Wisdom Kaye (né Uduebor)[1] (born April 4, 2001) is a Nigerian-American model and social media personality known for his fashion-related posts. As such, Vogue considers him "TikTok's best-dressed guy".[2]
Early life and career
Kaye was born in Nigeria and moved to Houston, Texas when he was four years old. He became interested in fashion in high school and was influenced by French fashion designer Hedi Slimane, who at the time was creative director of Yves Saint Laurent and is currently creative director of Celine.[3] Kaye went to Fulshear High School as well as Texas State University where he was studying electrical engineering before dropping out. [4] Kaye was scouted by IMG Models via their social media team[5] and made his debut at Balmain for their S/S 2022 fashion show.[6] He has also worked with Dior, Fendi, Ralph Lauren, Coach New York, and Revlon.[4]
On TikTok, Kaye joined in January 2020 and went viral for his take on the "Vogue Challenge"; by July 2020, he had reached 2 million followers.[7] He also went viral for creating high-fashion outfits based on Marvel Cinematic Universe characters.[8] In December 2021, he was featured on Teen Vogue's 21 Under 21 list.[9] In 2023, he was featured in Forbes’s 30 Under 30.[10] As of August 2024, he currently has over 5 million followers on Instagram (@wisdm) and over 11.7 million followers on TikTok (@wisdm8).
References
- ^ Gleason, Averil (March 13, 2018). "Fulshear students show off purple and black pride". Fort Bend Herald.
- ^ Allaire, Christian (September 2021). "What Wisdom Kaye, TikTok's Best-Dressed Guy, Wore to Fashion Week". Vogue.
- ^ Roby, India (August 18, 2020). "TIKTOK STAR WISDOM KAYE: THE GEN-Z STYLE ICON". V Magazine.
- ^ a b "Meet Wisdom Kaye, the Fashionable TikToker Turned IMG Model". Teen Vogue. April 29, 2021.
- ^ Brannigan, Maura (November 6, 2020). "How I Shop: TikTok Style Star and IMG Model Wisdom Kaye" – via Yahoo!.
- ^ Roby, India (September 30, 2021). "WISDOM KAYE MADE HIS RUNWAY DEBUT AT BALMAIN'S SPRING 2022 SHOW". Nylon Magazine.
- ^ Allaire, Christian (July 5, 2020). "Wisdom Kaye Is the Best-Dressed Guy on TikTok". Vogue. Condé Nast.
- ^ Hodge, Christian (October 20, 2021). "Marvel Fan Makes Fashion Outfits Based On MCU Characters In TikTok Video". ScreenRant.com.
- ^ "Teen Vogue's 21 Under 21 2021: The Young People Shaping Tomorrow". Teen Vogue. Condé Nast. December 14, 2021.
- ^ Barton, Merrilee. "Wisdom Kaye - 2022-11-14 - 2023 30 under 30: Art and style". Forbes. Retrieved March 31, 2024.