bassculture islands
Photography: Elise Romany
Outfitted by Millhouse
Mikhail is born and raised in Trinidad
and Tobago. He owns a private gym in
San Juan, Trinidad. He works full time
as a personal trainer with over 50 clients.
He loves seeing people happy when they
achieve a goal. He also won the bronze
medal in the 2014 National Championships in Trinidad as an amateur boxer.
Once a while he does some modeling and
has passion for anything adventurous and
physical. He loves to travel. Most of all, he
is a proud member of The Bearded Villains and he explains to us what the Beard
movement is really about.
How to become a hood. So it has it’s perks
of meeting some really
member?
There are beard movements by different
groups all around the
world. Basically, you
become a member by
being a positive role
model for bearded men.
Most of the groups are
on social media. Once
you have a great beard
and you start posting
pictures and hash tagging them, beard groups
will take notice and be
interested in affiliation.
When they post a photo
of you on their Instagram page, you become
a member. You receive
a digital patch made by
them with your name on
it. People in the group
start talking to you from
all around the world.
It’s more like a brother-
cool people. Most of it
is just for fun and a way
to look exclusive or cool
compared to people
without beards. Beard
movements are always
positive.
Who joins this
movement?
The people that join it
are guys with amazing
beards. It represents
masculinity for obvious
reasons. It represents
exclusivity and uniqueness. I always get compliments anywhere I
am, all the time about
my beard. It represents
going against the norm.
Growing up, I was always told rules. “Look
clean, dress well, be
quiet, respect elders”
etc. I’m not the type