With his rumbling belly laughs and his signature pencil tattoo that stretches down the side of his face, Kerwin Frost has become a distinctive fixture among the fashion set. The New York personality, DJ, and show host is something like the style world’s Santa Claus, a cherubic figure bearing visual presents during Fashion Week. It’s not uncommon for him and his wife, Erin Yogasundram, to show up to a runway presentation wearing something outlandish, like custom Luar angel wings and his-and-hers Craig Green deconstructed-tent looks. For Frost, there is no fear when getting dressed up—just a genuine happiness that radiates. The last time Vogue spoke to Frost, he and Yogasundram were awaiting their baby, Waffle, to be born. A year later, Waffle is here, and there is no slowing down. In fact, Frost seems more energized than ever. This past week Frost and Yogasundram headed to Paris for a whirlwind experience at men’s Fashion Week, attending shows such as Vetements, Walter Van Beirendonck, Bode, Louis Vuitton, and Rick Owens.
Frost’s first show on the schedule was Off-White. “With the shows, I try to match with the show aesthetic that is in my head,” says Frost. “Off-White is kind of emotional, and it feels like you’re going to an old friend’s house, like you’re visiting a New York friend’s apartment. When I think about Off-White, I think about what people were wearing 10 years ago, like the most ode to streetwear I can do.” As an eBay head, Frost spends his mornings on the website searching for whatever pops into his mind. “Usually [I type] three terms and then a Japanese creation is the result,” he says. In the mix of his Fashion Week looks, there were eBay finds such as a fuzzy-bear hat and a rare show jacket from The Simpsons, a statement piece that he sported to Off-White. “It’s a jacket that they used to give to the animators,” explains Frost. “That particular one though belonged to Dr. Phil. He did a guest appearance on the show one time, but he probably didn’t want it and gave it to some auction house.” Frost ended up wearing this piece with a Bape hoodie, Billionaire Boys Club Icecream sweatpants, and Vetements sneakers. “I was going through a 2008 streetwear look with a little twist,” he says.
Like many showgoers, Frost is sometimes lent things to wear, such as a Bode coat covered in beads. But Frost, perpetually in pursuit of the off-kilter find, remixed the get-up with his own pieces, such as a pair of XXL black-and-white spectator shoes. “I got them from a guy in Mexico who makes clown shoes,” he says. And while the maximalist era of fashion peacocking has somewhat calmed since the mid-2010s, Frost is an example of how one can still have fun with fashion in an outrageous look. One of Frost’s most standout moments came when he chose to wear Hazar Jawabra, a young Palestinian designer who specializes in extreme, full-body knitwear to the Vetements show. The result? Something like a friendly bigfoot in a kaleidoscope of yarn.
Part of Frost’s allure is that his penchant for extreme fashion is coupled with an infectious personality. The combination makes people warm up to him. Throughout his six-day trip to Paris, Frost was able to snap photos of Bella Hadid and Diplo post–Louis Vuitton, beaming actor Daniel Kaluuya (“He was hard to get to smile!”), the rapper Sheck Wes at Louis Vuitton, and Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union at Acne. It’s these tender moments that make Fashion Week a heartwarming experience for him. As for what Frost would want to see in the future at Fashion Week? “Just what you see through the photos—there’s a real community energy,” he says. “I wish people got to that and people were not so self-aware but just okay with who they are.”
