Artist Profile: Mina Le, YouTube’s Fashion Maven

In college, Mina Le wanted to be an “Anna Wintour-type person.” Today, though she may not be the Editor-in-Chief of “VOGUE,” she sits at the helm of a distinctly Millenial/Gen Z fashion empire of her own — and arguably boasts a superior signature look. Dressed in opulent ensembles that she describes as a mix between regencycore, cottagecore, 1980s New Romantic, and the occasional “sleazy corporate wear,” Le dishes out an equally unique combination of fashion and pop culture commentary across her social media platforms that keep her “beautiful doves,” her affectionate moniker for her fanbase, well-fed.

Le launched her eponymous YouTube channel in 2020, and has since amassed over one million subscribers, signed with IMG Models, and started a podcast called “High Brow,” the title a playful nod to Le’s iconic pencil-thin eyebrows. She is modest about her explosive success, attributing it to a combination of fortunate timing — her first videos were posted during the pandemic, when “people were kicked out of their jobs and were spending a lot of time home … watching things online” — and a lack of competition in her YouTube commentary niche at the time she began her channel, though she says that this genre has since expanded into “quite a category” on YouTube.

Le asserts that her first videos were inspired by the fashion history content she consumed to pass the time during the pandemic, not from any desire to become an influencer. “I didn’t do it with the intention of creating a career for myself,” Le said. “I loved watching that content, and I was like, ‘I need more.’ But there was no more, because I consumed all of it! So I had to make my own.”

Armed with her own considerable fashion knowledge and her New York Public Library membership — “Go Library!” Le said, laughing — Le decided to research and film a video about the historical accuracy of Disney Princess dresses, an idea she credits to the Glamour YouTube channel. The video, which went viral, was Le’s breakout piece; almost overnight, her subscribers climbed from 600 to 60,000, to Le’s own surprise.

Le’s early days in the public eye were challenging. Trying to navigate the industry without the help of a management team made her feel like she “didn’t know what [she was] doing.” During this time, she relied on other fashion and commentary YouTubers — a community she describes as “very supportive and not competitive at all” — to make sense of sponsorships, strategies for platform growth, and the notoriously mysterious YouTube algorithm.

However, social media hasn’t always been a positive place for Le. She likened seeing discussions about herself on social media to “jumpscares” that only increase with her growing success. “I’ve realized that there are spaces on the internet that I don’t want to be in,” Le said. “People have all the right to say whatever they want about me, but it’s in my control whether I expose myself to that.”

Le is cognizant of the amount of time she spends online, and she believes that allowing herself to be “bored” and spend time away from social media has been beneficial for both her mental health and creative process.

Though Le’s videos primarily focus on fashion history and pop culture trends, she often integrates nuanced political and historical commentary into her analysis. At first, this combination seems unexpected, but Le confidently maintains that “fashion has always been political,” effortlessly connecting the sumptuary laws of the 15th and 16th century — which banned the lower classes from wearing certain items of clothing — to today’s fascination with “old money aesthetics” to illustrate her point.

How did Le amass such an encyclopedic knowledge of fashion history?

“JSTOR or Semantic Scholar,” she said. “I’ve worked with librarians in the past, who helped me to curate research guides.”

Le loves research: Her favorite video she’s ever made was one that focused on modernism in interior design trends, simply because it gave her the opportunity to branch out of her primary field and discover something new.

Similar to her research process, Le’s personal wardrobe is a meticulous labor of love. She carefully combs through New York vintage shows and websites like Depop, Vestier, and eBay to find new items. Sustainability and vintage pieces are a particular priority for Le, who likes to collect “items for every decade, from a historical standpoint,” even if they don’t align with her curated aesthetic. “If you ever get invited to a themed decade party, I’m your girl,” Le joked.

With her collection of clothing from the past, Mina Le welcomes uncertainty in her future. She recognizes that content creation, which sees platforms emerge and die out in the blink of an eye, is a particularly fickle and ever-changing field. “I have no idea where I’m going to be in ten years,” she said.

“I’ve thought about what person I want to be,” she added. “It’s good to be ambitious, but it’s also good to be flexible.”

Whatever the future brings, Le’s unique and well-researched repertoire of fashion history and cultural commentary will certainly remain engaging for years to come.

—Staff writer Evelyn J. Carr can be reached at evelyn.carr@thecrimson.com.