A Melbourne man whose unique fashion choices have seen him described as the world’s biggest hipster says he does not even like the outfit that has made him famous.
Samuel Davide Hains, 24, a self-described “web developer, mystery blogger and jazz kitten”, was photographed for a street style section for Fairfax Media in the Sunday Age wearing back-to-front overalls and a beret.
He described his style as “bucolic socialist with improvised elements (like jazz)” and said his fashion idols were “Trotsky in leather”, Albert Einstein and John Coltrane.
Mr Hains said he owned a Chanel cape and would never be seen in “neo-hippie bush doof couture” or a “small inefficient beanie”.
While it remains unclear whether the interview was authentic or an elaborate ploy, the story went around the world, with suggestions Hains was the “most Melbourne Melburnian ever”.
Speaking to 774 ABC Melbourne’s Raf Epstein, Mr Hains said he had found the attention a little overwhelming.
“I don’t necessarily want to become a social media personality,” he said.
“Perhaps it’s a waste of my talents.
“I suppose I think that identity is quite fluid and … society is somewhat of a hallucination. Maybe we’re all apparitions. Maybe I’m a Buddhist.”
Mr Hains said it was “wild” to see the photograph used on the front page of the Monday Age.
“To think that we don’t have anything better to talk about. I don’t even like that outfit, I think it was a mistake,” he said.
“Since I’ve become viral, my fashion has become inspired by protest. No colours — it would be wrong to wear colours in times like this.”
Mr Hains said the response was “so confusing” and he felt no-one really understood him or what he was trying to achieve.
Asked what exactly it was that he was trying to achieve, he said: “I don’t know. I don’t know exactly. Just living. Sustaining life.”
This post originally appeared on ABC News.
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