ChefSteps’ Cofounder Dishes on his Colorful, Accessible Wardrobe

STEP BY STEP: For the past three years, Grant Crilly, cofounder of Seattle startup ChefSteps (chefsteps.com), has whetted the appetites of more than a million followers worldwide with his company’s instructional videos, which break down the most difficult of recipes for home cooks at all levels. This attainable culinary credo has garnered ChefSteps devoted users and industry praise, including two James Beard awards. 

PLAIN WHITE TEES: Crilly’s aspirational but accessible approach is evident in every element of ChefSteps, from the dishes prepared to the chef’s personal style on camera. “The shirts we wear are called porter shirts. They’re worn by dishwashers in a lot of restaurants,” Crilly says. The wardrobe choice, like every piece in Crilly’s closet, reflects a keen attention to detail and personifies ChefSteps’ professional but still personable philosophy. “I didn’t want to have us running around in casual street wear, but I didn’t want us in chef whites either,” he says.  

IN LIVING COLOR: Raised in the South Park/Georgetown area, Crilly spent time with his father, a shipbuilder, on Elliott Bay and the Duwamish River. He credits the greens and grays of that environment with influencing his personal style, specifically his love of color. “I don’t ever wear [all black],” he says, “I think probably because Seattle is so gray all the time. I just like to have color in all parts of my life.”

MODEL U.N.: While Crilly says his wardrobe is made up of no more than 10 labels, each one’s country of origin creates a carefully curated, international closet. Favorites include Vancouver-based Lifetime Collective, Danish line Libertine-Libertine, Australia’s Deus Ex Machina, and stateside labels RRL (a subbrand of Ralph Lauren) and Marc Jacobs.