I met with Kyle, who I did go to school with but knew mostly from social media like Instagram/YouTube, for what was supposed to be a quick interview over coffee that turned into about an hour’s worth of recording talking about fashion, social media culture, and cars. Kyle, who’s only a senior in high school, has had his own taste of social media fame, reaching nearly nineteen thousand Instagram followers with content like streetwear and photo sessions.
What are your top three fashion inspirations?
Ooh, that’s a good question. I wanna day Harry, Kanye, and Kylie Jenner. That’s a weird one; that last one.
What’s your favorite accessory to wear?
So, I’m not wearing any rings right now, which is embarrassing. I feel naked, but I usually wear two rings on every finger. So rings and, like, chains.
Do you mix the metals?
You know, you shouldn’t mix metal… but I do it.
Do you get them vintage?
Yeah, so there’s this really niche store, not a lot of people know about it. So I kinda want to bring attention to it right now actually. My friend showed me it. It’s called like… H&M?
Oh, gosh.
Yeah, no, but shout out to H&M.
Do you like bigger rings?
Here’s what we do. Side fingers? Tiny. Middle fingers? Big ones. So that when you put your hands out, you can see it. Perfect balance. Love that.
So, what were your top three at the Met Gala?
[Jared] Leto, [Harry] Styles (kinda biased), and I wanna say… Lucas Seabat.
What are your favorite brands for streetwear?
I love this question. This is my favorite question. I love Supreme, which is what birthed every streetwear person of the past decade. You don’t have to like it to recognize it. Do you know what I mean? I do like shock factor clothing, and I like A Bathing Ape.
Would you wear makeup? And would it be something you actually wear out or just for a photo?
I paint my nails almost every day, and I wear rings everyday. However, at the time of this interview, I’m wearing Urban Outfitters pants and a Gilden tee shirt. So, you’re probably thinking right now, this guy’s a phony. But, no it’s just early in the morning, and I wanted to keep it simple. So, yeah, I paint my nails every day, to school, it doesn’t matter; I’m always painting my nails. Eyeliner? So far I’ve only worn it for photos, but I would be more than happy to do it for something else. As far as a full face of make up? I would, but I don’t have the ability. My sister’s really busy, and I don’t know anything about it. But I would be down to completely; I don’t care.
Have you seen Cameron Dallas’ recent pictures on his Instagram?
Yeah, I love Cam. Cameron’s been doing some really sick stuff, and it’s crazy because who would have known that the Magcon kid could be dressing like this?
Cameron Dallas has recently shifted further away from his basic casual wear and turned more towards high fashion looks for his photoshoots. He’s also been increasing comfortable in femininity in his photoshoots, wearing things like high heels, eyeliner, etc..
What are you top three high fashion brands?
I admire high fashion from the sidelines. From my own collection, I like Gucci, Prada, and Burberry. However, in general, I like Off White, Saint Laurent, and Givenchy. I like that.
Do you think high fashion is cheapened by street fashion?
I know with fashion, unless you’re born into wealth or a fashion family, you’re gonna start with a street style. Fashion is representative of your personality. I might wear high fashion stuff more now than I used to. Fashion is just an extension of culture. I used to be a skater; I was on my city kid stuff so I wore Supreme. But now I’m seeing more high fashion. I’ll wear my Gucci sunglasses with vintage Nike. Who can check me? It’s all about doing it in a casual way. However, to everyone who’s reading this right now, don’t wear a Supreme shirt with a Gucci belt. Don’t. A lot of people are against streetwear invading high fashion, but LV just did a collab with Supreme. High fashion and streetwear has been mixed, and it’s getting mixed even more. You know why? Here’s why. Everyone who’s relevant in fashion right now is young. We’re having a youth invasion.
Do you see yourself having a future in fashion design or modeling?
Oh, that’s a good one. I don’t want to say “none of the above”, but I don’t think fashion is gonna be forever for me. You should wear the clothes; the clothes should never wear you. You know, I like poetry; I like music; I like Youtube. I like doing all this creative stuff, and fashion should be a byproduct of those things. Fashion is cool, but it’s too much of a label. All I am is a really good consumer. If you become a designer, you’re dedicating your life to it. I just wanna do my own thing and look good doing it.
This isn’t fashion related; I just like fancy cars. What are your favorite cars?
I’m gonna go really broad with this. I really like convertibles. You’re gonna wonder what is wrong with me, but I really like buses. A school bus. Cars fit four people maximum. Buses have thirty people in them everyday. School buses are just promising. If I had to answer the question in the correct way… I just really like Jeeps. I’m saving up for one right now.
What are your top three girl crush celebrities?
Love that. Girl crush celebrities. There’s too many. Lana Del Rey, Lily Rose Depp, every single Kardashian (I love a businesswoman). Dating a celebrity would be cool, but I don’t have exact crushes. I do find every model attractive, though, but that’s the point. Conventional beauty is just so lame and overtaught. Conventional models aren’t a thing anymore. Winnie Harlow is taking the fashion world by storm is because everyone wants a fresh look.
Top three guy crush celebrities?
Trippie Redd, Ansel Elgort, and Ross Lynch. And David Dobrik. David Dobrik’s a fine lookin’ lad. I like these questions.
What are your thoughts on Emma Chamberlain?
I just like to see a kid winning. I’m never gonna bring another person down. More power to her. I don’t even watch her videos, but love her. Love to see her winning.
What’s your overall opinion of Tik Tok?
It changed some of my friend’s lives. It’s a dope app, and people are hating on it. People who hate on it, don’t have the app. The humor is the same as Vine. People get lost in nostalgia; they think it’s not as good as Vine. Vine had tons of cringey people on it. It’s a really cute app. It gives kids a platform. Also, whoever has the aux in this coffee shop is snapping.
Do you ever do anything crazy to your hair?
I’m hoping to dye my hair two colors for my senior yearbook photo. Hoping to do something really iconic. I also really like temporary tattoos, so I’m gonna wear them on my face for my photo. They’re just funny. I want to implement them more into fashion.
I had my hair pink before, and it was hideous.
Seriously?
Yeah, and there’s no pictures. Okay, I know you want to get into something more controversial, so do you separate art from the artist? tw// abuse
That’s really situational. I’m not gonna call anyone out, but if you said something inappropriate on Twitter ten years ago, I’ll still like you as long as you apologize correctly. If I see change, then it’s fine. You gotta apologize after you mess up. If you’re a certain R&B singer who abused his girlfriend? I’m not gonna support you, and I’m not gonna glorify you. If you murder someone, or assault someone, I’m not gonna deal with you. You don’t deserve a platform if you do that, and by supporting those people, you give them a platform.
What’s your opinion on cancel culture.
You can’t just cancel people. If you’ve physically harmed someone, then yeah let’s grab our pitchforks. As far as dumb mistakes go? You forget that the people you “cancel” have real emotions. Things get heavily exaggerated, and the bullying online is dangerous. You can’t go on about mental health be everything, then bully people online and wish death upon them. When I mess up, my parents don’t tell me to pack my bags, they sit me down and tell me why what I did was messed up. Stop canceling people. Cancel culture never even works. I wanna see appropriate consequences. Can we cancel bad people and leave D list celebrities alone? Let’s work on canceling predators.
What are your favorite influencers/celebrities that you’ve met?
Chad Tepper changed my life. Really glad to call him a friend. Check out his new EP “saddest memories” on Spotify. He’s doing a tour, and he’s an overall nice guy. I met Lil Xan, and he’s the nicest guy. He’s just funny. Cody Simpson is really kind, too. A lot of the influencers that are known for drama are usually mean in real life, though.
One more because I just thought of it. What are three places you’d move to?
Within the next year, you will see me in LA, Paris, and Tokyo.
Oh, man one more. Would you ever apply to a creative only membership hotel like Soho House?
Here’s what I’m gonna do. I’ll let Soho come to me. Here’s the thing. Lights are blinding. Money is blinding. I don’t care how cool you are. I don’t let coolness or popularity or clout get in my way. I just want to be like… All this stuff and the nice clothes is nice, but I could live without it. I grew up in the suburbs, you know? Soho is something I could go without.
Anything else you want to say before we wrap up?
This was fun; this was lit; this was tight; this was amazing. I am now inspired to start a podcast.
Thank you so much to Kyle who was super fun to converse with and was willing to meet me for coffee and tell me a little bit more about himself for the page. He was super genuine and down to earth, and I really appreciate him doing that for me. You can find him on Instagram at @kylevelasco12.
Camp: Notes on Fashion 