Nic Kaufmann Interview

This year you won the About You Award in the Style category and you also work with all the major fashion brands. Has fashion and style always been something you enjoyed and found yourself in, or did it just happen by chance?

I always had a huge interest in fashion, but didn’t have the access to the fashion world, social media opened helped open the doors to the industry for me. 

With all the positive encouragement, there are still criticism, envious, haters or negative comments. How do you deal with it, do you try to ignore it, does it hurt you and what would you say to others affected by it?

I’m actually fortunate to not get so much hate, unless it’s constructive criticism, I ignore anything negative and if it’s constructive it helps me do some self reflection.

With all the public attention on you, your social media accounts and especially your look and style, do you sometimes have the feeling that you are reduced to just that? How do you deal with the fast-moving and superficial world of social media as well as the fashion industry and do you manage to repeatedly address important topics and use your reach to do so?

I have the honor of having a really amazing fanbase who know me personally and appreciate me for more than just what I wear or how I look. In terms of addressing important topics, I do use my platform to address topics and my community stands behind me when I do.

Which topics are particularly important to you or is there something that you are personally committed to?

• Mental Health & Self-Care 
• Education in developing countries
• Aid for teenagers and young adults with eating disorders or similar
• Suicide prevention e.g. Trevor Foundation

Before you started social media, what did you envision for your life or what direction did you want to go? Was there an idol you had or a particular role model you wanted to emulate?

Some of my idols include Freddie Mercury, Steve Jobs and Malala Yousafzai. I don’t like emulating role models but rather learning from what they did right and especially learning from what might not have worked out so well for them.

The next step you take is towards music. Was that a long-cherished wish of yours and what does your current work in this area look like? Do you write songs, do you experiment with musicians and when do we get to hear the first song or album?

Even before I discovered my love for creating content, I always wanted to make music. I think music is the most beautiful form of art and its ability to instantaneously trigger an emotional reaction in the listener is what makes music so special. 

I am currently working on a few singles which I am using to train my voice and gather some experience. I have always loved writing music and poetry and find that the songwriting process is extremely stimulating for the creative parts of my brain.

My first song will only be released when I feel like it is ready and the quality is up to my standard. How long that will take, I am not sure.