Reader profile: Niyi
I’ve known Niyi for three or four years and he’s always someone I’ve learnt from. His style is eclectic: classic menswear brands alongside contemporary fashion, bursts of colour with subdued tones. Yet somehow he always finds a way to put them together and make it look effortless.
Niyi describes it as “sartorial chaos” and for him that’s a badge of honour. I know some of it will be different to what PS readers are used to, but I find it’s interesting unpacking the thoughts and tastes of a stylish person like Niyi, especially where clothes are concerned.
Outfit 1: All Black
- Coat – Versace
- Hat – Uniqlo
- Sunglasses – Cutler & Gross
- Shoes – Vass
- Scarf – Vintage Celine
- Sweatshirt – Our Legacy x Armani
- Watch – Braun
- Jewellery - Rings are Mor London and vintage bracelet
What do you do for a living?
I’m a business analyst at a media company. I help the business connect with the customers. It’s a hybrid space - I work from home most of the time but do two days in the office.
How does that affect the way you dress, because I know you as a man of “sartorial chaos”. Do they allow chaos in the workplace?
Luckily, they do! I wouldn’t say it’s conservative, like not a finance environment, but it’s also not a fashion environment and I have experience working in both.
What was it like working in fashion? I’m sure that opened your eyes to a lot that you hadn’t noticed before.
Yeah, but I also find I’ve naturally dialled down my style since then. It wasn't a conscious decision, just a question of ‘where I am right now’. I just do what I want and dress the way I want, hence that term “sartorial chaos” of mine you mentioned. I like my colours, I dress how I want within the context of a space.
So within the context of this job, which is more casual, what I like is that I can take my time and be relaxed. When I was in finance in the past I felt there was so much emphasis on the way you dress, almost to the detriment of the customer.
So, this first outfit is your definition of looking ‘smart’ right? It’s clean, very slick.
Exactly. A lot of people when they think about dressing smart, they just default to a suit. But this outfit for me is my idea of smart. It’s as tailored as it is relaxed, and that’s it.
I find that if I do take the train to work (I mostly cycle), I’ll be dressed like a freaking jazz master - and I love that! That, for me, is feeling comfortable. People will be like, is he going to a jazz concert or is he going to work?
The trousers are a black military cavalry twill. I demand a hardiness in my clothes, and these have got it while still being smart. They were made by my one of faves in the game, Fred [Nieddu, of Taillour]. I can wear them with trainers, I can wear my Vass bluchers and it’s just like ugh! Great.
That coat though is a real statement. What is that ?
Vintage Versace. Cashmere with a half belt at the back. I got it from my vintage guy Waliou, this was one of the greatest pieces he ever found. He brought it out and was like, “you are the only one I know that can wear this”, because of the length and everything. I’m quite lucky to be 6”2’ - you gotta work with what you’re given!
What I’ve got under that is a meeting of modernity and tradition – a mock neck from the latest Armani/Our Legacy collaboration.
This is it. You mix the classics with fashion so well.
I have huge respect for tradition, for the masters. There was a way that Versace used to cut jackets that is just *snaps fingers*. It was big but still looked good, which is testament to how well tailoring was done in those days
As long as your body can fill the approximate silhouette it looks beautiful. The worst thing that can happen is that it drapes, and that’s hardly the worst thing in the world.
Same goes for the trousers. This is the beauty of Fred, he respects both tradition and modernity. Look at the way he dresses – he wears the classics, but also some of the most contemporary stuff out there. Like white Margielas. Before they became a thing.
I have a real respect for that because these are people that aren’t afraid. What I dislike is when I see that perfect traditional stuff. Fine for other people, but it feels too much for me. I can’t do anything about the time I live in, and there’s great stuff being made right now.
Outfit 2
- Suit – Noah
- Shoes – Adidas x Wales Bonner
- T-shirt – Albam
- Scarf – Vintage Chanel
- Belt – Vintage
- Socks – Isabel Marant
This must be one of my favourite combinations of yours, but let’s start with the shoes - you sometimes refer to them as your ‘silver surfers’.
Fun fact, my favourite superhero is the Silver Surfer. The Sambas are again tradition meeting modernity. Wales Bonner draws from the past and infuses it with something contemporary. Like the silver?
Love it. That Noah cord suit is pretty nice too. What led you to it? It’s an unusual place to get a suit for most PS readers.
There are so many places you can get a suit, but a skate shop doing tailoring? I just find that interesting. When Noah first brought them out, they wanted it to be a Pick ’n’ Mix situation. Rather than have the suit all in one colour, they wanted you to purposefully mix it up. That’s down to Brendon Babenzien’s vision.
I love a good double breasted. My proportions are quite broad so I like how DBs flatter me. I could easily wear a DB with a shirt and tie and look like a Kray Twin, but where’s the fun in that? That’s the default! I want to put the clothes through their paces MY way and put my own spin on them.
That’s where people can get style wrong I think - they’re not trying to infuse their clothes with who they are.
How long have you had this suit for, because you can’t find this kind of thing from Noah at the moment. Believe me, I’ve tried.
I’ve had it for eight or nine years. The aim is always to own great pieces for a while - they should be used, be worn. I don’t like this age where we treat clothing like glass. Even if it’s silk. Run it. Run it through its paces. The more you wear it the more you look like a sexy rascal.
A sexy rascal? Why do you want to look like a rascal?
Louche maybe is the word. To be louche, to be free. I leave the house wearing a corduroy suit, and at the end of the day I’m still wearing one - it might just be rather crumpled. Shows that I’m living life you know.
Outfit 3
- Trousers – Vintage military
- Knit – Bryceland’s
- Shirt – Muji
- Shoes – Yuketen
- Sunglasses – Cutler & Gross
- Scarf – Vintage Celine
Lets talk horsebit loafers – I’ve seen you in a few pairs, even seen you at night dancing in a pair of Guccis
I do love my horsebits. In fact more than horsebits, I just love loafers. It goes back to that relaxed mindset. There’s nothing like slipping in, getting on your bike, doing what you gotta do.
In fact, one of the first things I do when I get a pair of shoes like this is go straight to the cobblers and get some rubber half soles, so I can cycle in them. Yuketen are made to be worn over time, they’re not made flimsy.
So I wear them to the club, but when I get home, I brush them and then if I need to go to a party or bar mitzvah I’ll rock them again.
You’ve got quite a bit of vintage right - does that go back to the point about respect for tradition?
Yeah, I estimate that my wardrobe is 50 or 60% vintage, especially when it comes to trousers and jackets.
That’s where the Bryceland’s knit comes in, the cut is traditional, based on an old block nice and cropped. But then the yellow is just… rambunctious.
Accessories are important with you, and every outfit seems to have a different print scarf, either tied around your neck or sticking out of a pocket. Where’d that tendency come from?
I love print, but more than that I love the size of the silk scarfs. Large and efficient coverage against the cold, and they don’t leave fluff on you. And did I mention the prints?
You always seem to be in sunglasses too - why?
Sunglasses are a funny one, that was a 180 moment for me. I never used to wear them, it was the same attitude as my social media – I rarely leave it on private because I’m an open person. What you see is what you get.
Anyway, I went to the doctor and the doctor said to me, “Oh you’re going to have to start wearing sunglasses because you’ve got a sunspot in your eye” I was like “Bro, I don’t need this… OK fair enough.” So, I started trying to wear shades more in the summer.
Unfortunately, I use contacts as well and because I’m always on the bike what happens is my eyes get dry quickly with the wind, so I frequently wear my tinted sunglasses even at night. It’s inadvertently turned into a fashion statement, but ultimately, I’m comfortable with it.
And these particular ones - I’ve been on for a pair of jazz-black glasses for a while: dark dark, I’m talking Thelonious Monk. Real black. God bless Cutler & Gross. And they’re well made, they have a real weight to them.
Niyi, chale*, as always this has been fun. Thank you!
*Ghanaian slang for my friend/mate/dude
What an absolute boss-incredible mix of styles, patterns, colours and aesthetics. Great read, photos are amazing. Thanks André.
Loved everything about this article – like that clothes shouldn’t look new, but good pieces get better and more personality over time, and the look – eventough I couldn’t pull it off myself.
Lovely way to kick off a Friday! Outfit 3 for me was the best example of “how does that work?” but I think it really does. Maybe the article helps, but it also feels like an example of someone showing their personality in their style, which I think I’d really struggle to be able to get right. Many thanks Niyi and Simon
Such a great article to start the day with. I love these reader profile articles not only for the range of styles but I find the subjects’ thoughts on clothing fascinating. Particularly so in Niyi’s case, I find his whole outlook so refreshing. That mix of classic menswear with more contemporary items is my holy grail, although I’ve got a long way to go before looking this fabulous. The comment about not being able to choose the time you live in is such a great point. It’s so easy to fall back on the traditional rather than think about what works for where you currently are in life.
This man exudes confidence, I love those looks, they fell very relevant.
I am in the market for vintage silk scarves as Niyi is wearing but I find it difficult to find great sizes and designs, any advices on where to look ?
I usually get mine from same guy as Niyi mentioned – Wally – https://www.instagram.com/walconcept_/
Wow, there’s a lot to like here!
I’m getting a big guy with a big personality coming through, and very much the man wearing the clothes rather than the clothes wearing the man. Hope that doesn’t sound odd, but he’s putting things together in unexpected ways, where a less confident person might play it safer and look like he ticked a lot of boxes on a checklist, and carrying it off with a very personal style.
I love his attitude to colour – I love a bit of colour myself; Simon may remember a certain orange jacket lining, at the popup – and that delicious bright yellow sweater suits him so well! I love the tobacco cord DB suit, too, although I probably couldn’t wear it myself, and I don’t think I’d have the chutzpah to mix it with silver trainers even if I tried… but I recognise the “brightly coloured socks” as something I do, too.
We also share an approach to clothing generally – it’s to be worn and enjoyed, to cope with the rough and tumble of life, not treated like a baby. There’s a lovely sense of flow, comfort and ease. That fits well with the PS ethos, too – “how great things age”; his approach of dressing how he likes within the context of a space, or job, is something PS has espoused many times. Like Niyi, I’m also an analyst working in a media company, maybe there’s a connection there…
Thanks for this profile, it’s really brightened my morning!
Tremendous stuff. The rest of us might as well stop trying, we have a winner.
Love the first and especially the second outfit (silver sneakers with a suit, I’d never have thought it could work but there you go). But I cannot stand the whole untucked-shirt-under-knit look, it’s just so affected and everybody is doing it at the moment, so it does not give me the „being yourself” vibe at all. But well, to each his own and anyway, 67% success rate is not bad at all!
Great style!
You cannot buy style, you have it or not, and Niyi has plenty of it. Masterclas!!!
Hi Simon, Andre and Niyi,
Contemporary and vintage elegantly done.
“I can’t do anything about the time I live in” is a neat line and perhaps this is apt:
https://www.permanentstyle.com/2018/08/how-i-filter-fashions.html
Rocking the silver WB sambas very well – is there a case for metallic silver being an ‘expert level’ neutral?! Gutted I didn’t buy them at the time myself as, even if certain hyper-London meme accounts ran them into the ground, they are a very fun trainer. There is probably an interesting article on how to do more colourful trainers well without looking cartoony / like you accidentally picked up your teenage son’s shoes…
Great profile and fully back the line on running clothes through their paces – they are made to be worn, used, loved and abused!
It’s interesting how culture influences how we wear ‘western clothes’.
Looking at Niyi the African influence of colour pops out (in fact I’m surprised he didn’t use even more colour as it works so well with darker skin ).
You then notice the Scandinavians (Saman Amel) with their earthy tones and rather ‘architect at work’ looking clothes.
The Japanese with their ‘kaizen’ type perfection in western suits .
Fascinating that each culture stamps his own imprint on western dressing .
Yep. My thoughts too. As a straight man it took me a long, long time to even care about the basic ideas of style. Not that other straight men don’t. Of course many do and I’m embarrassed it took me so long. I love these reader profiles, they filter the permanent style ideas through widely varied, creative, inspirational lenses that produce inventive takes and twists. Like the energy of the universe coming through flowers. Mr. Larnyoh and Mr. Niyi both have so much mindfulness and creative spark about what they’re doing here. Very educational for me — certainly not to mimic the result but to learn from the process itself.
I really loved all of his outfits and his explanations on all of them. What a lovely and inspiring reading for this Friday morning!
Loved this. Thanks to Niyi and Andre. I think my favourites of these articles are people who look great but in clothes I would never consider (because I’m far too conservative, generally).
Nice, lovely to hear Jamie
I think Niwi is a sartorial sensei and he exemplifies the art of personalisation. The clothes he picks and the way he puts them together is perfect for him and the image he wants to project. The whole thing is like a huge jazz riff. The only things I would change would be to drop the silver trainers with the suit – the colour just doesn’t work – and, I’d loose one of the matching rings. They draw too much attention and make everything look contrived and, dare I say it, a little cheap.
Damn, I wanna be a sexy rascal….. This is a great article and there is so much to like about this man and his style. I couldn’t pull off one tenth of what’s shown here. But the philosophy is spot on. That cord suit is fantastic.
Looks like Milsurp is breaking through in the sartorial environment. It’s getting more traction in PS articles as well showing a renewed interest in a style one scoffed at and looked down upon
I’m actually hoping it doesn’t catch on too much, as I love it and would prefer it doesn’t become too popular. You know what it’s like 👍.
Nothing fits this guy. In the first outfit the coat is too big and the trousers are too long, in the second the trousers are too short, in the third the jumper is too short in the body and arms.
Proof that if you’re tall, handsome, and in shape (which he is) you can get away with a lot, outfit-wise and still look good.
They’re pretty much deliberate style choices throughout Ray, so I think it’s more a question of whether you like it or not rather than anything being right or wrong
I think this is an interesting point though. Niyi says he’s 6’2″ and so he can get away with different things ‘you gotta work with what you’re given‘. That’s also my height. I commissioned an overcoat a couple of years ago. Having seen that you’d shortened your Sexton coat, I wondered whether my coat should be quite as long as the tailor suggested. He thought that I could get away with it – indeed should opt for it – because of my height. (He’s met you and understands why you may not have been comfortable with the length of the coat.) On the other hand, I don’t think I can get away with other things. Short bomber jackets look silly on me. I also think that my height and build (and, maybe, position) pushes me away from some less obvious things. If I wear jeans and a dark jumper it looks like I’m trying to hide. I can’t hide – so maybe, like Niyi, I have to accept that I’m going to be visible (though with different codes) and be happy with that.
I wonder if there’s a piece on this. Much of PS is about being unobtrusive. But many of you readers are obtrusive. Niyi is. I imagine he walks into a room and people notice him. I recall Anthony Jenkins – then CEO of Barclays – wearing red socks at an investor day. It was comical. Not because red socks are comical in themselves (though they are) – but because he was CEO of a global bank. Everybody was looking at him – he didn’t need silly socks to garner attention or signal personality. If he’d worn a red jacket it wouldn’t have been comical. Likewise, Mick Jagger probably shouldn’t wear a soft-cut grey suit.
I tend to agree with Ray that Niyi’s style is somewhat awkward. I think Ray’s right that some of the clothes simply don’t fit him. But being outlandish is probably necessary for Niyi to be Niyi. And maybe being outlandish is useful / good / stylish / fitting for many of us. That Niyi can look so good without even choosing the right size is – maybe – a sign that pizazz is important…
It’s an interesting point, I do think different amounts of showiness suit different people and different situations. It’s a little harder to generalise about though, I think, which is why I find it works well in these kinds of profiles.
It’s often said that before you can break the rules, you need to know them. (Picasso could draw like Rembrandt, and sometimes did.) For me, PS presents a baseline of style “rules” which I then confidently break. So these features on rule breakers are lots of fun.
Nicely put Max. People often assume that more adventurous dressers aren’t aware of the rules, and they’re nearly always wrong
Amazing- the attitude and style is joyful and real.
This resurrects the topic for me again with the camouflage thing.
For anyone interested its called the Rhodesian brushstroke camouflage pattern.
It looks luckily a bit more artistic to me than the mainstream patterns. But overall the opinions on that are highly controversial.
A bit funny that a m65 jacket or a chino is ok but when it comes to pattern the world begins to shake 😉
Yeah. Not sure why that is. Yesterday’s rebels eventually become tomorrow’s conservatives when their ideas take a foothold. It’ll eventually become mainstream, which I hope I’m wrong about, as Milsurp when accessorized appropriately looks amazingly good.
Niyi’s taste and style are, in general, very different to mine. It’s a bit unfair, however, to describe the yellow Shetland jumper as “rambunctious” and vibrant would be my description. Mine is longer than Niyi’s and looks great with flannels, cords or jeans.
The Vass Derbys and the black cavalry twill trousers by Nieddu are my taste too. The break in the first photo suggets the latter appear to be a bit long. Any information on the source of the cavalry twill cloth would be greatly appreciated.
I can ask, but it’s not too hard to find and won’t vary between mills
“I just do what I want and dress the way I want…” Yep, there is a lesson there for all of us. If it makes you happy, that’s all that matters.
Very cool style.
Super cool. Inspires me to get a cord suit for winter here in Rome, where on many days (less so nights) you could wear that without an overcoat.
Good morning..NIYI is having fun..good 4 him…BRAVO..everyone enjoy your week…much peace and cheers….
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Really big fan of the silhouettes. Cheers.
I believe the scarf in the first picture is not a Chanel one. You can actually read Céline Paris…
Thanks, mixed up the outfits. Will correct now
If Simon will allow me to dissent.
This is Pitti Uomo stuff.
One doesn’t have to be a master of the rules to break them either, but the one rule to me inviolate is to never wear garments that draw attention to themselves.
This has always been the distinction between style and fashion, between a dandy and a fop.
Silver sneakers with a suit….
Brummel weeps.
Hi Jon,
I certainly don’t mind the dissent, I just wish when people did criticise, they said things that were less dismissive and more interesting. It would help their case rather than harm it