The evolution of the ever-loved Kimbino
Recently Kim Russell, known mainly by those that follow her Twitter and Instagram accounts at The Kimbino, received the honor of being noted as one of the best accounts to follow if you love fashion. While we could talk about her in the same manner, we decided to do something a little bit different and instead focus on her evolution. How did this Australian-based teacher come to influence Kim Kardashian’s red carpet looks and become text-buddies with Rihanna? Not that we’re not here for it, because if there’s anything that can unite people, it’s undoubtedly fashion.
Starting to dive into the internet world with Polyvore and quickly blowing up on that platform before transitioning to Instagram and Twitter, Russell was originally in fashion school before dropping out. Fashion was always at the forefront of her mind, focusing on history, and Black fashion history, in particular, was very important to her. So as she began to transition away from styling and into creating an archive on Instagram. With her own tongue-in-cheek takes on the garments, her platform grew and grew with everyday fashionistas and celebrities now following. Russell is beloved not only for her bountiful archive but her stellar imaginings of some of our favorite celebrities in stunning ensembles!
In order to grow her opinions into a business, she decided to join another social media app, OnlyFans. Currently, she is the only fashion influencer on Onlyfans–a platform primarily known for sex work, but also has a large number of nutritionists and fitness trainers. When talking with i-D she explained, “I chose [Onlyfans] because Instagram and Twitter are difficult platforms to monetize. OnlyFans made that easy. Not everyone has to subscribe. It's completely up to that person, they can cancel any time!”
While some people might roll their eyes at her need for monetization, I say get that bag! If you have 153K followers on social media, monetization is only the next step, and as she plans to parlay her growth and platform into a permanent job in the fashion industry as either a creative director, stylist, or research consultant, giving advice and tutorials on OnlyFans for how to break into the fashion industry is a great choice.
As I researched this article, I realized that the thing that draws us all into hitting ‘follow’ on TheKimbino’s account isn’t only the fun commentary but also the inclusivity of the account. There’s that hidden flicker of hope that maybe, just maybe, you’ll be the next person to rise to star status.
