Antoni Porowski, Queer Eye’s food expert, has undergone a style transformation of late. While he may have first gotten notice on the show for his Strokes and A Little Life T-shirts, recently the 34-year-old has dived headfirst into the world of fashion, wearing Saint Laurent for VMan, Stella McCartney for the Sunday Times, and Versace for GQ. If you’ve checked out Porowski’s Instagram (2.2 million followers and counting), you’ve noticed, too, that he’s upped the fashion ante from off-the-cuff vacation photos to full tap-for-credits looks. To get the story behind his style, we talked to the soon-to-be cookbook author and restaurant owner about his latest fashion gets.
Part of the intro to life in the public eye is, you get a bit of attention from fashion designers. I work with Matt Bidgoli, who has been my personal and work stylist, and he’s introduced me to so many things. Right now, I’m loving high-waisted pleated trousers. I got this pair by Officine Generale — they make this really lovely, super lightweight clothing that’s very Talented Mr. Ripley. You just wanna be in Lake Como or Southern Italy in their soft linens and delicate fabrics. The one thing about these kinds of trousers is that the ankle has to be a bit trim. I think it’s all in how you wear it — when you wear a billowy pant and tuck in the T-shirt, it looks a bit dressed up but still casual. I love it with a pair of Gucci loafers.
I’m all about tucking in T-shirts. Usually I love James Perse T-shirts because they’re lightweight and the Japanese cotton is very tightly spun. My T-shirts wrinkle because I sweat a lot. If I’m feeling proper, or if I want to look really put-together, I’ll wear the Ami T-shirts with the red heart. But my newest all-time favorite T-shirt that I got was the collaboration between Karla Welch and Hanes. When I recently did an endorsement with Hanes, we were talking logistics, and I was like, “I just have one request — I need one of those white Karla Welch T-shirts.” They’re really good and long and made of such good-quality cotton that they age really well. They also have the perfect sleeve length where they’re not super short, so when you roll them up they hit perfectly at your bicep.
Bathrobes are my favorite, and usually I wear whatever they have in the hotels, but when my friend Aaron, who does PR for Versace, found out I was coming to Kansas City to shoot, he asked me what I might want from Versace, and I jokingly said a bathrobe. So he actually went and sent me a Versace bathrobe that is the loudest, gaudiest thing ever. I put it on and feel like I go full Wolf of Wall Street. I actually wear it more than anything else, though, especially with a pair of Adidas slides and a bathing suit to the pool — it feels very Ricky Martin in The Assassination of Gianni Versace.
I love old-school Persols. In fact, I have way too many now. So I’m wearing a lot of Salt acetate sunglasses lately, and my most recent favorite — my friend Adam Selman actually introduced me to — are Le Specs, and they’re bright-yellow, metallic sunglasses with a matte-black side. I’ll wear them when I go running.
I also just got a pair of leather J Brand pants during one of those “I’m the King of the World” moments, but I have no idea where I’m going to wear them.
I’m obsessed with Omega Constellation watches from 1950 and the Omega Speedmaster from 1955. I finally got to head to the Omega store on Fifth Avenue, and now I’m the proud owner of a Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon black sports watch.
And this is actually the first thing I bought myself after the success of the show. I’m very frugal, so I don’t like to shop because I’m afraid everything is going away. It’s a bright-yellow Intrecciato fanny pack from Bottega Veneta — they only had one left, so they actually had to ship it over from the Las Vegas store to the Madison Avenue one. I still feel sort of shame-y about it, but I wear it every single day. I keep so much in it: my Mophies, my Juul, my cell phone, my mints. I don’t regret it at all. [Editor’s note: Unfortunately, the exact yellow bag is sold out, but you can buy a version in black or gray.]
About that striped shirt
I love Sandro because they make these French cuts that are a bit awkward and boxy in a cool way that’s still very wearable. I was with Matt trying on stuff for L.A. press, and he said, “I’m going to pack this bathing suit and flowy top that you can wear for outdoor events.” Then right before the Netflix upfronts, I was ready to go in this beautiful suit, and Tan came over, and he was wearing short shorts and this massive shirt, and I was like, Oh my god. I changed immediately into the shirt and swim trunks because I love being twins. It was kind of ridiculous when I think about it. It was like wearing my pj’s. But it was so fun, and I guess now it’s @thatstripedshirt.
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