FASHION

The 13 Breakout Street Style Stars to Follow in 2019

Tired of the same street style stars at every Fashion Week? Here are 13 new must-follows.

by Caroline Grosso

For every street style photographer, there are dozens of young women parading around outside of the biggest shows of Fashion Month, seeking to be caught by the discerning eye of fashion’s top street style photographers, like W’s own Adam Katz Sinding. In New York, London, Paris, and Milan, there are quite a few familiar faces—the bloggers who’ve been at it since the dawn of street style, like Pernille Teisbaek, the star of Danish chic; the newly married Italian influencer queen Chiara Ferragni; and a certain German blogger, Caro Daur, who seemingly came out of nowhere last year and now has over 1.6 million followers on Instagram. However, if you can pull your gaze away from the crowds that surround these bona fide mega-influencers, there are actually quite a few other girls with style we are genuinely interested in. These are the 13 breakout style stars of 2018. Style-stalk them on Instagram now, so you can say you were onto them before they blew up.

Jeanette Friis Madsen and Thora Valdimars

If you love all things Scandi, Jeannette Friis Madsen and Thora Valdimars will be your new favorite follows. Both girls are a staple at Copenhagen Fashion Week, and last season they were both spotted wearing fun pink party dresses that just so happened to be a part of their new collection, called Rotate, which launched exclusively on Net-A-Porter in December. The former fashion editor and fashion director of Costume magazine, Madsen and Valdimas are now both styling and consulting; they’re known for bold pops of colors and playful pairings during warm Danish summers, and their winter wardrobes of black and neutral textures are a good balance to their over-the-top Rotate party frocks. Follow them both for cold-weather Scandi style inspiration.

Christie Tyler

Christie Tyler, the beauty and brains behind the blog NYC Bambi, is a student and creative living in New York. Her blog and Instagram feed are dearly devoted to all things neutral (it’s no joke—all of her fashion, home, art, and beauty posts are in a shades of warm whites, beiges, golds, and browns, with the occasional black and pop of red). Her mix of old Céline with younger labels is inspiring, and her jewelry and hair accessory collection enviable. In between studying and Instagramming, Tyler recently opened up her own studio space, which is—you guessed it—a neutral space with a touch of French flair.

TyLynn Nguyen

Los Angeles–based TyLynn Nguyen is a mother of three, and the designer behind her own namesake lingerie line. She also has an effortless sense of style and the glowiest skin we’ve perhaps ever seen on Instagram. Fond of a low chignons, thin knits, and a well-documented beauty routine, Nguyen’s feed is inspirational and real all at once. Though she may not be seen at every single Fashion Week around the world (as some on this list, in fact, are), she made a surprise appearance during New York Fashion Week as a model in influencer-favorite label Nanushka’s spring 2019 presentation. Follow for really cute babies, chic looks, and feel-good captions.

Sylvie Mus

The minimalists here should give Sylvie Mus a follow. Born in Rwanda, the Helsinki-based stylist and blogger has been spotted at the Scandi Fashion Weeks, including Stockholm’s this past August, where she wore bike shorts and cowboy boots—and it actually worked. We’re big fans of her minimal jewelry collection, which includes small hoops, silver drops, and gold pendant necklaces. Mus’s feed is chock-full of thoughtful takes on trends, but never feels overtrendy.

Sydney Lima

Between London and Los Angeles, the model and writer has quickly become one of our new favorite people to follow. While she is a front-row fixture during London Fashion Week, and, on rare occasions, behind the decks at a fashion party (she recently DJ’d a party for Salvatore Ferragamo), we mostly can’t get enough of her wit and attitude. Earlier this year, she turned a horrid personal story into an insightful essay for British Vogue that took off quickly, and has since turned her pen to a variety of other topics for Tatler, Love, and i-D. Follow for cheeky captions and unfussy London style.

Tiffany Hsu

At first glance, Tiffany Hsu must have one of the most fun jobs in the industry. As the buying director of MyTheresa.com, each season Hsu picks what will be on the site and, hopefully, in your closet. The London-based Central Saint Martins grad worked at the famed department store Selfridges before moving over to the e-commerce site, and although this Fashion Month she wore a lot of tone-on-tone neutrals, she does have quite a flair for louder looks, mixing in leopard spots and snakeskin, turning up in a dramatic feather ensemble, or even going head-to-toe red leather.

Julie Pelipas

As the Fashion Director of Vogue Ukraine, Pelipas styles the likes of Lara Stone and other cover stars, and is a constant of fashion shows across Europe. Though we loved her summer style (memorably, she wore a sporty maillot under a baggy white pant during couture, and on her summer holiday she paired an over-the-top old crystal Céline choker with a minimalist white bikini), her looks during Fashion Month truly make you wish for crisper weather.

Ellie Nesmon

Ellie Nesmon’s Instagram may be one of my personal favorite follows. Her style is at once effortless and thoughtful, chic yet never overdone. She isn’t one to shy away from wearing things she loves from past seasons, or announcing on Instagram if she nabbed a favorite look secondhand. When Nesmon is not wearing Loewe or Jacquemus, she is wearing coveted indie labels like the Sleeper and Nanushka. She’s worth a follow not only for the fashion but also for the glimpses of Paris, her home for the past six years, and her travels to the south of France and the Caribbean.

Samar Seraqui de Buttafoco

It’s not every day that a political journalist decides to do a 180 and dive headfirst into fashion. But Samar Seraqui de Buttafoco did just that, when she launched her style site Une Libanaise à Paris and her line of T-shirts, Das Mots. Though she enjoys writing about lighter fare, such as fashion, she is an activist at heart, and over the summer she deleted her entire Instagram feed, with one notable exception: a post for a fundraiser for Palestinian children. Now, thanks to Fashion Month, her feed is peppered with shots of the young beauty on her way to the Chanel and Miu Miu shows.

Charly Sturm

Does Charly’s last name ring a bell? It may indeed, if you are a skincare devotee and a fan of Dr. Barbara Sturm. The on-the-rise style star was one of a handful of influencers to walk in Alessandra Rich’s spring show in Paris, along with the likes of Caro Daur and Caroline Vreeland. Thought she is based in Berlin, she also made it to New York for Fashion Week, attending Net-A-Porter’s fashion family dinner with mom and the Zimmerman show. This girl is one to watch, not only for her plethora of beauty secrets but also for her down-to-earth sense of style.

Maxim Magnus

Okay, so perhaps Maxim Magnus has been spotted just as much on the runway as she has been outside of shows, but her personal style is hard to miss. The Belgian-born, London-based trans model debuted at London Fashion Week last year, and since then she has gone on to work on projects with Gucci and amassed a devoted following on Instagram. While her followers love her for her glittery and colorful outfits, and the array of crop tops she’s prone to wear, they also admire her for speaking out on who she is, and launching the hashtag, #transisnotatrend. Like Sturm, she walked in Alessandra Rich’s influencer-packed show, and this Fashion Month she sat front row at shows like Miu Miu and Christopher Kane.

Julia Haghjoo

Enjoy minimalist, clean, and chic instagram feeds? Julia Haghjoo’s is for you. The German art director and blogger (sis Sylvia Haghjoo blogs, too) attended Chanel, Givenchy, and Chloé, and posted thoughtful shots from each, creating her own backgrounds and borders that help differentiate her ’gram. Don’t worry, there are outfit pics too, and plenty of fall inspiration abounds from Haghjoo’s personal style.