Meet 2(X)IST Brandfan Justin Alan, a chemistry doctorate student who just may elicit a very strong reaction.

Photography by Ronald NZ Tan

(T)hough he looks like the cover of a magazine, you're more likely to find Justin Alan nose-deep in a textbook. This Berkeley, California resident is a Chemisty PhD Candidate with a concentration in Nanotechnology and Organic Synthesis. (Don't worry, we had to Google it too.)

"I am hoping that my studies and research lead me down a path toward the development of an important alternative energy source," says Justin. He cites the dependence on oil as a major contributor to society's ills, including environmental disasters, global warming, and military conflict abroad and here in America.

Growing up in Washington, DC but now living in the California's Bay Area, Justin has a healthy perspective of the country from both coasts, but his worldview looks far beyond these fifty states. Acknowledging his own good fortune at home, Justin values his schooling but worries about those who may not have access to learning, especially in developing areas of the world.

"Education is the foundation of a country's prosperity … and many children in the world do not even have the luxury of attending a public school," he says.

In response, Justin shifted his attention to Africa, aligning with Shining Hope for Communities. Based in Kibera, Kenya, one of the biggest slums in Africa, this not-for-profit organization offers access to public schooling and other social services like free health clinics.

"The goal is to educate and nourish young girls who may otherwise be beaten, raped, or neglected," he says.

But on a lighter note, when Justin's not advocating equal education or diving into the Periodic Table of Elements, you may find (or rather hear) him practicing his off-duty passion.

"I've always loved to sing," exclaims Justin. "I was in an all male a cappella group in college and I've always pondered trying out for Broadway."

One part scholar, one part humanitarian, and a healthy dash of songman? Sounds like the future Dr. Justin Alan's got the formula for becoming a thoroughly modern gentleman. (X)

Justin Alan is photographed exclusively by Ronald NZ Tan in SLIQ Briefs.

[PHOTO CREDIT: Ronald NZ Tan (ronaldnztan.com)]

Sprinter and 2(X)IST Brandfan Thierry Jean-Bart is on the right path, both on the track and in life.

Photography by Eugene Gallegos
Words by Ronald Sklar

(M)ake way for Thierry Jean-Bart. The melodically-named Haitian-American has Olympic-sized dreams, but perseverance is nothing new for the always-sunny Mr. Jean-Bart.

“I feel like I’m on the right path right now,” he says. “I’m a sprinter myself. That’s one of the main things that I do besides being a full-time student. I train about six days a week. I’m working with some good people. I see myself running really fast times this year and hopefully embarking on my first season performing and competing on a professional level.”

In addition to his intense track-and-field training, he’s working to change the world, one child at a time.

“I look forward to one day working with kids. I used to coach track and field at a regional high school. I was an assistant coach there, helping develop young athletes,”  says Thierry.

While studying for his physical education degree at Nassau Community College in New York, he lives by a sure-but-steady rule of thumb, which he happily shares with future students: “It is important for students to develop a strong structure of consistency within their lives, to be consistent in everything that they do.”

But don’t hold that steadfastly to everything in Thierry’s life. Case in point, the sprinter’s wildly eclectic taste in music.

“I’m pretty open to all types of music. I really listen to everything, from rock to hip-hop to classical,” he adds. “That’s one thing that I don’t like to do: limit myself.” (X)

Mr. Thierry Jean-Bart is photographed by Eugene Gallegos in ALL STAR No-Show Briefs in White, and his own USA Track & Field uniform. ALL STAR is available now at 2XIST.COM.

Editors' Note: This story is a reprint. A version of this story previously ran on 2XISTENCE.COM.

[PHOTO: Eugene Gallegos (eugenegallegos.com) | WORDS: Ronald Sklar]

Who is Matthew Skrincosky? 2(X)IST Brandfan? Actor/Artist? All-Over Good Guy? The Answer: All The Above.

(W)alk a mile in 2(X)IST Brandfan Matthew Skrincosky's shoes and you may find yourself in any number of hotspots in New York City.

"I will walk this whole city over taking transportation," says the Pennsylvania-bred Skrincosky.

It's this exploratory attitude that not only benefits Matthew's physical health (see the photos here for proof), but also a cosmopolitan sense of self.

Though he lives in Manhattan's agreeable Hell's Kitchen neighborhood (where he can't help but always "meet new, friendly people every day"), his walkabouts help him discover new favorites as well, like downtown pierogi palace Little Poland. ("Brilliant food. Down home, nice people.")

Eating his way through his home city sparked a latent skill for the self-described "Renaissance Man" (who, in addition to being an actor, is also an artist—with oils, acrylics and charcoals as his favorite media). 

 "Another passion that has bloomed over the past few years is my love of cooking. I have a knack for it … [and] I've toyed with going to culinary school," Matthew says.

With inspiration comes new directions, but it's quite possible that Matthew's path already has roots in his past.

My grandfather is a fantastic cook," he says. "Drafted in World War II, he was put aboard an aircraft carrier. The first week on the ship, the head chef quit, they lined the boys up and the sergeant pointed to my grandfather and said 'You, in the kitchen!' That night, he cooked for 150 men and never looked back. He opened his own place when he came back from the war and ran it for over 40 years."

It's this come-what-may anecdote that mirrors Matthew's positive outlook and sunny disposition, giving him a step (or two) in the right direction … wherever he may go. (X)

In the portraits shown above, shot by Roger Moenks, Matthew Skrincosky wears 2(X)IST ESSENTIAL No-Show Briefs in White and the MILITARY No-Show Brief in Black. ESSENTIAL and MILITARY are available now at 2XIST.COM.

Stéphane Haffner is the creator of the fantastical circus-meets-theater company Les Farfadais ... and he's got no time to clown around.

Photography by Kevin McDermott

(S)téphane Haffner's life really is a three-ring circus. But the 34-year-old Parisian juggles his hectic life as Artistic Director of Les Farfadais—a global performing company that blends his talents of gymnastics, artistry, costuming, and storytelling—with aplomb.

"The shows of Farfadais are about creating a dream or fantasy so the audience is transported through the feat of acrobatics and visual beauty," says Stéphane.

Exactly how Stéphane came to be a master showman is far from the cliché of "running away with the circus" and reads more like something out of that aforementioned dream. 

Born in Epinal in the Vosges region of France, Haffer showed a talent for gymnastics at the early age of six. "I asked my parents to sign up for gymnastics because I wanted to become a superhero," he says. "Being small, it felt like being a gymnast allowed me to do incredible things that other people couldn't."

After 11 years of training and competing at a high level, Stéphane suffered an unfortunate injury to his spine, sidelining any future gymnastics career and also leaving him "depressed."

Rebounding, the Swiss-French-Italian Haffner set off to Paris to study fashion and costume design. There, he found the hustle-and-flow of the metropolis thrilling, but also rather costly. The solution? Stéphane merged his acrobatic skillset and knack for costuming and started to perform for street crowds.

"The first day was very hard … but at the end of the day I had a nice surprise—I went home with a backpack full of money and after I counted it, I realized I earned about 500€ [Ed. Note: about $715 USD] for two hours of work!," he says.

Before long,  Stéphane became a street-performance fixture in a prime location: smack in front of tourist-and-pedestrian-heavy Centre George Pompidou, where his show became so popular that he started receiving requests for private events and television tapings.

Sensing an opportunity to grow his surprising enterprise, Stéphane enrolled in night classes at a Nanterre-based circus school while simultaneously keeping up his fashion curriculum in the mornings and street-performing in the afternoons. At Nanterre, the young Stéphane excelled at his now-expert "fabric air" (wherein he is suspended from the ceiling by yards of material whilst twisting, turning, and flipping), as well as the trapeze hoops, hand contortion, and other varied circus-worthy feats. But more importantly, he met fellow students who would eventually join his yet-unnamed troupe.

Three years later, Stéphane formed the company he runs today and named it "Farfadais." In addition to being the design director, Stéphane shares a Co-Technical Director title with his own brother Alexandre, an expert in Industrial Design. Together the brothers combine their collective talents.

"Our shows are a mix of different disciplines that we learned throughout our training, where the stunt is as important as the costume and industrial design," he says.

And with his Alexandre as a co-captain, Stéphane shares a common muse in their shared childhoods in Switzerland and Italy. "My brother and I are inspired by all the things from our infancy to our youth to our adulthood," he says.

This includes mythology (which lends heavily to Farfardais slant towards fantasy), and films like The Matrix and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which was the catalyst to create a unique wiring system used to stage large-scale aerial "combat" scenes.

"It is important for us to perform on stage all that may seem impossible or completely unreal, " exclaims Stéphane. "We are real superheroes!"

And there seems to be no kryptonite in sight for Mr. Haffner. Currently, Le Farfadais boasts over 70 artists in the company, which travels around the world to far-flung locales like China, Japan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, and North Africa … not to mention all over the European homebase. Next up? America, who will no doubt react favorably to Stéphane's passion.

Says Haffner: "I dedicate myself heart and soul into my company, and with my brother we are able to carry on in this fabulous adventure!" (X)

Mr. Stéphane Haffner is photographed by Kevin McDermott wearing the SLIQ Brief, available in other colors now at 2XIST.COM.

Editors' Note: This story is a reprint. A version of this story ran previously on 2XISTENCE.COM.

[PHOTO: Kevin McDermott (kevinmcdermott.com)]

Model and 2(X)IST Brandfan Daniel Garofali clears his schedule to produce a namesake Calendar and DVD. Make an appointment today.

(I)nput the phrase "Daniel Garofali" in a Google Images search, and your browser will populate over 49,000 shots. That's scores of gigabytes to glean, but for Australian model Daniel Garofali, his online body of work is all in a day's work. 

"I put my heart and soul into my work, no matter what I am doing," says the recent New York transplant (by way of Sydney). "I'm very lucky to be able to say I love my job, and thanks to all my supporters, I remain successful."

With a gracious shout-out to his ardent (and sometimes rabid) following, it's no wonder why Daniel Garofali, also an accomplished professional dancer, is a fan favorite. He's virtually built his modeling career with every click of his fans' mouses. Whether he's Facebooking his status or posting on tumblr, hardly a fan's tweet flies without a hashtag of the original Sydneysider. The Australian's next venture, The Daniel Garofali Calendar, is sure to garner many a social media mention as well.

"The calendar came about last year after some fans were asking when I was going to make one," he recalls. "Unfortunately, at the time, it wasn't on the cards. When 2011 rolled over, there was still a demand for it and I couldn't let them down again, so I decided that 2012 was going to be the year…"

For the project, Mr. Garofali enlisted photographer James Demitri and together they concocted the calendar's '70s-arthouse-meets-pinup vibe. But while the final shots read serenely ethereal, the location (situated two hours south of Sydney in Kangaroo Valley) proved otherwise.

"It's a beautiful wooden house in the Valley surrounded by Australian Bush," says Garofali. "The odds were against us. The photographer stayed down there for a night, shooting all day with no power, high speed winds and impending fires. Thankfully, we managed to create so many images and get home safely."

DG fans will get to see that action for themselves, as the two-year calendar comes paired with a 20-minute "Making Of" documentary. And there's also a philanthropic slant to the Calendar/DVD combo, chosen by, you guessed it, Daniel Garofali followers.

"I asked my fans on Facebook and Twitter to tell me the charities which they support. I did my research by going trough the whole list and chose the one that I related to," says Garofali.

The organization that Garofali alighted on was Kiva, the non-profit micro-lending program that provides enterprising opportunities for impoverished citizens around the world. Garofali promises that 50% of all profits will see its way to Kiva, proving that this is one calendar that's time well spent. (X)

THE ESSENTIALS: DANIEL GAROFALI
Daniel Garofali (www.danielgarofali.com and www.facebook.com/danielgarofali)
Watch the trailer for the Daniel Garofali Calendar and DVD 2012/2013 here.

[PHOTO CREDITS: James Demitri via Daniel Garofali]