Alex Lopez is a young Parisian stylist, blogger and influencer, founder and consultant of YOUTH OF PARIS.
YOUTH OF PARIS born initially as a tumblr profile in 2011. In January 2015, Alex turned it into a webzine that progressively gained a quite big reputation over the web.
Today, our Boy is one of the most relevant young bloggers and influencers in Paris.
Now, he is majorly focusing on his work as stylist and fashion consultant for some celebrities, artists and brands. Recently, he also presented his first capsule collection – named Leave me Alone – on Hypebeast.
Fucking Young!: When did you first discovered your interest in fashion?
Alex Lopez: I think I was just 13 years old. I started to play in a basketball team and I increasingly became interested in style every day more. I started looking up to all the latest kicks and reading 5 Majeur magazine (a magazine about the basket ball that I loved), where I was able to check out all the latest releases.
Music was also fundamental to me. I was heavily influenced by the US hip hop and rock culture. Do you remember the style of Ja rule, Fabolous, Jagged Edge with all these Pelle Pelle, Sean John, Phat Farm and Akademiks stuff? That was the best era, so inspiring to me!
But my first real interest in fashion was thanks to my grandmother. She was an owner of stores and worked with many brands too.
She showed me the way. She is my mentor. I miss her greatly.
FY!: How did the idea of starting a blog came out?
AL: I started with Tumblr in 2011, for me it was a REVOLUTIONARY platform where people can discover new things and share their vision at the same time. It was great, but I wanted more, I wanted to make things in a more structured way, if you know what I mean…
So I decided to start my own website. The website was a very good platform to share my ideas and connect with people around the world. Every project I have been involved in from then on was somehow thanks to my blog.
Currently, we work on new things for the website.
FY!: Tell me about the moment when you first realized that things were getting big.
AL: Honestly, I did not pay attention to that, I just do what I love. I work hard and I live off my work. Carry on with these kind of projects, especially as an independent is not easy. Fashion Industry is hard to convince and Paris is a tough place for an independent creative to live in. So, I stay focus on my projects, that’s all.
FY!: Describe your style in 5 words.
AL: Classic, Honest, Grunge, Futurist, Adapted
FY!: Which brands are you wearing right now?
AL: Vintage clothes, Faith Connexion, Youth of Paris…
FY!: What’s your favourite song at the moment?
AL: Young Dolph – Fuck It
FY!: How did you came up with the idea of starting up a brand?
AL: I just felt good with the idea. My family always pushes me in my projects. It’s both challenging and motivating at the same time. My main goal is to do something cool for people, especially younger ones
FY!: What’s the main inspiration behind your first collection?
AL: The idea is to make NO COLLECTION, if you get what I mean. I have some inspirations of course but I don’t want talk about that for the moment.
FY!: One suggestion to be a successful blogger/influencer and one suggestion to be a successful designer:
AL: Passion and Determination are good for both.
FY!: What is going to be the next big change in the fashion industry?
AL: So much things are happening right now! I think the fashion industry is on current mutation, a few brands start to do something different about production, communication, distribution for stores and sales. We are in the middle of the digital era, where people make their choices on the internet. Now all fashion shows can be in streaming, we are in a society where people want everything to be fast.
The independent brands have certainly their card to play nowadays, they can make the difference and bring their own rules.
FY!: Tell me about your plans for the immediate future.
AL: First of all the launch of my brand, then the re-opening of my website, collaborations with some people, brands and artists… All positive.
