Most five-year-olds love playing dress-up by randomly combining clothes to create ultra-eccentric outfits, but Alonso Mateo doesn’t fool around like that. The mini-fashionista sports the most impeccable ensembles, smiles charismatically and poses as nonchalantly as an experienced male model. Virtually every photo of him posted online goes viral on sites like Instagram and Facebook, and his style is an inspiration to fashion-conscious grownups.
Alonso Mateo may be only five, but dressed in tailor-made suits, pocket squares, untucked and rolled sleeve shirts and designer blazers he looks like a miniature grown man. The thousands of fans who view his every photo and praise his fashion sense seem to love that about him, but there are those who think it’s too much for his age and that he should be allowed to enjoy a normal childhood. His mother, Luisa Fernanda Espinosa, a freelance stylist from Laguna Beach, California, says she never forced her love for stylish clothes on young Alonso. “I would put a scarf or a beanie on him and he wouldn’t mind. After a while, when he was 3 almost 4, he started asking me for bow ties and suits!”, Luisa told news reporters. His career as an Internet star began after Luisa uploaded some photos of her son to Instagram and got an amazing response from the community. She kept adding them, and today her account has over 130,000 followers. Alonso’s own account is slowly catching up, and he has dozens of fan-pages on sites like Instagram and Facebook. Even famous stylists like Ugo Mozie, who has worked with Chris Brown, Beyoncé, and Kelly Rowland, think he’s got swagger.
“I love suits, sneakers and sunglasses. I like to dress like my dad, because he has cool suits”, Alonso Mateo toldThe Cut. To find the perfect garments, he and his parents scour the shops of big brands like Little Marc Jacobs, Crewcuts, American Apparel, Dior, Kitson Kids, Gucci, Stella McCartney, Bon Point, H&M, Dolce & Gabanna or Target. “When we go shopping, if he wants loafers just like his daddy and I can afford them, I get them,” Luisa Fernanda says. ”As long as it’s nice quality, I’ll take it”. Each morning before school, she and Alonso go into his personal walk-in closet and choose an outfit. He’s the one who decides what he wants to wear, but she’s always there to offer advice and make sure the ensembles make sense. The kid has become so famous that sometimes when they go out, there are fans waiting to take his picture.
“I don’t know if it’s because he’s an only child and he’s surrounded by so many grown-ups that he kind of wants to replicate what everybody around him is wearing?” mother Luisa Fernanda says about Alonso’s passion for grown-up clothes. “I don’t think he really notices he’s fashion forward. He’s too young.”
