2010 Apr 26 Exhibitionist: Street-Fashion Blogger Nels Frye
How did you start doing Stylites.net?
I was working as a consultant, I had a blog, and I saw some websites that were doing something called New York Daily Photo – with snaps of real people on the streets – and I wondered if there was something similar for Beijing. At the same time I had seen the Sartorialist (needs a VPN) and other street fashion blogs and realized it was a big thing right now, so I thought, “Maybe I’ll do this.”
How does stylites work? How much time do you devote to it each week?
It’s pretty spontaneous, but my column for Modern Weekly means that I have to get at least one picture per week. It’s not updated that much. I don’t really have an idea of what I’m looking for beforehand, but I know it when I see it.
Are your subjects usually willing to pose for photos? How do they react?
A lot of people do refuse. It’s gone through a couple of different stages. At one point it was completely new, nobody was going around taking photos for street fashion blogs. Nobody really had any idea of what I was doing, so I had to explain, and it was bizarre, they were very shocked. But within the last year and a half, people are doing this everywhere. Everyone knows exactly what it is. It’s an example of how things often work here in China. You go from this point of where it didn’t exist, and then suddenly the market becomes oversaturated. [It] goes directly from not having any information about it to finding it irritating and tedious.
Has there ever been an incident where you’ve approached someone and they’ve recognized you?
Oh yeah, a lot. Particularly at events, my goodness, they all do. People kind of come up to me now.
You’ve made the distinction that your blog is more anthropological than the Sartorialist. Can you elaborate?
I’m not very interested in “fashion people” as such or fashion brands. It’s more about, ideally, people who are individualists. I really don’t want it to be so much to be about fashion or style or clothing, but that’s what it’s becoming. To me, it’s more about finding interesting things in China and recording this period of change.
How would you describe your own style?
I’m not conservative, but I’m a bit of a traditionalist. I’m not really about new things or designs. I like classic styles. I’m kind of flamboyant in a way, but it’s not ever about something that I can’t incorporate in a simple structure. I’m not going to get something that’s difficult to match, when the piece is about the piece, its status as a fashionable object, rather than about you.
Who or what is a stylite?
It’s a person doing something completely different, something weird, making a real show of oneself. So it’s a little about people who are exhibitionists, who show off that they are individuals.
What are some other fashion sites that you read or think are notable?
I like Trend Hunter and Stil in Berlin. Styleforum.net is actually my favorite, and, of course, the Sartorialist. In terms of Chinese sites, I like yoka.com, because it’s possible to find all the photos of Chinese fashion week there.
Why do you think stylites has enjoyed the success it has so far?
I think people are fatigued with models and artificial fashion situations. People are tired of fashion being the reserve of the unattainable. We’re more interested at looking at real people, how they dress. A contrived story never matches a real story.
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