What the Cool Kids Love – September 2014

The biggest name in men’s fashion belongs to the littlest fashionista.

When a friend showed Collette Wixom some of the most stylish kids on social media, she noticed that they were all wearing Gucci belts and Ferragamo shoes. Although they looked adorable, she knew her boys wouldn’t be wearing such pricey threads anytime soon. So she set out to “hack” their style. Taking cues from the likes of Pharrell Williams, Ryan Gosling and a whole slew of male models, she began dressing her 4-year-old son, Ryker, in look-alike outfits using pieces from budget friendly-brands.

Only a few short months later, Ryker, known as Mini Style Hacker to over 150,000 Instagram followers, now represents a stamp of approval in the men’s fashion industry. “It’s like now you’ve made it in the men’s fashion world if you’ve been hacked by Mini Style Hacker!” says Wixom. Esquire and The Huffington Post seem to agree—both publications featured the little style star’s adaptations of menswear trends for the preschool set on their respective sites. But for Ryker, it’s less about fashion and more about fun. What may look like an ordinary photo shoot is actually an imaginary battle scene where the armor just happens to be stylish duds from the likes of Gap and Zara. He holsters light sabers in his pant pockets and uses suspenders as slingshots when posing.

When he isn’t fighting off the bad guys in front of the camera, Ryker is usually helping his mom with his little brother or challenging his father to a joust. With dreams of becoming a knight when he grows up, we just hope that he doesn’t abandon his super stylish side gig anytime soon.

—Tara Anne Dalbow