SSENSE Interviews Aleali May | What Is Authenticity?

If you ever had a veering perception regarding Aleali May or if she was your WCW and wanted to know more about the newly nominated #OriginalSuperstar here an exclusive interview from SSENSE: What Is Authenticity. Check out her interview below.

A quick Google search of image consultant, stylist, model, and blogger Aleali May tells you a few things. She’s an aspirational Instagrammer with a legion of followers drooling at her every post. The names Kendrick Lamar, Wiz Khalifa, Nike, and adidas crop up so many times that if you weren’t following already, you will be now. She’s one of the few stylists who have made the marriage between streetwear and high end designers into editorial bliss. Is she authentic? You’d be pushed to accuse her of anything else.

Do you think your social media is more a reflection of you, your work, or your ideal persona?

Aleali May: What I try to do is show a lifestyle of the type of things that I’m into. Because your regular blogger, they may not wear Rick Owens, they may not like certain things, say, that I wear. So it’s like, the girl that does wear it: what is she into? What type of lifestyle does she live? I never started like, “Oh my gosh, I just want to sell stuff and make money off of it!” It comes from a place that is authentic. I just want to show people that there are more girls into this style as well as the other girls.

When I’m looking at the people you work with and style, that, to me, screams authenticity. Is that important when it comes to your work?

AM: For sure. Honestly, nobody wants bullshit sold to them. So the things that I’m into or the things that I’m trying to get my client into, I really try to break it down: what are they wearing? How is this worn? Where is this worn? I really like my client to be informed, just because some stylists, they will dress the person but they won’t inform them of, say, the type of lifestyle of somebody that wears Raf Simons – what that means. I want them to walk away learning something as well. Maybe, hey! They found their new clothing brand that they wanna fuck with!

How does one play the Internet and not be a victim of it? How do you use it to your advantage?

AM: You can use it to an advantage by getting off your message: who are you here for? What are you trying to build? It’s not like you have to post paragraphs, but you know, your daily life and what you aspire to be. You know that when you start a social media account, if you are on some bullshit and you wanna feed bullshit, that is exactly what is gonna come off! If you’re like “Hey, I’m here, I just wanna show what I like or what I’m doing with my life,” everything just evolves from that. Less forcing.