JACOB KELLER: PORTLAND FASHION'S PRODIGAL SUPERSTAR
Printed E&E Vol. 2: Portland Fashion’s Prodigal SuperstarWords by: Mark McGinnisPhotos by: Andy Francisco & Mark McGinnisThese days, it doesn’t take a lot of square footage to build a movement. In a small bedroom in the Laurelhurst neighborhood, a college student has been changing the way people view fashion in Portland. His videos command upwards of 50,000 views each. His posts get more likes than the most of us have followers. He meets with brands like Nike, adidas, and Karmaloop to explain “millennials” to their marketing teams. My guess is you have no idea who he is. I will be the first to tell you that Jacob J. Keller is surely and not-so-slowly becoming the most important person in Portland fashion.“Fashion” here is precisely that: the clothes that people wear in Portland. Fashion in New York, London and Paris is driving the culture and this year, per usual, Portland Fashion Week did not seem to ripple beyond the tents in Pioneer Courthouse Square. While the 45+ crowd watched from the 1st row, a new generation of Portland fashion was gathered, standing in the back, having far more fun than anyone paying attention. They went largely unrecognized, when in fact, this group of brand owners, photographers, models, designers and influencers already have more impact outside of Portland than anyone else in the square.Jacob J. Keller is at the head of this new generation. With 108,000 subscribers on his Youtube channel, Always Fresh Apparel, he has become a true style icon to the middle-schooler “hypebeasts” of the world. What started as a short video describing a few pick-ups from Karmaloop has turned into partnerships with major brands, modeling gigs, friendships with former heroes and even a few products and releases of his own. He chuckles, as he explains that, “There never was a master plan… I just posted [my first video] because I thought it was cool and I needed a hobby.” Basically, a brand sends him their clothes, he shows them off and hundreds of your little brothers and sisters steal Mom’s credit card and go hammer. His loyal followers may be referred to as “the Naish”, short for “nation.” No shit, this guy drops a video with distressed jeans on a Tuesday and the kids at Burgerville have all used a full array of power tools to shred up their threads on Thursday afternoon.
There is power in followers. There is money to be earned as well. Yet, people of the pre-internet-everything era have a tough time seeing Youtube videos and Instagram shots as a viable career or job title. Somehow, in an age when everyone is posting pics of what they wore today and hashtagging #influencer, Keller has become just that, using his influence to connect his followers with the clothing he loves. “They wouldn’t probably know about these brands if it wasn’t for me, so I like to think of myself as a middle-man,” he explains. To Keller, a definition seems less important than progression, as every new project of his is a clear step forward in quality, creativity and style.His most recent step was into the product realm, working with his friend and oft-collaborator, Alex Veltri, on a collection of flannels entitled “FlanNaish.” What started as a Twitter joke quickly turned into designs, samples, prints, models, photos, video editing and many new challenges throughout the months leading up to release. “That’s when we realized, this is an amazing feeling. The stress of a month is worth this moment watching the video we worked so hard on." When Keller and Veltri dropped the flannels online, the team wasn’t sure what to expect, but it didn’t take long for them to get clear evidence of success. All of the flannels sold out in an hour, which is all the proof Keller needs to know that he is on the right track.Jacob is the first to acknowledge that he can’t do it all alone anymore. Having expanded his content, he has expanded his team to include a number of creatives who are building an important culture here in the 503. Along with Veltri, photographer ILLGANDER, videographers Mac Shoop and Tom Bender and a few others, their work is being seen by tens of thousands of people, but largely unacknowledged on a local scale. Jacob explains, “If I have a following and I’m not using it to help better myself and better the people with me and use it as a platform for these people to showcase their work, then I think it’s useless.” With the help of Keller’s audience, this group has been able to build followings of their own and supersede the limited channels available in Portland.When it comes to style specifically, Keller does his research. Trend is an idea he stays away from, focusing instead on silhouette above all else. “I’m gonna buy these $35 sweaters, even though some fashion kids are gonna say ‘Oh, you’re wearing H&M?' But it looks good on me, and that’s all that matters." Going through his closet is a kick, with pieces from Raf Simons and Alexander Wang hanging next to Supreme or Black Scale or new fire from 424 or Comune. What is most impressive is his ability to stay ahead of the blogs, working with a consistent stream of upcoming brands that offer something fresh for the marketplace. Brands like John Geiger, Premium Co., Knowluxe and John Elliott (one of GQ’s top new menswear designers in 2014) are looking to Jacob to share their work, putting him on par with fashion marketing mainstays like Hypebeast and Complex. Describing his phone call with Elliot: “To have a dude that you have supported and bought from and is clearly seen on athletes and celebrities, to have him take time out of his day and call me, that’s kind of when I realized that this thing we are doing is gonna be real.”Looking too far past this December is difficult for Keller, as he will graduate from Portland State University and move out of his family home, where the whole family still gets together for dinner most nights. "Man, I’m all about family, maybe that’s why I’m still at home,” he says with his Bred Jordan 1s kicked up on the bed. The Kellers can often be seen in the background of his videos or Instagrams and all enjoy the limelight to some extent. His uncle has been deemed “Uncle Swag” and has a following of Jacob’s fans who photoshop his face onto Call of Duty characters… Unlike many of his peers, he isn’t embarrassed to live at home, but seems genuinely (a little) bummed to move out soon.
While Jacob’s channel is mostly about clothing, he sees himself as a sort of role model too. As a shy, overweight middle-schooler, Jacob didn’t have anyone to look up to, so he tries to be that figure for kids of the next generation. While he’s not afraid to throw up a middle finger or let a few f*bombs go, he tries to stay very positive in all of his content. It may be due to the amount of negativity he has gotten in the comments on his page over the years, but he stays away from anything too nasty or sad on his channel. “What’s the point?” states Keller.
So what is next for Mr. Always Fresh? Building off the FlanNaish project, he sees more collaborations and product capsules in his future. Providing his reach to brands remains the foundation, but Jacob has enjoyed being more hands-on, creating products, collaborations and new types of content for the Naish. In addition, he hopes to evolve his sales experience into retail: “Bringing another boutique to Portland wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world… I would love to get the opportunity to own my own store and sell the brands I truly believe in.” With the success of FlanNaish behind him and an ever-expanding list of contacts at the highest levels of the fashion game, Keller has a clear understanding of how to wield this strange, potent online power for the benefit of the people and city he loves.There is something important brewing here in Portland and Jacob believes that our culture can be significant and influential like those in SOHO or on Fairfax. They are doing everything they can to make this happen, and it’s working, but Portland is yet to take notice. A majority of our current brands and shows and lookbooks and stores serve PDX to itself, slow to progress and move outside of the “bounds” of the city. Always Fresh is ready to prove itself as more than just a YouTube channel.Jacob J. Keller and his generation are leading Portland fashion into a new era and it’s time we pay attention.