Welcome to Question of the Day, and a search for someone famous to base our entire identity on.
Fashion Week has touched down in London, bringing with it lots of badly-dressed people, fierce European women who wouldn't spit on you if you were on fire and some people who actually dress quite nicely, all things considered.With such a sudden influx of clothes and trends, however, we were overwhelmed. Do we just drop everything and follow what's hot? Do we do our own thing – a lone, renegade wolf in a landscape of clones? Do we find our own style icon and copy them thread for thread?Our minds were in a tangle, so in an effort to make sense of everything, we took to the streets of London to ask some strangers a question: Who is your style icon?
Carlo (left) and Dave, both bankers.VICE: Who is your style icon?
Dave: I don’t know. My girlfriend dresses me, to be honest.Is she your style icon?
Look, she dresses me, I wouldn’t say that she’s an icon.Does she choose everything that you wear?
No, not everything. Boxers and socks I can choose for myself. She's like my own, personal stylist, although she'd hate to be called that.How about your style icon, Carlo?
Carlo: That would be myself.Well, OK then.
Russell, banker: I don’t really have an icon. I choose my own clothes for me, not because somebody else wears them.You don’t follow trends?
No, not especially.You’re just a free fashion spirit.
Yeah, exactly.
Louise and Celia, both solicitors.Louise: I don’t really have an icon, I just see what’s around.Is there a word that describes your style?
Not really, just quite classic. Nothing too crazy – you want to head over to Brick Lane for that.Oh, I'll bet. What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever worn?
Celia: I wore a lot of dungarees and leggings when I was younger.
Louise: I went to a Grease party on the weekend and I had to wear my fancy dress all day. I went to the Paralympics dressed as a person from the 1950s.Crazy. Were you wearing a leather cat suit?
No, I was wearing a dress.
Jamie, student: My mother. I think she wears really nice clothes.That’s a sweet answer.
She always has nice patterned clothes that she pulls out of drawers and they’re always awesome and I don’t have a clue where she gets them from.Do you ever borrow anything from her?
Yeah, this jacket. She picked this up when she was in Lidl one day and went “I really like this jacket.” Then, all of a sudden – maybe two years later – everyone’s wearing Barbour jackets and she goes, “I told you! Everyone’s wearing those jackets I bought you!”What a trend-setter.
You could say that. Living in deepest, darkest Hampshire. She’s a style icon in the middle of the forest.
Jake, mechanic: My style icon? I think Oscar Wilde summed it up perfectly when he said, “Fashion is nothing but a form of ugliness so intolerable, it must be changed every few months.”How did you manage to memorise that?
I have no idea.Do you like the Victorian, Oscar Wilde style?
I don’t know what he wore. I just liked the quote.
David, delegate sales worker: I’m terrible with names!Okay, what about stuff you've seen recently that you like?
Anything from All Saints. I keep seeing people with those really nice All Saints boots. You know, the slightly rustic looking ones?Like army boots?
Yeah, the really nice boots. I keep staring at them, thinking I could steal them off their feet, but it doesn’t work.What about stealing them when they’re asleep?
There is that, but I’d have to sneak and be quiet. They wouldn’t wear boots while they were sleeping.You never know. What’s stopping you from buying your own pair?
They’re so expensive, like £110 a pop. I get all my shoes from Primark. Primarni, baby!
Lionel, developer: P. Diddy.What is it that you like about P. Diddy’s style?
He probably has a stylist, but I like the way he puts things together. He connects with different people depending on the environment he's in, and I think it’s that connection that I like. He knows how to put himself across through the clothes he wears.That sounds a bit too flippant for me. A two-faced approach to fashion.
It is, but if I went to a job interview dressed like this, they’d probably laugh me out. If I came dressed in a suit, they’d take me more seriously. A lot of the time it depends on your environment and what the perception is.Profound. Thanks, Lionel!Previously – Whose Grave Would You Dance On?
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Dave: I don’t know. My girlfriend dresses me, to be honest.Is she your style icon?
Look, she dresses me, I wouldn’t say that she’s an icon.Does she choose everything that you wear?
No, not everything. Boxers and socks I can choose for myself. She's like my own, personal stylist, although she'd hate to be called that.How about your style icon, Carlo?
Carlo: That would be myself.Well, OK then.
No, not especially.You’re just a free fashion spirit.
Yeah, exactly.
Not really, just quite classic. Nothing too crazy – you want to head over to Brick Lane for that.Oh, I'll bet. What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever worn?
Celia: I wore a lot of dungarees and leggings when I was younger.
Louise: I went to a Grease party on the weekend and I had to wear my fancy dress all day. I went to the Paralympics dressed as a person from the 1950s.Crazy. Were you wearing a leather cat suit?
No, I was wearing a dress.
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She always has nice patterned clothes that she pulls out of drawers and they’re always awesome and I don’t have a clue where she gets them from.Do you ever borrow anything from her?
Yeah, this jacket. She picked this up when she was in Lidl one day and went “I really like this jacket.” Then, all of a sudden – maybe two years later – everyone’s wearing Barbour jackets and she goes, “I told you! Everyone’s wearing those jackets I bought you!”What a trend-setter.
You could say that. Living in deepest, darkest Hampshire. She’s a style icon in the middle of the forest.
I have no idea.Do you like the Victorian, Oscar Wilde style?
I don’t know what he wore. I just liked the quote.
Anything from All Saints. I keep seeing people with those really nice All Saints boots. You know, the slightly rustic looking ones?Like army boots?
Yeah, the really nice boots. I keep staring at them, thinking I could steal them off their feet, but it doesn’t work.What about stealing them when they’re asleep?
There is that, but I’d have to sneak and be quiet. They wouldn’t wear boots while they were sleeping.
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They’re so expensive, like £110 a pop. I get all my shoes from Primark. Primarni, baby!
He probably has a stylist, but I like the way he puts things together. He connects with different people depending on the environment he's in, and I think it’s that connection that I like. He knows how to put himself across through the clothes he wears.That sounds a bit too flippant for me. A two-faced approach to fashion.
It is, but if I went to a job interview dressed like this, they’d probably laugh me out. If I came dressed in a suit, they’d take me more seriously. A lot of the time it depends on your environment and what the perception is.Profound. Thanks, Lionel!Previously – Whose Grave Would You Dance On?