Have you ever done something to demonstrate to your partner how committed you are to them? Maybe you’ve gotten them a special present or taken them for a nice meal?
Perhaps you do what I like to do and remember every other pay cheque not to be so selfish, and treat your other half to something nice like a Dumbo teddy bear?
One thing I’m pretty confident you don’t do (because effort) is coordinate each and every outfit you and your partner wear for maximum sartorial success.
Well, guess what? There’s a couple who do.
Meet Tsuyoshi and Tomi Seki, also known as Bonpon511, who shot to viral fame on Instagram in Japan for their incredibly coordinated clothing in late 2016.
Unlike other Instagram influencers, though Tsuyoshi and Tomi aren’t twenty-somethings taking blurry photos of their vegan breakfast of avocado on toast in the hope of getting a brand deal with Colgate (#notspon), they’re a little different.
Tsuyoshi and Tomi are in their sixties, have been married for 34 years, and every day the pair pose in an array of different outfits, which combine similar patterns and styles.
According to The Guardian (shout out to my main man Jim!), the pair’s outfits have garnered praise from across the fashion world and earned them 760,000 followers.
Tsuyoshi and Tomi have their daughter to thank for their huge following, or at least that’s what Tomi said in an interview with the aforementioned Guardian.
She said:
[Our daughter] took photos of us and posted them on her own Instagram account. She received lots of comments so suggested that we start our own account.
The couple then combined the nicknames they had as children (Bon and Pon) as well as their wedding anniversary (May 11) to create the BonPon511 handle.
Tsuyoshi and Tomi have apparently always shared a similar taste in clothes but it was their Instagram fame which led to them properly planning out their outfits together.
Amazingly the pair even consider where they’re going when deciding what to wear, and I don’t mean thinking ‘I should wear a coat out because it’s cold’, I mean they plan every outfit properly.
Don’t go thinking that the pair are into high fashion though, they’re more than happy to admit the majority of their wardrobe comes from the low-cost Japanese supermarket Uniqlo and other high street chains.
Tomi modestly explained:
Of course, we’re happy to be described as style icons in the media, but that’s not really how we see ourselves. We wear simple, inexpensive clothes that anyone can buy.
This low-cost approach to fashion has made the couple extremely popular and like all good influencers, they’ve made a pretty packet out of their Instagram account without resorting to selling teeth whitening strips (sorry Love Island cast).
So far the couple have published two books celebrating married life and have launched their own range of clothes and accessories at the Japanese department store ‘Isetan Mitsukoshi’.
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More of a concept than a journalist, Tom Percival was forged in the bowels of Salford University from which he emerged grasping a Masters in journalism.
Since then his rise has been described by himself as ‘meteoric’ rising to the esteemed rank of Social Editor at UNILAD as well as working at the BBC, Manchester Evening News, and ITV.
He credits his success to three core techniques, name repetition, personality mirroring, and never breaking off a handshake.