Thomas Cantoni was born and raised in Marseille, but it was in Paris that he launched his career as a graphic designer. For nearly fifteen years, he shaped the image of a whole host of brands there on behalf of renowned advertising agencies. Then one day, when it came time to start a family, Thomas Cantoni felt a powerful urge to return to the South. For the sun, and for the sea. Marseille and its surroundings are the California of this surfing enthusiast. Having got off his motorbike, his hair tousled by the mistral, the Marseillais tells us a little about his life at a table in a café in the Vieux-Port, right there in front of the sailboats ready to set off towards the Calanques.
What is your parents’ style?
My mother is Danish, from Copenhagen. She is something of a walking cliché: delicate, blonde with translucent blue eyes, and very pale. Whatever the season, she wears denim shirts. She has a very American style. My father, on the other hand, is Corsican. He has a shaved head and a very broad nose. He speaks loudly, too. All his life, my father has worn suits and a tie. Appearances matter to him.
What were your first inspirations?
For a long time, my uncle made surf films. He introduced me to that culture when I was a little boy. I watched him edit his projects on his big screen, soaking up all those images passing by. It was a very Californian world, with guys in T-shirts, legends such as Tom Curren and Tom Carroll, and longboarding king Joel Tudor. From his trips to the United States, my uncle brought me back a whole load of logo T-shirts. I wore them with a pair of Van’s, also brought back from there.
American logos are an important part of your aesthetic…
Even today, I have a thousand logo T-shirts in my wardrobe. I particularly love the one bearing a golden eagle, for the Pontiac car brand. It is so powerful that I am sure some guys want the logo before they want the car. In France, art history is taught in design schools, whereas in the United States the emphasis is on graphic design, which is completely different. In France, we may have good basketball players, but team jerseys hold no interest. Visually, they never work. In the United States, you only have to go and watch a college basketball game to discover incredible visuals. The logos on the jerseys always have something brilliant about them, as do the colours, for that matter. The same goes for racing drivers’ gear and firefighters’ uniforms. Everything is more refined. America is a constant graphic slap in the face, with natural elegance to boot. In France, I think only the OM logo, with its two interlocking letters, has character. And I say that even though I am not a huge football fan.
That time, I was in Paris and, on my way to an appointment, I bought it thinking that it would make me look a little more stylish. I still wonder what went through my head.
Generally speaking, what is your relationship with fashion?
I am not a fashion guy. My style is fairly classic, very timeless, understated. I like wearing white T-shirts and jeans. The basics of the American silhouette. For me, it is a uniform. I like comfort, feeling good in my clothes. As a result, I struggle with certain trend codes: skinny trousers, little turn-ups, they are not for me. I sometimes buy slightly crazy pieces, but I always end up never wearing them, like that leather jacket that cost me an arm and a leg. That time, I was in Paris and, on my way to an appointment, I bought it thinking that it would make me look a little more stylish. I still wonder what went through my head. Today, when I put it on in front of a mirror, I feel as though I am in fancy dress.
Do you think the city of Marseille has a distinctive look?
If I had to make a comparison, I would say that Paris is very chic, a city with chic, whereas in Marseille everything is more down-to-earth, in education and in the way people speak and dress. Generally, people here do not care about style affectations. Apart from my friends who are lawyers or notaries, I do not know anyone who wears smart jackets in everyday life. A suit is either a professional necessity or nothing at all. Marseille is also a place with a large pool of what I call « big shots ». Show-offs who think they are elegant but are actually dressed any old way.