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TikTok is largely dominated by trending songs, dance challenges, and overall embracing creativity, but it’s not as well known for its fashion scene. That being said, a stylish community is forming on the app—and Vogue is here to find the most inspiring, and most stylish, creators.
This week’s must-follow account is Wisdom Kaye (@wisdm8), a 19-year-old from Houston, Texas. His outfits riff off the 1970s in a new, modern way and often take cues from Hedi Slimane and Rick Owens, two of his favorite designers. “There is something I love about looking like I am from a different time period,” he tells Vogue. “I think it stems from my love for surrealism—the juxtaposition of the contemporary world against the classic ’70s aesthetic just sits right with me.” I’d go as far as to say that he’s the best-dressed man on the app.
Since posting his very first TikTok in January 2020, Kaye has already amassed more than 2 million followers. “[At first], it was just a compilation of the outfits I was wearing the past couple of weeks,” he says. “I posted a couple on TikTok and Twitter, and they actually blew up on Twitter first. After a while, they racked up over a million views [on TikTok]. At that point I saw potential and started making more creative content on TikTok that went beyond just a standard outfit compilation.” Kaye posts at least once a day on the app, and is never short on ideas. “It doesn’t really take that long to make one of my videos because when I get an idea, which typically comes from out of the blue, I immediately think to myself how I am going to make it and take notes on my phone,” he says.
Kaye’s accessible approach to styling makes his account both informative and addicting. Kaye has become known for his videos where he replies to comments that present a style challenge, e.g., “red and green without making it look like Christmas = impossible.” He proceeds to make it look cool. Kaye also offers guys helpful tips on how to get runway pieces for less, such as this clever hack for pulling off Saint Laurent–style heeled boots. Yes, men, you can wear heeled boots.
Below, we spoke with him about how his phone is filled with notes and ideas, what he thinks of the current menswear climate, and which of his TikTok creations is his favorite.
Where did your love of fashion begin?
“I became interested in fashion back in 2014, because it was my first year of high school and I wanted to change my appearance to fit in. I used to get bullied a lot for my physical features, so I thought the best way to minimize this would be through conformity. As the years went by, I stopped caring what everyone thought about me and I started experimenting more. I discovered Hedi Slimane maybe around 2018. Prior to that I was familiar with his work at Saint Laurent—I just didn’t know who was behind it. I just loved the whole Saint Laurent aesthetic and I’ve tried to implement some of what he does with my style.”
What are your thoughts on the menswear scene right now?
“Men’s fashion is slowly changing and becoming more expressive. But when I say slowly, I mean the same speed of earth’s tectonic plates. I have seen an incredible push from young people for men to be more expressive in their style, and that is very exciting. Personally, I’m tired of looking up men’s fashion inspo online and every guy is wearing black, gray, and brown. It’s rather banal. I look at people like Alton Mason, for example, as someone who is not afraid to be expressive and wear whatever the heck he wants. His style has been truly inspirational for me. One of my favorite looks at the moment is boots with flare pants—this of course stems from my love for ’70s fashion.”
We love your Vogue challenge on TikTok. Tell us about the inspiration for it.
“I didn’t really want to participate at first after seeing some of the earlier challenges. I didn’t think I could compete, but I thought, Why not give it a shot anyway, and people seemed to really like mine. I just used the most expressive and powerful photos that I had, three of which I took and edited myself, and slapped Vogue at the top. I tried to also incorporate some funny headlines too for a good chuckle.”
We also love this self-made runway show. How did you create this?
“This idea didn’t come to me as a TikTok. I made this runway show out of pure creative drive to make something really, really cool and put it on Twitter and Instagram—but seeing how TikTok is my biggest platform, I decided to make a shorter version to fit on there.
I filmed it over the course of two weeks in the parking lot of a gym near where I live. This should have taken maybe three days max, but I was planning as I was filming, so it took me two weeks because I was always changing things.
In the breakdown of the video that I provide on my Instagram, the show is broken into three sections: the first inspired by Rick Owens and the second Hedi Slimane, two of my favorite designers. The third section is more of my own looks that I felt were runway worthy. I wanted this show to show my modeling and styling ability, and I definitely have plans to make another one of these in the future with a different theme.”
What is the most special piece in your closet?
“At some point in my life, I stopped really caring much about sneakers and diverted all my attention to boots. Over the years, the ones that I have loved the most are from Saint Laurent, but more specifically, the Wyatt. It took me a very long time to get these: I had to work and save up for a while, but these are one of the few material things in my life that I’ve ever desired, so I made it a goal of mine around 2018 to get them. I finally did a few weeks ago.”
What does the fashion community on TikTok look like?
“The fashion community is not the biggest on TikTok. Dancing and comedy make up the majority of the platform, and within the fashion community, there are not that many male fashion creators. What sets my page apart, and what has contributed to my growth, is that I show the limitlessness of fashion. I make videos that disprove myths, like you can’t wear navy blue and black, or boots with shorts. I also like to try different kinds of videos, like how to dress like certain musical artists, which gains interest from people who like fashion and certain musical artists. I also like to make how-to videos as well, to provide an educational component, which I think is important.”
You get a lot of ideas for content from your comments section. Where else do you get ideas?
“Truth be told, I have so many ideas that I have yet to do, because my fans are always giving me new ones! I have a note sheet on my phone littered with ideas that I’ve come up with that I am yet to start on, because they always give such good ideas. But of course, as a creator by heart, I also do my own thing.”
What is your favorite TikTok that you’ve ever made?
“My favorite TikTok is actually not fashion related at all. I love cinematography and making videos or photos look like they’re from movies. My overall favorite being this one I made in a parking lot one rainy night. There was this light by where I was parked and it created this really cool effect where the rain falling onto the window translated onto my hand and made my hand look like it was melting. Once I saw this I got so excited and recorded a few shots of that and then I started looking around for other cool-looking shots, because I was immediately inspired by that one cool effect. I didn’t know what type of video I wanted to make, but after a few days, I put together a somber piece of visual poetry in which an individual longs to rectify his mistake of not telling the person they loved how they felt about them. The words I put in the video just came to me as I went, but I liked how it turned out.”