- People Gallery has become one of the most popular fashion pages on TikTok.
- The page is run by Maurice Kamara, a 35-year-old fashion stylist from Brooklyn.
- Kamara spoke to Insider about her celebrity hangouts and the motivation behind the page.
You could be the next person to appear on one of the most popular fashion accounts on the internet.
“What’s your name and where are you from?”
“Can you describe your fit?”
“If you could give someone one piece of style advice, what would it be?”
“What is your favorite food?”
“What is your zodiac sign?”
These are some of the quick questions that Maurice Kamara often asks ordinary people on the streets of New York City, if he has a fire crew.
Kamara is a 35-year-old Brooklyn native who has built a dedicated following by doing impromptu fashion breakdowns, mostly on the chic streets of SoHo.
Known as The People Gallery (@thepeoplegallery), Kamara has amassed more than 630,000 followers on TikTok and Instagram. She has interviewed supermodels, influencers, rappers, and actors, among others.
Kamara, who works for a luxury designer brand in the city, has shown that she has an eye for fashion.
Most recently he stopped by to chat with “Bones and All” actress Taylor Russell Y Grammy-nominated rapper GloRilla. He also spoke to the late Migos rapper Takeoff and New York himself. cardi b.
Some of her other outfit breakdowns this year include a wide range of other notable celebrities including singers Doja Cat and Ari Lennox, models Evan Mock and Lori Harvey, actress Issa Rae, former football star Eli Manning and Jaden Smith. . He also singled out rapper Yasiin Bey, formerly known as Mos Def.
Kamara prides itself on its content being authentic. Even when he bumps into the biggest of stars, it’s their outfits that draw him in before he even recognizes them or knows what they do.
“When I did Taylor Russell. I didn’t even know who she was. I didn’t know her, but her outfit was amazing,” Kamara told Insider. “She saw how many people were already on my page and she was so excited to do it. When she saw Alexa Demie, she felt comfortable.”
Kamara is never seen, but is always heard in the background of her videos praising the person she is interviewing. With New York being an epicenter of fashion, it serves as the perfect backdrop for your content.
“I think New York is much bolder than other places. There are certain things that you could wear in New York, that I feel like if you go somewhere else, people look at you like you’re crazy,” he said. “So in New York City, the comfort level when it comes to fashion is like no other. I feel like you’re going to see people step out of the box a little more and take more risks in New York City because the level of comfort here is unlike anywhere else.”
One day he decided to break the record, and the rest is history.
“Euphoria” star Alexa Demie, rapper Offset and creative director June Ambrose.
Screenshot/@thepeoplegallery/TikTok
Growing up in Brooklyn, Kamara was into fashion from a very young age. She remembers working her first job and saving up to buy the latest pair of Jordans. And her influences also included hip-hop culture, which was ever-present in her neighborhood.
Before The People Gallery, Kamara would record her friends’ outfits and post them to her personal Instagram stories, but she knew she wanted to branch out outside of her inner circle.
“One thing about me in New York City is that I always compliment people on their outfit, and I think that’s something I wish more people would do,” Kamara said. “And as time went on, an idea popped into my head like, ‘You should document it.'”
He kept procrastinating until one day, he was in Brooklyn and saw a man in a ’70s-inspired outfit. In the video, the man is wearing a second-hand shirt, which was long, patterned, and see-through. He said that he added a purple feather boa to complete the look. He also had black bell bottoms and glasses with a green tint.
“I saw this kid in an amazing outfit that I had never seen before in my life. And I thought, ‘If I want to start now, this is the time,'” he recalled. “I took out my phone and asked him if I could record it. He said yes. And I did.”
“I was so nervous. I saw it coming from miles away. I was like, ‘Shit. I’ve always wanted to do this, and here’s the kid coming at me. This is my chance.’
‘I am a sociable person’
Maurice Kamara has earned more than 500,000 followers on TikTok with his fashion content.
Courtesy of Maurice Kamara
For a fashion enthusiast, working in SoHo has its advantages.
Kamara might be at work when the likes of Lil Uzi Vert stops by a neighborhood store. The “Just Wanna Rock” rapper jumped out of his car in front of the Rick Owens store when Kamara made the move on him. He credits this interaction with helping his page take it to the next level.
“Many times, I even surprise myself. I know people think that all of this is set up,” he said.
“I’ll go about my business, I’ll walk somewhere, I’ll go somewhere, and I’ll just see a person with good looks. I don’t do just any celebrity.”
It is Kamara’s enthusiasm and warm attitude that makes celebrities trust him on the spot. He remembers when he met one of his favorite actors, Bokeem Woodbine.
“When I met him one day on Canal Street, I told him what I was doing and that I was trying to put it on my page. He told me that he couldn’t do it today, but he will do it tomorrow. I thought he was giving me the runaround, but actually he gave me his phone number,” Kamara explained.
“I was able to contact him the next day, he told me to meet him somewhere and he would make the video. And after he made a video, he told me that the reason he made a video was because he liked my hunger, the way I approached him, and he loved what I was doing.”
In addition to public figures, Kamara interviews people from all over the world and her page is a reflection of this. She has taken her knack for capturing the best fashion week settings in New York abroad in Paris.
“I’m a people person. I know people go through a lot in everyday life. So just being able to talk to people from all walks of life is the kind of energy I love.”