One of the best things about Instagram is voyeuristically peering into other people's lives. But with over 500 million users, how do you choose who to click "follow" on?
Well, look no further than our carefully curated Your Next Instagram Stalk series, showcasing only the most stylish and badass women on the platform. Alongside a selection of their artfully executed pictures are in-depth interviews about their shopping habits, beauty secrets, and careers.
From Bella Hadid's BFF Jesse Jo Stark, to rising London model Poppy Okotcha, to LA super-stylist Djuna Bel, click through for a selection of some of the finest 'grams we featured in 2016.
You might recognise Phoebe-Lettice Thompson, but you probably don't know what she's about. First things first, you need to know that the creative director of Illustrated People is well worth a follow on the 'gram. Not only is Phoebe a bottomless wellspring of disgusted otter memes and screenshot-worthy snaps of Paris Hilton stumbling out of clubs back in the day, she's also east London's first lady of street wear; like a living breathing homage to the year 2003, Phoebe is constantly collaborating with and championing new brands and designers. Her style, which is somewhere between Mel B and Slim Shady's hypothetical love child via a healthy dose of some Versace and a sprinkling of maribou, is a tomboy take on girl-band attitude – and we're buying it. Her Illustrated People collaboration with Violetta Fancies You was on the back of every It girl worth the label, and her latest link-up with MTV Base-era label, Ed Hardy is set to do the same.
When she's not busy at appointments, or holed up in their east London studio, Phoebe can be found at Brockley market with her bf Jack Bevan (drummer in Foals) and hunting out discontinued BabyPhat items on eBay. We sat down with the lady and chatted tiny animals, cooking with beer and karma.
It's likely that you recognise Sami's face as that of Zac Efron's better half, but if that's all you know, it's about time you got better acquainted with this girl, pronto.
Why? Beyond Sami's evident beauty, she has brains to match. She has a Masters from San Francisco University in global entrepreneurship, as well as a degree in marketing, and, after leaving her successful career at a tech start-up in San Fran, she has established herself as one of LA's hottest fashion icons and has a collection of vintage clothing so mouthwatering it's hard to comprehend. Known for her signature Levi's 501s, marabou jackets, leotards, berets and Converse, Sami's cutting through the noise of the West Coast uniform of skinny black jeans and a white tee. Oh, and she's won six California state champion gold medals in gymnastics, and lived and worked in Paris, Barcelona, Spain, and Taiwan.
Meet Genevieve Garner, daughter to Sarah Doukas, agent-extraordinaire and founder of the UK's biggest model agency, Storm. Gen has evidently inherited the family eye, having scouted some of fashion's favourite emergent faces from Cara Delevingne to Alewya Demmisse and Agnes Nieske. In short, if you've got Gen's backing you're most likely Britain's next top model.
With entrepreneurial parents to set the bar, Gen was interning every summer from age 16. She established her first youth culture magazine at 18 while doing her A levels, and cut her teeth working for some of the UK's most revered stylists, publications and designers. Gen herself is a model, but now only really "models" for mates on the side, and, quite frankly, is so much more than a perfectly symmetrical face. She works both as a stylist and as a creative consultant. In fact, come October she'll be launching Storm Creative, a branch of her mother's agency that'll cater for artists and creatives looking for strategic PR from someone who is editorially minded, purist and keen to represent creatives authentically. Smart, eh?
Beyond Gen's tireless work ethic and pre-Raphaelite features she also owns one of our most envied wardrobes. If there's someone who epitomises London style, it's Gen. Her look is an eclectic mish-mash of Portobello vintage designer gear, sportswear, boys T-shirts and a coat for each Pantone colour in existence. Maybe that's why Sharmadean Reid, founder of WAH Nails cast her for the WAH X ASOS collab that'll soon be on the back of every London girl worth her Oyster card. We got the 411 from Gen on Brexit, Gucci loafers and her beloved home town.
Introducing Ceilidh Joy, the 22-year-old vintage buyer that we can't get enough of on the 'gram. Why? Because the Korean beauty, and our elected Insta honey, is just about the funniest, most exquisitely stylish, natural personality on our feeds, and we look forward to checking her account every day. Besides her daytime job as a buyer at cult thrift-shopper destination Beacon's Closet, she also moonlights as a model and has scored major gigs such as Glossier and Urban Outfitters, as well as a cameo in a Weeknd video (fancy, huh?). She also spends quite a lot of time modelling for her pal Yeha Leung, owner and designer of Creepyyeha, the prettiest BDSM and fetish outfitters we've ever laid our prudish eyes on.
With her anime-style bob, multicoloured eyeshadow game, choker-laden wardrobe and ability to wear any old secondhand garb and look a trillion dollars, we're seriously hooked on Ceilidh. Here she imparts her frank insights into beauty, shopping, eating and what it's really like to be 22 in NYC, paying rent, partying and full-time attempting to dodge all the Williamsburg hipsters. Over to Ceilidh...
Summer's over but the party doesn't have to end yet. Enter stage left Sofie Fatouretchi, one of our favourite DJs and music makers who we can always count on to keep the positive vibes coming with her party-popping mixes and inspired sets. Born in Palo Alto, the 25-year-old classically trained musician (she's been playing the violin since she was 4, FYI) went to high school in Vienna, but her career in music really kicked off when she started interning at Stones Throw Records, an American independent music label based in Los Angeles, and subsequently got a job.
Fast-forward to now and she has her own monthly radio show on NTS, playing hazy beats, psych, funk, dusty grooves and rare tape rap. and also has a creative director role at Boiler Room under her belt. We caught up with Sofie to talk music, Miu Miu mules and where to find her on a Sunday morning.
They send her roses. They write things like "I fancy you a lot", "I want 2 be u" and "smh please be my gf please" on her Instagram. They paint (sometimes terrifying) pictures of her. I'm talking about womenswear buyer and YouTube sensation Danielle Greco's militant fan club – all 25.8k of them.
From her Ange in Girl Interrupted brows, to her 13-year-old brother hoodies, 'screamo' band tees and J-Lo hoops, Danielle is New York's first lady of streetwear.
The thing is, and sorry if this is a bit emo for you all, but I'm IRL friends with Danielle and still, every so often, I feel myself becoming one of her social-media fan girls, and I have to stop myself typing the words "slllaaaayyyyyy Kween" under every picture she posts. Embarrassing, but true.
What confuses me more, is that Danielle's style is worlds away from my own. In fact, she's coined a name for her whole look that's based on being a 'skate-girl goth'.
"I was recently called skategoth on Twitter," she tells me proudly. "Although I'm the originator of a style called Thot-goth, which I coined a few years ago, I'm adopting 'skate-goth' as a term."
"When I first moved from Philadelphia to New York to study fashion, I thought nothing of the way I dressed. I think goth style can be confused and misconstrued by, like, middle America, because it’s not the norm. You know, because it's not always pretty. My household was extremely Italian, middle class, and blue collar, but they let me get on with it."
After a tough first year in NYC – "It'll chew you up and spit you out" – Danielle found her stride and her style. "I was really into a sort of goth club look, but I've since tweaked my look to keep up with my lifestyle. Contrary to popular belief, latex doesn't always work for a long day in the office." Did I mention she's hilarious?
I ask Danielle who she's inspired by and wait for her response, which comes after a long pause: "Ideally, I'd describe my look as Bam Margera in 2005 mixed with Paris Hilton at LAX."
Still confused? Over to Danielle...
Introducing all-round Cali-honey, Jesse Jo Stark. The 24-year-old calls Bella Hadid and Atlanta De Cadenet her best mates and Malibu her home. Her parents founded cult LA jewellery brand Chrome Hearts, where she is one of the head designers. She's also a fully fledged singer-songwriter of the blues and slow rock variety and we gave you an exclusive listen to her single "Down Your Drain" last week – with a stylish monochrome video starring Bella Hadid herself.
Jesse Jo also happens to be the hippest cat on the block. Think a cobalt blue strip of bleached hair, denim cut offs, silver YSL pixie boots, vintage sunglasses and a forever oversized sweater, and you're getting the Jesse Jo picture. Here we talk to our favourite Instagram stalk about Bella, cooking up a storm, and the one pair of shoes she's still desperately seeking out. Over to Jesse...
As London Fashion Week looms, kicking off this Friday for SS17, what better time to introduce one of our favourite new faces, Poppy Okotcha. You might recognise the 20-year-old Select model from Topshop's website, or from walking for the coolest young designers last season including Marques' Almeida, Ashish and Shrimps. But get ready to see a whole lot more of her.
If you're not already won over by her natural beauty and infectious smile, then wait until you've had a proper scroll through her style. In the midst of castings, fittings and preparation for LFW, we caught up with Poppy to talk pudding, Paris Hilton and the fundraising art auction she's planning to raise money for refugees.
You might not know Apphia Michael but you should. Apphia's Instagram is a delightful mix of her beyond cute children (2-and-a-half-year-old Tallis and 6-month-old Byron), and the rest of her super stylish life. Her babe of a husband, George, makes the odd appearance and elsewhere you'll find stunning interiors, all delivered with her distinct minimalist style.
If having a monochrome colour palette seems a little harsh for the subject matter, which is basically her family life, you'd be surprised at how much joy and life comes through in the images. Apphia, a journalist and stylist, clearly has a good eye.
Click here to get a snapshot of Apphia's beautiful life.
Meet Mimi Wade, the 24-year-old Central Saint Martins grad turned certified designer, who's getting the last word in on how to do modern party dresses. Mimi's name should be the first on your lips when you're chatting about London's most promising new fashion designers, considering her SS17 showcase is just over a month away, during LFW this September.
Mimi is the Fashion East-approved, clothes cutter du jour, who is singlehandedly bringing the glamour, sparkle, decadence and debauchery of 1950s Hollywood to London, now. How? Well, for starters, Mimi's practically Hollywood royalty what with her muse, her grandma Pamela Curran, having been a starlet herself – she featured in the cult 1950s B-movie The Blob and the fêted TV series I Dream of Jeannie. Add into that cookie mix, Mimi's bombshell good looks (she used to model) and knack for getting the most sultry leading ladies into her deconstructed lace slips – Lana Del Rey and Pamela Anderson are fangirls.
Her slip dresses are a riot of old movie posters, illustrations and pretty lace trims made over in acidic colour palettes. Mimi's women always appear like fabulously bored, beehived housewives on the brink of wreaking havoc on unfaithful husbands, all the while, opera gloves in place. Getting the picture?
Beyond her wonderfully overblown designs, we're also crushing on Mimi for her own inimitable personal style; think Britney Spears bunches, platformed Mary Janes, oversized T-shirts worn with feather boas and a healthy stash of fishnets to hand. Delicious, no?
Meet Naomi Shimada, the 28-year-old NY/LON girl changing the way fashion looks for 2016 and beyond. The model, activist, spokesperson, documentary maker, panellist, and self-confessed "professional loud mouth" epitomises style for us; her positivity is absolutely infectious, she's opinionated, passionate and, not to mention, beautiful.
The half-Japanese super-babe, who was raised in Spain, splits her time between London and New York and is never out of her strictly rainbow-hued uniform. Issey Miyake pleats, berets, crop tops, hella orange and an earful of trinkets she collects from her travels have come to mark Naomi's idiosyncratic style. Between bagging Observer covers and travelling the world, Shimada has big career plans. Her Hello Kitty-splattered Instagram account is a delight and her work as a body-positive campaigner, columnist and documentarian is awe-inspiring. Over to Naomi...
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