Africa has started to gain a reputation as a continent of style. Take Congo’s sartorially-elegant sapeurs or the “Afro-dandies” of Uganda. Now, the continent has a style kingpin in the form of Lourens “Loux” Gebhardt. Internal auditor by day and superstar stylist and tailor by night, this Namibian fashion guru is single-handedly reimagining what it means to dress like a gentleman.
“I was born loving fashion. I believe in clothes that sit on your body properly,” he muses. “I want to die when I see a person wearing an overdressed blazer!”
His meticulously-crafted looks are carefully documented on his Tumblr blog and Instagram account. A multifarious collection of ensemble choices litter the social media networks.
From his trademark three-piece suits to the dashing car selfies, the fastidious 34-year-old oozes confidence with a gentle touch of suave sophistication.
He grins: “Everybody wants to look like me ’cause I look like a million bucks every day.”
Not that the ever-popular trendsetter is spending anywhere near that. In fact the amount he does spend might surprise you — because he limits his monthly budget to $100.
After being called out by his friends for wearing costly designer threads, Gebhardt was reintroduced to a world long forgotten: Vintage fashion. The sharp, tailored cuts evoked memories of his well-dressed grandfather. It’s a look he pays tribute to, with aplomb.
Today the in-demand blogger is now more widely known as “Loux the Vintage Guru” and lives by the mantra “dress cheap, look rich.”
“Once we buy these clothes, we try and modernize them to have a touch and look of what is currently trending,” reveals the viral vintage star.
“It’s amazing how people love me,” he opines. “I’ll go into a shopping mall (and) people will be like, ‘Look — it’s the vintage dude from Instagram.”
But while Gebhardt continues to blaze a trail for men’s fashion across the continent (he’s also an in-house designer for South African franchise, Csquared), he never forgets his social media roots.
“People will get hold of me from my Tumblr, Instagram and Facebook page. If people are unaware of how to put a suit on or how to put on a pocket square, they just go into my Tumblr, ask questions and I respond.”