‘The Clout Guy’ on New York Fashion Week Clout-Chasing

This September, The Michigan Daily’s most stylish writers to New York Fashion Week to seek out the coolest collections and exclusive events. We scoured the Big Apple in search of what’s new in fashion and culture this upcoming spring and summer — this is what we found.

Whether we want to admit it or not, inside each of us, there is a clout chaser. And odds are, we will befriend, sleep with, date and network with worse trend-chasing social climbers at some point in our lives.

This is what I learned from the tattoo-clad, open-vested, puka-shell-necklace and ring-wearing satirical TikTok star with tens of thousands of followers: Jean-Luc Lukunku: @TheJeanLuc, “The Clout Guy,” between his New York Fashion Week appearances.

Jean-Luc watched creatives like Virgil Abloh, Rihanna, A$AP Rocky and the scenes that rose alongside them on social media throughout his adolescence. He saw the stars as superheroes and tastemakers, idolizing their distinct street style alongside outfits from influencers across Tumblr and Instagram. These influencers and new style icons climbed up the social scene through connections and always being in the right place at the right time.

“The whole SoHo New York fashion lifestyle became like a TV show that I was watching online,” Jean-Luc said in an interview with The Michigan Daily.

In his 20s, he joined the center of the fast-paced New York City creative scene, which intertwined fashion, partying, music and art. 

“I always wanted to be a part of this, so I’m just thankful to be a part of it in any way,” Jean-Luc said.

Now, the former GQ creative producer makes excellent pop music and curates his style with what he calls a combination of Lenny Kravitz and “The O.C.” He attends every big party at NYFW, haunts the best clubs, has partnerships with major fashion brands and is on a first-name basis with The Dare (to him, it’s Harrison). But he knows that the desperately exclusive New York social scene is also filled with smoke and mirrors, and his characters, all derivatives of “The Clout Guy,” poke fun at the facade.

I tried chasing Jean-Luc around the city while there for NYFW crossing neighborhoods with newly coined names like “Dimes Square” (named for the hot people) and downtown fashion centers in hopes we could meet on his schedule. He was booked for the weekend with parties and popups.

We met at Fanelli Cafe in SoHo, a people-watching destination with tons of history, a stocked bar and waiters assuming you want oat milk with your coffee. He made time for me, waving and smiling widely as I waved across the street — already proving he was not the gaslighting, too-cool, red-flag guy of his videos.

These videos’ characters include the clout “boyfriend” (who interrupts your expressions of true emotion for a fit check and asks if he can Venmo you when he forgets his card thrifting), the actor-turned-creative-director (who views himself as a fashion icon without any experience) and the wealthy unemployed (who invites you on a French getaway after you get laid off and while owing people money).

Jean-Luc started creating content more than two years ago, inspired by scenes like the ones I saw on the infamous Fanelli Cafe street corner — crowds of people one-upping each other and trying to appear as their coolest, most cultured, trendy and relevant selves. I laughed with him about men in the street reading one page of a feminist literature book (in an attempt to look hot) until tears filled my eyes. 

He plans to turn the daily citywide inspiration behind “The Clout Guy” into a TV show he will produce and direct. His show, however, would be less satirical than his TikTok videos, and more representative of Jean-Luc and his friends. Following examples set by “Sex and the City” and the 2010 New York fashion-centered “How to Make it in America,” Jean-Luc said that his show will capture an era by following a circle of young people.

“It would be about this group of friends trying to make it in this city, in this world. This person who wants to be this thing and is so close, but is just not fucking there yet.”

Jean-Luc knows that the daily struggles of trying to get by make even “The Clout Guy” a bit relatable — we see ourselves in his overconfidence and swift humblings. He said that humbling experiences are magnified for him and his friends as they climb for fame in the microcosm of popular culture. While climbing through the exclusive party scene, he has to remind himself it’s all for show. 

“A party, a fashion show, a music video, an outfit is not the end of the world,” he said. 

Still, even with the dramatics in Jean Luc’s friend groupchat to make a club list, the way things move fast in the social-media-fueled social scene makes young adulthood fun to him. 

We laughed, thinking about our constant grasping for social success — maybe we are both clout guys. There are more of them than just Dimes Square and SoHo fashion bros, and they exist in a variety of careers.

“Whether it’s in fashion or whether it’s in finance and tech, there’s always schmoozing and scheming around. You kind of have to push some buttons and say some names.”

New York Fashion Week has become a microcosm of the clout-like social culture, and some old-timers characterize that as the real fashion industry’s downfall. The pop-up craze and afterparty obsession is a newer social media thing, both a chance for social climbing and collaboration among young designers.

Jean-Luc advocated that parties, social media and celebrities, so long as they still value the clothes, make fashion accessible and inspire creatives. 

“With TikTok, it’s kind of out of control, but for me, I really found out about and got into fashion via these influencers,” he said, “We online are all following the kids from London and Oslo, Norway and Barcelona, and we dress like them and they dress like guys like us … This fashion culture, it was all online for everyone.”

Jean-Luc celebrates how social media and clout chasers can bring about a good change in fashion culture. 

Still, like his infamous clout-y character, Jean-Luc name-drops. I bring up the stereotypical big music and fashion names, but he celebrates his cool, lesser-known friends. He chats up his friends’ party company, No Strings, which brings in major music acts like Destroy Lonely and 2hollis. 

This name-dropping led us to talk about the funniest, most absurd moments witnessed in the New York party, social and dating scenes. He carries around a notebook to record the many relationship “horror stories” he hears from friends and strangers and hides them away for content inspiration.

He knows that (most) girls do not like “The Clout Guy” of the club scene, who crawls the lists, name-drops people he hardly knows and builds himself up at the expense of vulnerability, though some girls do the same. 

Jean-Luc has found clout guys for every microculture in Brussels, Berlin and Mexico City but can’t imagine staying anywhere permanently but New York. 

“Right on this block is the Mercer Hotel,” explained Jean-Luc, “Kanye and Jay Z recorded “Watch the Throne” there. The Escalade photos of everybody leaving the Mercer, going to their fashion show. It’s right here. It’s so fucking sick.”

I thought about staying at Fanelli to eavesdrop and write horror stories and comedies of my own. I considered texting a friend cooler than myself to sit with me and people-watch and be people-watched. Both Jean-Luc and his character seemingly influenced me.

The best clout chasers are not the ones portrayed in Jean-Luc’s videos — the ones that claim they are friends with Kanye, Jay-Z and the rappers of the month, or who wait outside the Mercer for pictures after drinks. They are the ones who may idolize famous people, but don’t try to be someone they are not — they uplift their uber-cool friends and create exciting content, regardless of the clout they’ve accumulated.

Though I dreaded the idea that I’d become like his character, the guy behind “The Clout Guy” taught me a lot about navigating the sceney-ness of my 20s. He knows to step back from the clout-filled social climbing in any social, romantic, creative or professional circle, and laugh.

Daily Arts Writer Kaya Ginsky can be reached at kginsky@umich.edu

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