Michael Lockley, 17, New York
Amid the fresh-faced new upstarts of 2015, Lockley stands out from the crowd with his remarkable blond-tinted Afro, in a shade he calls his “mixed hair color” and says he picked just before starting to model about a year ago. “I dye it a little bit to give it more of an effect for my look,” he explains. Signed after his mother showed his picture to a friend, the young New Yorker says he has always been into fashion, describing his own look as urban and vintage with a “funky vibe.” After walking for Louis Vuitton in January as his first show, Lockley—and his famous hair—were a big hit in June, when he walked for Margaret Howell, Jil Sander, Kenzo, and Paul Smith. A student of computer engineering, Lockley says he hopes his unique look can help encourage other people to think different. “I want to inspire people to dress how they want to dress,” he says. “Dress the way you want to feel in the clothes that you like.”
