abbie Koopote