Lesley Mpofu is a 22-year-old Zimbabwe born model and men’s fashion content creator based in Johannesburg South Africa. He is currently studying towards his Postgrad in Brand communications and this week he spoke to Moziak Magazine about his love for fashion.
Lesley always strives to make quality content because he has positioned his personal brand to be a high-quality brand by making sure that all his content (stills, videos and promotional work) is of the highest quality possible. An example is his stills, he uses a camera to take stills and this gives me razor sharp images that are of high quality, which is maintained even post production when editing. Lesley’s style is clean, very modern and timeless in his opinion. This is across all styles from dapper style to streetstyle. He can dress up for the dapper looks like tailored pants, blazer or a full bespoke suit and dress down with more casual wear, in all these instances he makes sure to maintain a clean, timeless and modern look.
His style is influenced by occasion as well as the kind of aesthetic he is going for. This usually informs what he wears, and it is styled. Lesley been very consistent with themes in the past and this is evident on his Instagram feed however right now he has moved more towards tones over themes. His interest in fashion started way back as a kid. When I was much younger, going to church meant that I had to put on my best clothes and Lesley really found myself enjoying this because when he looked good, he felt good too.
It is believed that minimal fashion has never lost its meaning and value, this is because minimal tones are timeless and provide rich aesthetic value. Minimal fashion, especially menswear, is very consistent with all eras, from vintage classics to contemporary hype beast style. The key tricks of content creating is planning and consistency, this includes planning your outfits, tones, and location. Making sure these aspects are all cohesive and consistent with the overall aesthetic of my feed is very important as well Lesley added. The devil is in the detail and having quality images for me is half of the work done. Consistency is important because it shows how well you can create overtime, and this speaks to you knowing your craft as a creative. Post-production is key to add the last layer to any clean look and I use Lightroom to edit my images. There is quite a lot of research that goes into my edits and I think everyone should find presets and edits that they are comfortable with.
His over inspiration is by a few local stylists such as Sergio Ines, Mr. Passy and Kanye Dre. Internationally my biggest inspiration must be Blake Scott solely because of his consistency and how he maintains a clean, modern gentleman style across all his style choices. Other inspirations are Gabriel Akinosho, Igee Okafor, Val Lin (aesthetic minimalist) and Joseph Hines. For Lesley every one of these guys provide something unique to the craft and that’s why he has used less inspo lately because he wants to also create valuable content.
Watch out! in the next 5 years brand Lesley Mpofu will be an international brand and working with some high-end menswear brands. Being a lifestyle and travel creator that he is, travelling is on the cards (as soon as we are allowed again) and he says this will also push him to create better content as an international brand.
Mr. Mpofu’s fashion quote of all times is I don’t have to choose between high fashion or streetwear. My brand reminds me that it doesn’t have to fit in a box. It can just be in a gray area. –Virgil Abloh
Lastly he said to all our readers and fashion enthusiasts “Stand out. Create intentionally and with purpose because it’s so easy to be distracted by engagement, following, likes etc. but these don’t really make the difference it’s all vanity metrics at the end of the day. Creating from purpose really gives value and I think all fashion enthusiasts and creators have something to offer.”
