One of South Africa’s best-dressed men and a social media sartorial sensation, Sergio Ines is building his brand in style
Sergio Ines is the man behind the popular Instagram account What My Boyfriend Wore. It was created six years ago when his girlfriend at the time started using it to document his OOTDs (that’s ‘outfit of the day’ for those who don’t speak Insta). While the relationship didn’t last, Ines kept bringing the looks and was soon struggling to balance his job in the advertising industry with the growing demands of a flourishing personal brand. After three years of juggling, he and his fiancée – who is also his photographer – decided to focus on What My Boyfriend Wore full-time.
‘We built up a line of clients who needed content creation and saved up six months’ salary before pulling the plug. Our idea was to give it our best for three months and if it didn’t succeed, we had three months to find new jobs. Lucky for us, we never touched those savings.’Today, Ines has more than two hundred thousand followers on Instagram alone, has been listed on countless best-dressed lists, including that of GQ South Africa and even made his way on to British GQ’s ‘best dressed in the world’.
THE PERFECT FIT
Thanks in part to content creators like Ines, South African men are becoming a lot more style conscious. ‘Men are no longer teased when they pick up a skinny chino,’ he says. His best advice to any man wanting to step things up in the style department is to keep things simple and to pay attention to how things fit. ‘I maintain that a well-fitted cheap suit looks better than a badly fitted designer one. Once you have the fit right, just keep it basic. A blue blazer, crisp white shirt and pair of chinos will take you far when they fit you properly. Did I mention fit is important?’
While Ines is always impeccably dressed, he doesn’t feel that ‘dressing up’ is always necessary, but it is important to always dress for the occasion. ‘Throwing on a jean pants to a formal wedding is an insult to the bride and groom’s efforts of arranging a formal affair. Dressing well isn’t a sign of self-importance, it’s a sign of self-respect.’
When asked about his style icons, Ines is refreshingly honest, saying he doesn’t really have any. He just follows ‘a bunch of normal people on Instagram’ that inspire him to use what he has in his wardrobe in different ways. ‘Personally, I think the days of style icons are over. Celebrity “style icons” such as Donald Glover or David Beckham aren’t necessarily the best dressed, they’re just the most well-documented. Today, anyone can be in the public eye and anyone can be a style icon – even if it’s only for a day.’
JUST DO YOU
In a world where seemingly everyone aspires to be ‘an influencer’, Ines has good advice for those looking to make an impression, and that’s to simply find your niche. ‘What makes you special? What makes you unique? What are you offering that someone else isn’t? In a sea of sameness and duck faces, what’s going to make someone want to press “follow”? You are asking for someone to let you into their daily lives – you have to make it worth their while. Once you find that, then all that’s left to do is hustle, hustle, hustle. If you’re only in it for the goodie bags and swag, then I’d quit right now.’ You’d also have to prepare yourself for a lot of hard work that doesn’t allow you to clock out at 5 pm. ‘Every trip is filled with hours and hours of photoshoots and every meal is eaten cold.
It takes a lot of time and effort to make a situation appear perfect, because real life just isn’t perfect. My fiancée and I have slowly been learning to balance everything and have started taking mini-breaks where everything is experienced and nothing is shared. I’m hoping to get it right before the only memories I have of this time in my life will be found on my story highlights.’ Still, the rewards are there, but for Ines, they’re the experiences that money can’t buy. ‘I have an upcoming press trip where I’ll get to drive a McLaren supercar with 10 other gentlemen, from London to Monte Carlo, to launch a brand and support a charity,’ he says. ‘These once-in-a-lifetime opportunities are what make it all worth it!’
Words: Leigh Van Den Berg | Images: Courtsey
