YouTubers Max, Zac & Jay have had quite a fashion journey. Showing that anyone can infiltrate the high fashion world, the trio crash Fashion Week, end up on Billboards all across London, and even get photographed for Vogue.
“Fashion: a world where you can reach the pinnacle of your career dressed as an asylum patient, and angry bum bag, or even a wacky, waving, condom arm flailing arm tube woman”, is the definition of the High Fashion World given by YouTubers Zac & Jay in their Fashion Prank Trilogy.
The YouTubers, who originally set out to prank the fashion world, have been on an adventure of their own. They managed to make it to the top of Fashion Week, get a picture in Vogue, have their photos on billboards as well as have their design’s copied by massive fashion companies.
Part 1: Faked A Model To The Top of Fashion Week
The world of high fashion can sometimes get a little crazy. YouTubers from The Zac and Jay Show wanted to see if they could somehow fake their way into the exclusive London Fashion Week in 2019 in one day. The duo documented their unusual experience in the Fashion World on their channel with a 15-minute video that currently has 25 million views.
Zac and Jay called upon fellow YouTuber Max Fosh saying they needed a “confident, unfashionable, blank canvas of a man”, in their video. The pair explained that they wanted to see if they could get Max to the top of Fashion Week wearing cheap and weird clothing items.
“The plan was simple. We’d buy the worst possible. Turn up to Fashion Week and try and cause a scene.”
After a trip to Primark and some quick arts and crafts, YouTuber Max Fosh was transformed into 16-year-old modelling prodigy Maximilian Bucharest from Bucharest.
Maximus hit the streets of London wearing hardware store safety glasses, women’s pants from Primark, fake Balenciagas, key rings, “fragile” tape and Max’s mum’s pink blanket. The Paparazzi immediately flocked towards Maximus Bucharest and couldn’t take their cameras off the “modelling prodigy!’
On the second day, Maximus walked into Fashion Week in his signature pink, adorned with a piece of plastic packaging as his royal collar and prison-issued shoes Zac received when he spent a night in jail. The model also sported pink rubber gloves with the fingers cut out as well as a concrete door stopper as his accessory of choice.
However, with the help of professional stylist Scott Croft, Zac and Jay pulled some strings and managed to get Maximus Bucharest an invite to one of the shows. The trio met up beforehand with Scott to get approval on the outfit the pro stylist’s response was surprising:
“These shoes are like…the best thing I’ve ever seen in my life”
“This is a real look… I feel like this could actually be, something”
It is no surprise that the paparazzi was once again drawn to Maximus. Inside the fashion show, he was swarmed by photographers and celebrities.
Part 2: We Faked A Model To The Bottom of Fashion Week
For the trio’s second adventure in the world of fashion, they wanted to see if they could design even crazier outfits for Maximus Bucharest. After contacting the creator of the concreate door stopper Maximus wore in the previous video. Jonny Concrete constructed a dress made of concrete for Bucharest to wear at Paris Fashion Week.
For the second outfit in their collection, the YouTubers enlisted the help of a baby to pick a random word from the dictionary to serve as the inspiration for their design. “Perpendicular” was the word picked by the baby, so the pair created clothes that would sit sideways on Maximus.
After it was reuploaded to social media platform Weibo, the previous video went viral with 75 million views across China. While appearing on Happy Hour Podcast, Max commented that a famous Jewellery designer whose designs have been worn by Kate Middleton asked Max to help her break into the Chinese market. The jewellery designer gave Fosh a pair of $8 000 earnings to go with his next look.
With the two looks created they hit the streets of Paris in their concrete door stopper dress and entirely perpendicular outfit. The $8 000 earnings were hung on a toaster rack the trio found in the Airbnb that was strapped to Maximus’s face.
Even with the extravagant outfits, the YouTubers struggled to grab the attention of the paparazzi. But ended up attracting the attention of the French Police. Maximus Bucharest did not give up and returned the next day strutting in the perpendicular outfit and revealing the concrete dress underneath. With Jay spray painting Maximus’s initial on the block, the paparazzi finally flocked to them. Just before rapper Swae Lee arrives stealing the attention of the paparazzi away from Bucharest.
Part 3: We made a Grandma Famous at Fashion Week (Featured in Vogue)
For the third and final instalment in this fashion trilogy, the duo set out to infiltrate the fashion world using a new more ‘mature’ muse. After interviewing many older citizens they decided to go with 78-year-old Elizabeth as their model.
The pair then set out to create a look using Elizabeth’s three favourite things in life being green, rain and toast & jam. After a visit to a clothing shop and hardware store, Zac and Jay came back with plastic packaging, washing gloves, grape earrings and an umbrella.
Dressed in her monochromatic green look, Elizabeth sought advice from expert Maximus Bucharest and Elicia Verde was born. Elicia Verde took to the London Fashion week adorning green gumboots, a beanie, grape earnings, pegs and Zac and Jay’s signature plastic packaging collar.
The paparazzi swarmed Elicia and they were let into one of the fashion shows without even asking for a name. The team wanted to test their luck by trying to make it into an even bigger show. The trio were unfortunately denied access to the Burberry show. However, it was here that photographer Phil Oh captured the picture that would end up in Vogue article. Phil Oh’s Best Street Style Photos From London Fashion Week Fall 2020. This put Elicia Verde’s outfit up there with the likes of Naomi Campbell, Kaia Gerber and Winnie Harlow just to name a few.
Maximus’s Billboard Comeback in 2020
Maximus Bucharest then made a comeback appearing on billboards across London. Including some of the most iconic locations such as Notting Hill, Kings Cross and Portobello Road. Video titled “How I Got A Fake Model On Billboards Across London… For Free” documents how Max put the project together. Including a fake appointment with a digital agency and a photoshoot with photographer Konstantin.
In an interview with Britain Daily Konstantin said:
“It’s been a long goal of mine to work on a campaign that gets onto the billboards across London – another thing I can tick off my bucket list!“
After lots of rejections, creativity and some impossible social engineering, Max secured a deal with billboard company DayLite LED.
Big Companies Copying Bucharest’s Designs
A few weeks ago, Max released a video on his channel “I Faked My Fashion Designs Into The UK’s Biggest Shops”. It showcases fashion giants such as Calvin Klein and ASOS copying designs he, Zac and Jay came up with.
Assumptions About the Fashion Industry
Interestingly, an article by Jordan Mark Sandvig comments,
“Zac and Jay Set Out to Prove Fashion is Stupid, Instead, They Prove That It’s Fun.”
It goes on to highlight in the process of making fun of the fashion industry the videos do a great job of looking into some of the mainstream assumptions surrounding it.
Sandvig goes on to point out that the videos unconsciously prove wrong the assumptions they place on the industry. Like “fashion is presumptuous and silly”, “A world most of us wouldn’t understand” and “He isn’t famous, he isn’t a model”.
For example Jordan with the assumption that the fashion industry is shallow, writes:
“The implication here seems to be that because their roommate is neither famous nor a model, no one at Fashion Week should care about him, and the fact that media and fashion insiders start making a fuss about him, is a sign that they are shallow.”
“Within 2 days of walking the streets, Max falls into his role as model, photographers agree with him and take his picture, insiders at a runway show call him a natural.”
“Photographers and curious onlookers gather around him, not just because they perceive him to be famous, but because his outfit is making a statement.”
Subscribe to FIB’s Weekly Breaking News Report for your weekly dose of music, fashion and pop culture news!
