Mike Hokenson is one of those people whose sense of style, art, and taste all feel part of the same conversation.
The way he dresses, the way he paints, the places he’s drawn to, even the way he talks about material and texture all stem from the same deeply considered point of view. Nothing feels forced, but everything feels intentional.
As one of Tailors’ Keep’s earliest clients and a longtime collaborator, Mike has always approached clothing the same way he approaches art: as a form of personal expression and a way of moving through the world with greater awareness.
With his recent San Francisco show under his artist name Sans Michel, it felt like the right moment to sit down and talk about the connection between painting, tailoring, material, travel, and the creative risks that shape a life.
What followed was a conversation about abstraction, Tibetan carpets, Japan, tuxedos, and why getting dressed remains one of the ways we reconnect with the creative parts of ourselves.
TK: Let’s start with the show. What is it, and what were you exploring?
MH: The show was a bit of a retrospective. I brought in work going back to 2016 when I first started painting more seriously—early portraiture and watercolor pieces, then the evolution into non-representational portraiture, where I was using color and shape to represent a person abstractly.
That later moved into landscapes and flattened geometric compositions. Some of the first works from those series were in the show as well, so it really spanned almost a decade of thinking.
TK: The Tailors’ Keep Palo Alto commission was part of that evolution too. How did that piece come together?
MH: That one came from a lot of conversations with Ryan, yourself, Daryn, Anthony, and the whole team about what would feel right for the shop.
At first I thought about obvious San Francisco landmarks, but nothing really landed. I kept coming back to the green leather couch that used to sit on the floor—it’s so inviting, such a particular mossy green.
I started asking myself: if that couch could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
The answer was Capri.
So I built this hyper-perspective coastal landscape inspired by the similarities between Northern California and the coast there. The couch is hidden inside the image. It became this balance between home and someplace cinematic and transportive, which felt very Tailors’ Keep to me.
TK: Your personal style and your artistic work feel deeply related. Do you see them as part of the same dialogue?
MH: Completely.
It’s a fluid expression. The same instincts that drive the paintings are there in the clothes.
The apron we made together is a great example. I’ve worn that piece not only while making art, but even into investor meetings in my day job financing small businesses.
People would ask why I was wearing an apron, and I’d tell them: who do you trust more, a banker or a baker?
It immediately changed the dynamic. It made creativity part of the conversation. Clothing can do that. It changes your mindset and everyone else’s too.
TK: A lot of your work seems to embrace variability, texture, and imperfection. That feels very aligned with bespoke.
MH: Very much so.
My first real exposure to high aesthetics was actually Tibetan carpet. The variability in vegetable dye, the texture of the wool, and the way wear changes the surface over time all taught me that beauty often lives in the irregularities.
That absolutely translates to clothing. Raw silk, textured wool, fabrics with slub and movement—those things have life.
The same is true in painting. With watercolor, gouache, acrylic gouache, you can never fully control the final result. The water, the paper, the drying time all collaborate with you.
That unpredictability is part of the appeal.
TK: You’ve been working with Ryan for over a decade now. How has your relationship with clothing evolved alongside your artistic practice?
MH: The biggest thing is realizing there’s so much possibility.
You don’t have to accept what’s on the rack as the only option. With Tailors’ Keep, it’s always been a collaborative process.
You can come in with a film reference, an old pair of your grandfather’s trousers, some strange fabric idea, and explore what’s possible.
That openness mirrors the way my artistic practice evolved—from portraiture into abstraction, from one medium into another. The clothes and the art have grown side by side for the last eleven years.
TK: San Francisco has such a rich artistic history. Has the city shaped your visual language?
MH: Of course.
It’s the most beautiful city in America. The light, the air, the way the city reveals itself every day—it’s endlessly inspiring.
But beyond the visual side, there’s artistry in the culture here. In flowers, in hospitality, in cocktails, in the way people build small businesses with a real point of view.
That’s what keeps the city creatively alive.
TK: You travel often. Are there places you return to for inspiration?
MH: Japan, always.
The artistic lineage there is extraordinary, and the way design integrates into everyday life is endlessly inspiring. My wife and I recently went to Shikoku and visited the Isamu Noguchi Foundation there, which was mind-blowing.
What struck me most is how art, land, architecture, and daily ritual all feel part of the same design language.
That’s something I think about a lot—how creativity moves beyond the canvas.
TK: Your tuxedo in the gallery portraits looked incredible. Tell us about it.
MH: That was my wedding tuxedo—hopefully the final one.
It’s classic in the best way. I wanted something that would live with me forever, through changes in weight, shifts in taste, everything.
The proportions feel timeless, but it still has that Tailors’ Keep personality in the wider lapel and the comfort through the body. Honestly, nothing needed adjustment in the fitting, which was kind of amazing.
It’s exactly what I hoped it would be.
TK: Final question. What’s next?
MH: The San Francisco show is coming down now, but there’s a video walkthrough online.
The next thing I’m hoping for is a show in Kyoto, which feels like a very exciting next chapter.
We’ll see where it goes.
Mike Hokenson is a Bay Area–based artist and longtime friend of Tailors’ Keep whose work, created under the name Sans Michel, moves between abstraction, landscape, and deeply material studies of place and feeling.
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