Meet Style Influencer Min Yu

Min Yu continuously surprises and inspires his followers with his fantastic fashion creation, many of them made by hand and from his own imagination. Based in Toronto, we caught up with Min to learn more. —Vita Daily

You have one of the most unique fashion platforms we’ve seen. We love your incredible style creations and costumes. Where does your love for fashion come from? I have always been a fashion enthusiast, but I’ve gone from being a fan to being a creator. I love exploring and have evolved from being just about garments to including makeup in my looks. Now, I’m exploring designing pieces myself. I love challenges, so let’s see where this fashion journey takes me!

What do you love most about dressing up? When I’m in my looks it doesn’t feel like I’m playing dress up at all. For me it’s a process that lets me forget about all the sadness, wars and unfairness in this world, and only focus on creativity. In terms of why I do it, I’m asked this question a lot, and people have tried to put words in my mouth, saying I’m being inspirational, changing how people think of gender-fluid fashion or creating, on social, a safe space. I’m here for all these things but, also, I simply just love fashion.

What is one “traditional” mentality or mindset around fashion that needs to change? Gender-fluid fashion doesn’t just mean men or women wearing garments from the “opposite” gender, It has its own unique aesthetic, way of styling and even marketing strategy.

What’s your personal style/fashion mantra? Elegant, dramatic, handmade. I like playing with elements from traditional Chinese culture, and I like styles that show my body.

You’re also a wizard with makeup; what inspires you? At the start of my makeup journey I only used products I could borrow, like eyeshadow and brushes from my sister. I invested very minimally in makeup, using things like food colouring mixed with foundation to achieve certain results. In terms of inspiration, I mostly get that online; however when I don’t see what I want, I create my own looks—like the makeup I did for Beetlejuice and the Joker. I’m inspired by nature, too.

How do you use your platform to impact those who follow you? I share my fashion, makeup looks and designs with my followers, and I do a lot of “talking to the camera” to let people know that, here on my page, they can be whoever they want to be.

What’s the scariest and the best thing about sharing your life online? Even though I share many intimate details of my relationships in my talk show, Gay And The City, and some specifics about my creative process in stories, I still consider myself a private person. I draw a line, and I am still able to protect that line at this point.

What’s been your most vulnerable moment, and how did you handle it? The most vulnerable moment happened when my mother disowned me—but I am the kind of person who is always searching for “solutions” instead of indulging in sadness or in bad situations. Moving on and doing something helps me through most difficult times in my life.

What’s next for you? I am planning to step into design more; sewing and welding are my next focus.

Tell us about this winter look you created just for VITA! In Chinese there is a way to wish a person good luck, 大红大紫, which simply means red and purple colour, and these two colours are often associated with amazing things that are happening or will happen to the person. For this look, a sequined purple dress is the focal point, and I added the essence of gender fluid fashion. Blending holiday menswear with womenswear made this look far more than the beautiful cocktail dress itself. It got more interesting with the layers as I also added black and white into the purple, which makes it more cool than just being sexy. This look is very much Mir and how I want to establish the aesthetic of #genderfluidfashion.