With internet algorithms and commercial campaigns increasingly dictating what people choose to wear, a truly distinct look is becoming harder to come by. Ahead, five fashion lovers tell ELLE UK what individual style means to them…
KAI-ISAIAH JAMAL – Model, Poet and Visibility Activist
“I’ve always loved clothes and fashion, but I had a difficult relationship with my body within that, and it has pushed me to look at clothes, and the ways in which I put them on, in a very different way. I couldn’t wear a skirt for a long time,because it would make me feel dysphoric, so I found ways to wear a skirt unconventionally. I have a Junya Watanabe ripped-denim skirt that I often wear over a pair of trousers, almost like a textual layer. I enjoy the freedom that you can sculpt with clothes.
So many people think I have this insane wardrobe, which is hilarious. Working in fashion comes with a certain privilege – I get to live in so many other people’s wardrobes. Recently, Haider Ackermann lent me a Tom Ford look for my birthday, which was this very Playboy-esque, ostrich-printed silk robe with matching silk pants. There is just something about wearing Haider Ackermann’s Tom Ford that makes you feel inherently very sexy and innately confident.
My clothes are a true representation of how I feel in myself and in my body and my gender. It is often about having various characters or versions of myself, and my wardrobe is a huge reflection of that. It’s quite eclectic, and teeters from sometimes looking like a teenage boy’s wardrobe to having the odd Tom Ford shirt in there, or an Alexander McQueen vintage jacket.
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I am such a lover of culture, art, film and music, and have so many reference points. I’ll watch something like The Florida Project and I will be obsessed – not necessarily with what people are wearing, but by the colours that are in the film. Then, I’ll go down a rabbit hole, looking for certain shades of Ralph Lauren polos. But I’m also inspired by anyone who’s constantly pushed against the norm. I often return to someone like a Dennis Rodman or Prince. Busta Rhymes is also a huge reference. These were men who were unafraid of perceptions of their masculinity, and were so free and unbound by the societal pressures of what a man looks like.
I do think that good personal style comes from knowing yourself. It comes from knowing your body, and from dressing yourself comfortably as well. We’ve got to this place of lots of homogenised ideas of fashion. I often talk about the height of Tumblr, and how at that time being different and being daring was what made you cool. I do feel sometimes that what we deem cool or fashionable or stylish now is often about looking like somebody else, or looking like a cluster of people. I also think we’re afraid of making mistakes with fashion; I guess that’s because imagery lives for so much longer now. I want to see some more fashion mishaps – they always end up being iconic in 20 years.
My favourite sub-genre of reference is a celebrity on their way to an airport – especially so many of the great NBA players like Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan. I really love an airport ’fit. It’s a bit flashy, because you know that paps are going to be there, but they’re also very comfortable. The airport ’fit has definitely been on the moodboard for a while.”
ELFIE REIGATE – Model
“I like to think clothes and fashion are about identity and expression, but I’m not sure how true that is for me. My style changes every day; if I’m in a really good mood, or if I want the day to go a certain way, I’ll dress for it. I think, for me, it’s a mood barometer. I always think of it as a bit like dress up and cosplaying; every day is a different look.
Most days, it’s probably a really comfy tracksuit bottom and a nice T-shirt. But I quite like a different outfit in the evening if I’ve got a different plan. Even if I’m in town, I’ll just change into a skirt or something for dinner or the pub. I love things that I can fold up and then unfurl out of a backpack in the city. I flip between liking really androgynous pieces and outfits, and then liking super-girly looks – I think it’s quite fun to experiment with that.
Photograph: (Photograph By Otto Masters)
I quite like things that are a bit strange or that I haven’t seen before. One of my favourite pieces, which I’ve had forever – it was my mum’s [the model Rosemary Ferguson], I stole it from her – is an old Vivienne Westwood Red Label structured cropped top. It’s got a very weird kind of architectural silhouette that pokes out in the wrong place. When you look at it, it doesn’t even look like a T-shirt, and then you put it on and it’s strange and interesting.
I actually shop primarily in my mum and sisters’ wardrobes.We have quite a civilised rotation going on. It’s far more interesting than buying something new, and is significantly cheaper, too, which is a bonus. I also quite like Vinted and Depop, because it feels a bit more luck of the draw. You can find some really beautiful things but, when it arrives, it might be completely different to what you thought it was going to be, and there’s something quite fun about that. Sometimes I’ll buy a vintage T-shirt and it will still smell of someone else’s perfume, which probably sounds a bit gross, but I like that it’s lived a whole life before I’ve worn it.
One of the first really special pieces I bought was a Vivienne Westwood skirt that kind of matched the top from my mum. They worked so well together, almost like a co-ord, but one was made in the 1990s and one was from from the new collection. I love everything Vivienne Westwood stands for. Another thing I always come back to, as well, is a tracksuit from Aries. It’s a matching co-ord, quite loud with bright colours and faux fur, so when you wear it, you almost look a bit ‘yeti’ – it’s for when I’m in a good mood.”
MOUCHETTE BELL – Stylist and Model
“I have lots of different personalities when it comes to clothes. I can feel very chic one day and then just be very bohemian another. I’ve never followed trends religiously – originality is very important to me. I’m more somebody who likes to create something. I like to mix in a bit of irreverence as well. And I like to be brave. Sometimes I prefer the lining of a jacket to the actual outside of it, so I’ll wear it inside out.
Until the age of about 10, I lived in Ireland on the outskirts of Dublin; I was brought up Catholic but am now Buddhist. My first experience of the power of clothes was my Holy Communion. I had a white broderie-anglaise dress. It was the first time I wore a tiara and a veil, and I had a primrose-yellow coat. I just remember feeling incredible, and at the time it really influenced me. So when people like Alexander McQueen came along, I was like, yes! I had a wonderful stepmother who was an artist, and I used to stay with her every weekend. She was a hippie bohemian and really taught me how to mix clothing; she introduced me to vintage, which I love. Back in the day, we’d go to all the jumble sales and, to this day, I love to find a beautiful piece in an antique shop and to revive it, refresh it and reinterpret it. I still find it difficult to pass a charity shop without going in.
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I have a terrible fear of being put in a box, because I would be as happy in a Saint Laurent jacket as I would be in jeans and a fringe top. One of my favourite pieces is a fringed buckskin jacket that I bought vintage in America at least 25 years ago. Another favourite is mySaint Laurent suit – it’s in black velvet with taffeta puff sleeves, and I’ll wear the jacket with jeans. I have a three-piece Paul Smith suit that I love; it’s very boyish. But then I also have a wraparound, dark-navy-blue Yohji Yamamoto kilt that I bought in the Nineties. I’d wear that with a white shirt or, if it’s winter, a navy sweater
As a younger person, I wasn’t always confident. I found that clothes gave me a boost: the way I could put clothes on my body – like a painting almost – helped my confidence. I’ve had the good fortune of seeing many fashion shows, because I was a fashion editor for several years, and I was exposed to a lot of very talented people, from photographers to designers and editors. I could never overerestimate the value of that. And I learnt a lot from make-up artists and hairdressers, too. I was like a sponge: I absorbed it all and used it. I never had a lot of money, especially in the very early days, so I figured out how to make something bland into something amazing by adding accessories or by mixing it up with something else. I’m not a snob about brands, either. In recent years, I’ve become much more aware of things that are ethically sourced. I think sometimes it is good to just buy a good piece because it’ll last you forever.”
CANDICE BRATHWAITE – Author and Presenter
“I’ve loved clothes since I was a kid, and that came from my grandparents, who came over in the Windrush. They were very set on dressing in a certain way in order to be employed: I can’t change my race; I can’t yet change my class; but I can be ‘the most spiffy’, as my grandad would say. There was just something in his brain that said, “How you present yourself will make the world of difference.” And I’ve taken that throughout my entire life.
I worked out last year that I was using clothes as a defence mechanism – perhaps using outfits to create confidence and conversation, and I just don’t feel I have to do that anymore. But that doesn’t mean I love clothes any less. Lately, I’ve been embracing darker tones, which allows me to play with shape and texture. My favourite pants are these Issey Miyake barrel trousers that were so expensive, and I went back and forth about whether to buy them for months. But I’ve not taken them off since I bought them. I wear them out, I wear them to work, I wear them to events, I wear them in the house. Do I still wear an Oscar de la Renta ostrich-feather cape? Absolutely. But that’s more for a red-carpet moment, rather than in my day-to-day.
Photograph: (Photograph By Otto Masters)
I’m still a risk-taker and not bothered with terms like flattering or trending – I’ve got no interest in that. Where I am with my personal style now is: it has to carry me through the decades. I’m not getting dressed to be on the best-dressed list or someone’s Pinterest board. I dress for me. I really, really enjoy fashion. I have this amazing Bottega Veneta skirt that reminds me of those Marie Antoinette skirts, very fitted at the waist, and then it has almost like a hula hoop inside. I wear that to go to the doctor! I’m an intentional, and very patient, shopper. I am also a walking Bicester Village advert. I only live 35 minutes away from it, so if I wake up and see a gap in my diary, I’m going to Bicester. Otherwise, it’s the rental market. My clothes are up for rent, and I hire clothes myself, especially because I get invited to a lot of one-off events where you want to wear a look that would otherwise just sit in your wardrobe for three years. If I’m invited to a red-carpet event, I go to rental first.
I’m always conscious of including Black designers in my intake. When I’m thinking red carpet, if I’m going to spend my money, the first place I look is Christopher John Rogers. His clothes have never let me down. When it comes to accessories, I have an American-taxi clutch that people are obsessed with. You
can’t fit anything in there except a credit card and dreams – she’s ridiculous, but it’s the impact.”
NELLIE EDEN – Creative Director
“I’d describe my personal style as twisted girlishness. It’s a bashed-up bag with a gingham babydoll dress. Or my open-toe suede Miu Miu gladiator boots with a puffball skirt and a cropped cardi. It’s pretty girly, but it’s always subversive.
I’m now five and a half months pregnant and am enjoying my body changing. I think my style has more to do with London than it does with any particular friend or brand. Coming up as a teenager and working at fashion magazines gave me so much pleasure in getting dressed every day for work. Living in Dalston as a graduate and shopping the car-boot sales religiously changed my style. And also clubbing. I was obsessed with what I’d wear to work and what I’d wear out on a Friday night. Then those two things started to converge. I was rubbing shoulders with lots of young designers, and I was really keen to support them – we were all mates anyway. I remember Mimi Wade and Caitlin Price and Nasir Mazhar were all coming up under the Fashion East umbrella, and I was hanging out with all of them and buying all of their clothes. Those three designers have nothing in common in terms of style, but somehow I was just enjoying finding a way of wearing it all.
Photograph: (Photograph By Otto Masters)
Martine Rose is a brand I’ve been buying for easily 15 years; Marques ’ Almeida was another big brand for me when I was in my early twenties. Topshop was such a big deal, too. I still have the Christopher Kane and JW Anderson collab pieces. That was such an exciting time to be a fashion girl in London.
When I was earning more money in my late twenties and feeling more liberated to shop, I started getting into designer clothes. Japanese designers are great for
me, because I’m 5ft 3in. I discovered brands like Comme Des Garçons, Yohji Yamamoto, and I have maybe 40 or 50 archival Prada and Miu Miu pieces.
I’ll wear really traditional jewellery from Grays Antiques with a Junya Watanabe parachute skirt from Dover Street Market, some Tabis and a tank top I’ve bought from a 15-year-old on Depop. That kind of summarises my approach to shopping.”
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