Gstaad Guy: Inside the Niche Social Media World of the 1%

5 Dec 2023

For The State of Fashion 2024, trailblazing influencer Gstaad Guy’s online parodies of the ultra-wealthy highlights how a niche genre of influencer marketing is helping to inject newness into how brands connect with customers.

Gstaad Guy — who keeps his real identity a secret — began making a name for himself only a few years ago in niche social media circles by parodying the lives and tastes of the ultra-rich through sharp, satirical social commentary delivered through fictional personas: mainstay character Constance, an old-money British aristocrat who peppers his conversations with French and Italian and dresses head-to-toe in LVMH’s “quiet luxury” bastion brand Loro Piana, and guest-star Colton, a happy-go-lucky, nouveau-riche Gen-Z American. His humour is carefully targeted: many of Constance’s quips will sail far above the heads of the average Joe or Jane, but leave 1 percent of the wealthy, who are used to flitting between Gstaad, Monaco and London, chortling. (According to Forbes, a good chunk of its Billionaires List is among his following.)

Equally, luxury fashion brands also get where Gstaad Guy is coming from — to the extent that several have entered into partnerships with the social media star. Loro Piana launched 600 limited editions of its Open Knitted Walk shoes exclusively for Gstaad Guy followers; the collaboration sold out within hours and became the fastest-selling product the brand had ever made, according to Forbes.

BoF: How did Gstaad Guy come about?

Gstaad Guy: I was Facetiming [with] a close friend of mine, who has a place in Gstaad. He was complaining about something he shouldn’t be complaining about. I had never been there at the time, but I knew a lot of things about it purely based on conversations with him. I filmed one video on Snapchat, making fun of things I’ve heard him say, while really dialling up the absurdity. I sent that video to his mum, all in character, this fictional character I coined Constance, inspired by my friend. His family and closest friends found the video hilarious. His mum sent it to all the Gstaad mums’ WhatsApp group chats, which went to different parents and students of the Le Rosey boarding school [in Switzerland]. And it then quickly trickled into Gstaad-frequenting Geneva, Monaco and London communities...