It's Pay Day! The ABC's new column where we ask Australians the money questions we don't like to talk about. We aim to demystify personal finance and normalise conversations about what we earn and how we save it — or spend it.

Jordan Gogos is a multi-disciplinary artist and the creative director behind Iordanes Spyridon Gogos — an experimental Sydney-based label that blurs the boundary between clothing and art. After showing his fourth consecutive collection at Australian Fashion Week earlier this year, he says his focus now is on creating artwork and furniture. 

His pieces have been acquired by the National Gallery of Australia, Sydney's Powerhouse Museum and the Gallery of South Australia, where they will feature in an exhibition later this year. 

Being self-funded, his early work utilised the materials he found around him. "It was very much about how to turn things that are very accessible and quite mundane into something that felt imaginative," he says. "When I started I had a domestic machine from Spotlight that cost like $600, I had material and I had lo-fi paint."  

For Pay Day, Jordan sheds light on the ups and downs of being self-employed in a creative field, the true cost of putting on a fashion week show, and why saving money seems impossible.

How would you describe your financial situation right now?

I can never really grasp my financial situation. I know that sounds strange, although GST payments every three months get me every time because I never put the money aside. It usually goes a lot faster than it's made.

When I went to Greece after fashion week this year, it was the first time I had something left over. Nine out of ten designers call it an expensive hobby. 

It's not like I've got these silks that are worth $300 ... there's nothing I have in my studio that you don't have in your garage in a spare box. 

The biggest expense is just humans and paying as many people as possible. And also the machines. When I was working off a domestic Singer from Spotlight, I could work creatively but it took a lot of time. And a big part of sustainability that people often forget is labour.

How was money spoken about in your house growing up?

In many different ways. I am very close to my grandparents and one of my grandparents would say I need to save for a rainy day and the other would tell me to just buy things that make me happy.

What did you spend your first paycheck on?

My first job was at McDonalds and I think back then I was fascinated with the fact that I could order something online and it would arrive at my door, so I think it was ASOS? (This is back in 2009.)

About how much of your income goes towards your rent or mortgage each week?

I don't have a set "income" so that's hard to say. But a lot?

What has been your biggest financial disaster?

Increasing my credit card to $18,000 (from $5,000 to $12,000 to $18,000).

What's your guilty splurge?

Hayu but that's barely guilty as it's such a good price for all my garbage TV needs. I think it's magazines — I buy more than I read or open.

How much was the last loaf of bread you bought?

$1.50 baguette from Woolworths.

Cash or card?

Card. Although for some reason it always feels like whenever I have any form of cash it lasts a lot longer.

What's your biggest source of money anxiety?

Being self-employed, even when you make money you can't ever "enjoy" it or feel comfortable as you don't really know if it's a fluke or when it's next coming.

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What are you saving for right now and how are you doing it?

I don't really "save" because I don't get how that's a thing if you live in Sydney. 

I have been making a couch for my apartment and I've been paying for the components over three months.

What's the biggest lie you tell yourself about money?

I think that I can generate billions of dollars in creative output a year, so when I don't have cash I just say I'm not currently liquid.

What's your biggest financial achievement?

Whatever is in my studio. I moved in with one machine at the end of 2021 and now have over 14 machines, some worth more than my car.

If I get money, I don't even consider the possibility of buying a house — everything goes into the brand and it becomes your home.

If you could tell 18-year-old you one thing about money, what would it be?

Don't get a credit card if it's not something you desperately need, because it can be a slippery slope.

Jordan Gogos is represented by N.Smith Gallery.