The teen photographer who walked for Gosha Rubchinskiy

Tom Emmerson is a teenage photographer from London, famed on Instagram for his pictures of him and his mates. Yesterday, however, Emmerson was a model, walking in Gosha Rubchinskiy’s AW16 show at Paris Men’s Fashion Week. “I met Gosha at Dover Street Market in London for his YOUTH HOTEL book signing,” he says, explaining how he ended up on the Russian-born designer’s catwalk. “He followed me on Instagram for a while so I chatted to him a bit and he invited me to the show.”

With a shaved head and a penchant for skate apparel, it’s understandable why Emmerson caught the designer’s eye. Yesterday, he took to the runway wearing a brown shearling jacket, a yellow hooded sweatshirt (tucked into his trousers) and a black and yellow scarf. The show itself attracted press and buyers from around the world, as well as Rei Kawakubo, the famously reclusive founder of Comme des Garçons, who sat perched on the front row.

Go on Emmerson’s Instagram and it’s like getting a crash course in contemporary men’s style. He and his friends model today’s most popular streetwear brands – such as Palace Skateboards and Supreme – mixed with vintage clothing (not to mention Gosha too). When we ask Emmerson what sparks his interest in style, he says it comes from skateboarding and his father. While his friends supported this interest from the start, people at his school used to think it was “uncool” until, he says, they saw him doing something that he loves. 

As for his photography, he cites Rubchinskiy as an influence, along with Alasdair McLellan and Henri Cartier-Bresson. Looking at Emmerson’s work, the influence of Rubchinskiy and McLellan, who are renowned for their images of adolescent men, is clear. Still in his teens, Emmerson is showing all the signs of a style force to be reckoned with – and his verdict on Rubchinskiy’s AW16 show? “I appreciate the designs,” he says offhandedly, “yeah I like his stuff.”

See the gallery above for Gosha Rubchinskiy AW16, and the gallery below for a selection of Tom Emmerson’s photography.