Men’s Fashion Influencers
Every sartorial choice is complemented by a taste
Over the last decade, the landscape of men’s fashion influencers has flourished. There is now an entire generation of accounts created within a complex network of social media outlets that is still growing. Because of this welcoming environment, influencers have proliferated at an exponential rate, filling every available niche.
We have all had the privilege of living in a golden age of independent content creators broadcasting their influence through social media. This age has been a gift to all of us. These magnificent beings have had perhaps the greatest impact on the landscape of the fashion industry of any consumer vertical. If you prefer, you could say they have had an impact on the fashion landscape.
Join us as we journey through the menswear influencer landscape and investigate the various archetypal species found in the most fashionable of content mediums. Let’s start with the humble selfie taker, who pioneered the trend of sharing high-end fashion advice with the world through self-portraits. From there, we’ll follow the data stream as it meanders through Instagram and YouTube, eventually reaching the deltas of the exceptionally fertile new habitat known as TikTok. The safari has begun.
Old-School Self- Photographer
Soon after the camera was invented, man turned it inward and began to photograph himself. Self-portraiture has existed since the invention of hand-held cameras, but it didn’t catch on until cell phone manufacturers began including a second camera that faces the user on their devices. This technological advancement coincided with the proliferation of social media, paving the way for the very first steps into the realm of fashion influencing: the selfie.
Selfies continue to be the most popular format for sharing an individual’s sense of style because they are so simple to organize and execute. Selfies are the go-to for quick posts, and they are used by both fashion influencers and regular people. It is not an exaggeration to say that the entire Menswear Influencer ecosystem arose from one simple brag about one’s accomplishments.
Guy in the Selfie
Old School Selfies can be traced back to their original form, known as the Mirror Selfie. A Menswear Influencer decided to take his picture in a full-length mirror rather than using his smartphone’s self-facing lens at some point in the last few decades – the exact time is unknown to us. The resulting photograph provided a more comprehensive, third-person perspective of the garment in its entirety. As a result, the Mirror Selfie was born.
The Mirror Selfie has become the standard format for fit sharing across all social media platforms, and it is almost as popular today as it was when it was first introduced. The mirror selfie remains a popular species, whether it’s for the Look of the Day, to show off a recent purchase, or as part of a guide to putting together an outfit.
The Horizon’s
The process of evolution is largely driven by imitation. When one species observes another species engaging in beneficial behavior, the first species tends to model its behavior after the second species. The Menswear Influencer was modeled after the Horizon Gaze, which is used in fashion marketing and editorial. The Horizon Gaze is a classic pose that models have used for years in fashion photo shoots. It conveys the model’s disinterest in the subject matter and creates an air of casual coolness.
Menswear Influencers needed the help of a friend or companion to take a picture with the Horizon Gaze. It was the next significant step in the development of the art of influencing others when this became a group effort to create superior content to that of the competition. The element that propelled the culture of menswear influencers into the realm of fashion editorial was a slight modification to the selfie consisting of the subject looking away from the camera into the distance.
Guy in Sartorial -Face
Some Menswear Influencers prefer to distinguish themselves from the rest of their packs by focusing all of the attention on the clothing rather than on themselves. This school of thought holds that it is not their personalities that matter, but rather the clothes they wear (or lack thereof). They can accomplish this impressive feat by humbly withdrawing their heads from thought. Although some people do it to conceal their identities – how mysterious! – the vast majority do it to eliminate any potential distractions from the clothing.
The Sartorial No-Face Guy edits his selfies and portraits so that only the lower half of his outfit, from the neck down, is visible. Assuming no headgear is worn, this depicts the entire ensemble as being devoid of any human element, effectively transforming the wearer into a mannequin. Perhaps that is all any of us fashionistas are, and the only people who have truly accepted this about themselves are the sartorial no-facers. The outcome is still unknown.
The Stroller Known “Candid”
We began to see posts with a sense of action as Menswear Influencing became a group effort and someone else was present to take the photos. Both Menswear Influencer and Street Style Photography emerged at the same time and shared a similar environment. The Menswear Influencer’s sartorial cousin is Street Style Photography. The Influencers were both an influence on and a subject of Street Style Photography, which eventually led to the creation of the “Candid” Stroller.
“Candid strollers” are influencers who arrange to have photos or short videos taken of them strolling around public spaces. Given their constant motion, one frequently wonders where they are going or if they are going anywhere at all. Even though they are carefully staged (hence the scare quotes), their goal is to mimic the candid photography of paparazzi and street-style photographers. These Influencers enjoy flaunting their menswear while doing something active, preferably in their natural habitat.
That Man Who You to Prepare With Me
Join me in preparing. These are Menswear Influencers who have taken it upon themselves to provide detailed tutorials on how to dress like them to their followers. They maintain that simply showing their outfits is insufficient, and that all of their followers require detailed instructions on how to put said outfits together in order to properly replicate them.
When it came time to take on this additional responsibility, the expansion of Menswear Influencing required a significant step forward. It was no longer just a visual experience for those who followed along; it had evolved into an interactive experience with either audio or typed instructions. This allowed followers to dress up as their favorite influencer heroes for the first time ever.
The Flatlay
The Flatlay is an age-old marketing technique that involves arranging products in a creative formation and then photographing the arrangement from directly above. This standard operating procedure has been followed since the beginning of the fashion industry. Fashion Influencers who put more artistic effort into their work were the first to notice, and they quickly established their own subgenre of menswear content.
You can create a variety of flat lays, including an entire outfit, a weekend’s worth of clothing along with the bag that you would put it in, an assortment of clothes in a specific seasonal variety, and many other options. The possibilities are endless, and being creative is the key to winning the popularity contest among the flatlands. Menswear displays have become increasingly inventive in recent years as a result of this push for originality in the pursuit of greater influence, and are now typically viewed from above.
The Unboxer
Who doesn’t get excited when they learn something new? It reminds me of the joy I felt as a child when I opened my birthday or Christmas presents. The Unboxed gives its audience a chance to experience the joy of unboxing new menswear products vicariously by filming the process. Many followers appear to believe that watching other people open new items is the next best thing to opening new items themselves.
The Unboxer is a popular YouTube channel because it reveals brand new, unusual, or one-of-a-kind items. The fact that an Unboxer’s success directly correlates to the amount of access they have to desirable products, which in turn provides them with even more success, demonstrates a truly symbiotic relationship between the brand and the influencer. Because the Menswear Influencer ecosystem niche is relatively small and features a high level of competition, competition is fierce and success is difficult to achieve.
Jumpcut: The of All Tricks
In comparison to today’s standards, the technology available to menswear influencers when they first started was quite primitive. Editing techniques that are now widely available to everyone were once considered rare and difficult skills that required the use of specialized software. Today’s menswear influencers can easily create video content that looks like it was performed by magicians.
The Jumpcut is currently the most popular editing method among the Menswear Influencers community. Jumpcut Magicians adorn themselves with feats of wizardry that were once restricted to Las Vegas stages. With a flick of their fingers or a simple drop of the cloth, these magicians can change their appearance completely. The researchers are still unsure whether it is a trick or black magic; however, they are perplexed in either case.
The Goods
Merchandising can be found in any store that sells goods. To put it another way, it is the practice of arranging and presenting goods in such a way that potential buyers are enticed to make a purchase. Merchandising is an important part of the shopping experience, especially for men’s clothing. It is possible to make a living as a Menswear Influencer by applying what is common in retail stores to content published on social media platforms.
Most merchandisers’ standard practice is to photograph actual store displays. The more complex the presentation, the more appealing it will be on social media. Other merchandisers work from home, putting together displays or mannequins. According to our observations, Merchandisers typically have prior experience working in the retail industry. To perform at the highest level possible, this skill necessitates professional training. Despite the decline of traditional brick-and-mortar retail stores, merchandisers are keeping their craft alive in the Menswear Influencer ecosystem.
Vintage’s Original Prophecy
Within vintage goods, there is an entire ecosystem dedicated to Menswear Influencers. Within this ecosystem, there is a subspecies of influencer who is solely dedicated to discovering and disseminating men’s vintage clothing. Fulfilling this role was difficult in the early days of social media because the market for vintage menswear was not nearly as developed as it is today. However, as a result of the market explosion over the last ten years, the Vintage Visionaries are now thriving.
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