We were lucky to catch up with Joseph Pastrana recently and have shared our conversation below.

Joseph, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

My second book “Mirrorball – Reflections of Dance & Fashion” was just published by Thane & Prose. It’s a nonfiction examination of how these two art forms shaped pop culture and history across centuries and continents. It’s been such a labor of love researching, interviewing, writing and editing this book for a couple of years. While it follows the chronological development of dance from ballet to flamenco to disco and beyond, the through line is the behind-the-scenes making of the groundbreaking “dance-play”, the 2000 Tony-award winning musical “Contact” directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman and costumes by William Ivey Long. I had the pleasure interviewing both of them and they act as the gateway for readers to follow the progression of how dance and fashion brought this show to life.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My career began and is still anchored by working in public relations. Even though I still provide PR and brand development services, I have always been a writer first and foremost. While I’ve worked in almost every imaginable industry, a significant part of my career has been spent in the fashion and lifestyle markets. So, it was probably inevitable that I found myself also working on the media side. For a while I was appointed fashion director for a trade publication for which I covered fashion weeks in Paris, Milan and New York. This allowed me to profile and critique fashion collections by major designers. I’ve also had the great opportunity to write about legacy and luxury brands in different categories. In that capacity, I was commissioned a few years ago by Thane & Prose to write (my first book) “Homespun – True Tales of Tweed”, which then led to this new book.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

As writer, I guess it begins there – this goal of telling “stories”. But in my case, it’s really this drive to chronicle, to document these important eras in fashion and provide context in how they came to be. I feel a kind of obligation to help preserve and spread these tales of the roles fashion plays in our lives, in defining our identities, as a means of self expression, and as a vital aspect of our shared histories.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Personally I would say just receiving a copy of the book – this tangible product of so much hard work – is reward unto itself. There is also a kind of satisfaction from having the opportunity to tell the stories of these amazing and creative people behind these lines and collections. But beyond that of course, it’s always great to hear reactions or feedback from people who actually read the book. Just to know that I either helped educate or simply entertain someone for a few hours is truly rewarding.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://jjpastran7.wixsite.com/josephpastrana
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jjpastrana/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MirrorballReflectionsofDanceandFashion
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jopastrana/
• Twitter: https://www.threads.net/@jjpastrana

Image Credits

Brian Dalthorp