Honza and Tomáš: "We were nervous about the photo shoot. It's something new for us!"
Honza and Tomáš, you are one of the four couples selected for the photo shoot in cooperation between LUI magazine and Zalando. Can you tell me how you met?
Tomas: We met in a strange way. I was actually a customer of Honza's when he was a tobacco ambassador.
Honza: I downloaded a dating app at the time and I was looking for customers there as well to meet the limits. Tomas contacted me and we arranged to meet in a pub. But he wasn't keeping up and we ended up going to my place. We subsequently found out that he had already signed up with another ambassador and spent about three hours sorting it out. It was clear that there was a spark between us. Then, as Tomas was leaving, he suggested that we meet for coffee outside of work. And after a couple of days we did.
Tomas: After three days, we went to a friend's house in Mikulov who was also interested in the product that Honza was offering. And there we went for a walk, dinner... And suddenly we were together all day. That's how it came about.
Which one of you thought you could be involved in this project?
Thomas: I didn't even know about it! I only found out when they wrote to us that we had been selected.
Honza: So. It's my fault. I applied and sent a few photos - more than I needed. That's why Jakub Starý wrote to me to choose only two photos to present in Zalando. And it worked out, after about a month they wrote us when to come to Prague for the photo shoot.
Are you looking forward to it?
Tomáš: I'm a bit nervous!
Honza: We both are, but that's probably a good thing. But otherwise we are looking forward to it because it's new for us!
So you haven't done any shoots like this before?
Honza: Me at all! I don't think I'm even the photogenic type.
I would contradict that!
Tomáš: Honza does look great in real life, but not so much in photos. I think it's the other way around.
I hope we can convince you both that you're both photogenic today!
We 'll see! It depends on what you do with us (laughs)!
We're mainly here for the fashion. What's your relationship to it and what styles are close to your heart?
Honza: For me, it's what ever...sometimes I like to wear a pair of sweatpants, other times I like to wear a pair of sweatpants. But I like to wear mainly grey and black, neutral colours. I'm not the type to dress formally though.
Tomas: I didn't used to care so much about fashion. That changed only when Honza told me once that I dressed too country (laughs)! In the end he changed maybe three quarters of my wardrobe and when we go shopping he has to approve everything.
Honza: And now we have everything similar. Our phones are the same, our necklaces are the same. Everything is duplicated somehow. Plus, we both fit into most of our clothes because we're similar sizes.
So you share clothes?
Honza: Especially Tomas shares my clothes. Many times I come home and find that I have nothing in my wardrobe. Then I go to Honza's and find everything there!
Tomáš: I like it (laughs). At least I don't have to go to the shops, because I really don't like that.
Honza: That's true. I tell him what to buy and he takes it. Of course he has to like it! I'm not forcing him to do anything.
So, Honza, you're the main buyer?
Honza: No, I don't even enjoy going to the shops! A couple of times a year we go shopping out of necessity. But I do like to dress nicely, yes! That's why we do a lot of online shopping.
Is that why you were interested in the offer to take photos for Zalando?
Honza: I mainly buy jackets there. I have a favourite parka there that I order over and over every two years.
Do you use fashion to express yourself? Do you wear clothes with signs on them?
Honza: Like wearing a shirt that says "Don't look!" or something? I don't. But I definitely adapt my clothes to the occasion. I think about it ahead of time. I even choose perfumes according to the occasion. Perfume and shoes are my two perversions! (laughs)
Thomas: Two things are important to me. To feel comfortable and to look good.
Sustainability is a big topic in the fashion industry at the moment. Do you follow it in any way?
Tomas: I don't. I'm usually at work from morning to night and many times I don't even know what's going on in my surroundings.
Honza: I know of a few brands that deal with sustainability. I've seen campaigns with clothes made from recycled materials - some clothes made from plastic bottles, I think. But I don't actively follow it that much.
Has your style changed in any way since you started dating?
Thomas: Definitely! For example, I once got a sweatshirt from my brother and when Honza saw it, he told me to throw it away because it looked like a carousel.
Honza: It was scary - with a rose all over the back, with gold... It was really scary!
Tomas: And I didn't think it was that bad, I thought it would be fine for going out or sometimes to work. But Honza said no!
And the other way round works too?
Honza: No. It's more like Tomas wears a lot of my stuff now, as I said. Even what he's wearing today is mine!
You don't have to worry! The stylist prepared everyone's own clothes for the photo shoot! (laughs) What she picked out for you, I don't know. We'll see. But let me ask you, what's the wildest thing you've ever worn?
Honza. It was bold, but I loved it!
Thomas: It was like a pink doll! (laughs)
Honza: We also tried on heels, but we don't normally wear that.
Tomáš: But my sister used to use me to stretch my shoes because my foot is half a size bigger. Then I walked around the yard in heels for half a day! I finally walked straight and I liked how it fit! (laughs) Otherwise, I went to a New Year's Eve party in a drag costume. My sister really tuned me out on that one. I don't normally go like that.
The interview didn't go any further, because Tomáš and Honza had to get ready for the photo shoot and, most importantly, to wear the clothes that the stylist had prepared for them. It was clear after a while that the boys are photogenic and their photos show how much they are a well matched couple.
Photo: Ivan Kašša
Make-up: Karla Skalová
Styling: Magda Žůrková
Production.
