Alyssa Lee is busy making a global reputation as a fashion influencer from the far west of Australia. Born and raised in Perth, Alyssa carved out a career by accident. Her Instagram account started as a space to post pictures of her thrift store-sourced style and nights out clubbing with friends. She gained followers and the notice of brands and found herself becoming a full-time influencer. In a bit of digital irony, Alyssa credits the fact that she never intended to become an influencer with her success in becoming an influencer. Intentional or not, Alyssa is that rare thing: an authentic influencer.
Do you have any fashion or style rules?
I don’t have any rules, to be honest. I think rules in fashion are old-fashioned. I used to say: never wear black with navy blue, and now I wear black with navy blue. So I think things are changing, and the rules are disappearing – we don’t really have rules in fashion anymore. If people can style things in a way that looks good while not following the rules, then that’s cool. It’s almost more impressive because they’ve ignored a fashion rule and still made it look good. But I do have some rules: I don’t like wearing Nike with adidas, or someone who wears too many designers all at once is a no. That’s hard to make look good.
How do you feel about logomania?
I don’t think it’ll ever go away. When some people buy designer, they want people to know it’s designer, especially in Perth. In Perth, a lot of people are wearing the Gucci monogram – the bag, the shoes, or the track pants. It’s so popular. You can’t get rid of it.
What does it mean to have style? How do you define style?
That’s hard. Everyone has a different sense of style. I think style is someone’s personality mixed with what they like in fashion – it tells a story about their lives and interests. In Japan, you’ll see people wearing kawaii and dressing up almost Cosplay-ish. You can tell they like watching anime or that kind of thing. It shows what they do in their lives, what they like doing in their lives. So I think that’s cool, that’s what I like about fashion.
How have social media platforms impacted fashion?
They have so much. I get all my inspiration from social media – you get ahold of trends quickly. If a celebrity is wearing something, you will know about it straight away. Instantly it becomes a trend, and fast fashion brands pick it up and recreate the dress in a day, and it starts selling. That’s the power of social media. Trends just happen so quickly. But I think that’s a whole other topic because I’ve seen many controversies online about trends and how quickly they come and go. Trends now last only a few months – if that – which I think isn’t good in the scheme of things because then clothes are being produced so quickly.
What about social media’s impact on women’s fashion, in particular?
Yeah, it’s huge. I think what I said before, with the celebrities and what they wear, especially the Kardashians, has impacted women’s fashion so much. People recreate what the Kardashian’s wear – brands and stuff – or put a little spin on it, and people will already be wearing what the Kardashian’s are wearing. You see someone wearing something, and then it becomes huge. That’s all women’s fashion in particular because I think we’re influenced by celebrities and what they’re wearing more than men.
What about Travis Scott and Kanye?
I think women are more influenced by influencers – the Kardashians, the Jenners. Guys are really influenced by rappers and the music industry. I know my boyfriend’s very influenced by Travis, Kanye, other rappers like that.
How were you able to get started as an influencer, and how have you cultivated an audience?
For me, it happened randomly. I never thought I would have this as a job. In 2017 or 2018, I started posting on Instagram for fun. I went thrifting all the time, and I was experimenting with my style. My friends and I would get photos all the time, and we went out clubbing a lot – so that’s more dressing up. I posted a lot, and I started doing a little bit of modeling here and there. So I was posting that stuff on Instagram, and I began to get followers. And when I reached 10K, brands started messaging me, sending me clothes, which was crazy to me because I didn’t have a job; I didn’t have much money; now brands wanted to send me clothes for free. I kept posting – kept consistently posting maybe a few times a week – and started to get a following from it. And it became my full-time job. But I never intended on it happening. But I think that’s why it did happen because it was more genuine.
What brands are you into right now?
I’m really into Crocs right now. I saw the come-up of Crocs – the brand coming back. I would wear them, and people would be like, “Why are you wearing Crocs?” But I really like them, and I like that you can customize them. And I’m into slides. I wear my Yeezy Slides all the time. Because of the pandemic, I’m not really dressing up. But I love Prada. Prada’s probably one of my favorite designer brands. I’m always looking at what they’re doing. I really want to get a Prada bag because the one I have is a few years old now and I use it all the time.
How do Perth’s culture and community compare with the rest of Australia?
It’s a hard question because I think Melbourne and Sydney are so ahead of us in fashion. I think Perth is unique in that we have a very small group of people that are into fashion and music and stuff like that. Because we’re so small, we’re so connected. I find that everyone knows each other and everyone’s supportive of each other, which is nice. I think building that connection and support may be harder in Melbourne and Sydney because more people are doing the same thing. We have a really nice community here in Perth – if someone wanted to do something, everyone would support them. I love it, but it also has a downside. Because we’re small, there’s less opportunity here.
