Gok Wan has said he is proud of the legacy of his noughties TV show How to Look Good Naked, but is not shocked that the super skinny ideal has returned. The stylist, now 52, also revealed that Dua Lipa once asked to meet him while he was DJing in Ibiza.
Fashion cycles and elasticated belts
Reflecting on the show, which first aired in 2006, Wan told Metro he has no regrets. He noted that a recent TikTok meme series of noughties TV fashion clips brought the era back into focus, with people reacting in surprise to what was once normal. He said: “Fashion, as you say, goes around and comes around, just in a different incarnation or a different colour or with even more exaggeration on it. For me, with fashion and style, I can’t hate anything.”
He predicted that the elasticated waist belt, a staple of the era, could soon return. “I think it’s waiting behind the door of next season. We’re already seeing huge shoulders, nipped-in waists and big skirts,” he explained. “Everything is beautifully avant-garde and exaggerated. A belt is one of the first things we’d go to to accentuate those shapes. So yeah, I think the elasticated waist belt is literally on the periphery.”
Fame and a changing life
Wan said that fame took some adjusting to. He recalled waking up in his two-bedroom flat in Vauxhall, central London, and feeling like the world knew who he was. He hid for several days, he said, before a moment while shopping with All Saints changed his perspective. Two young girls knocked on the shop window and asked for his autograph rather than the band’s.
“That was the moment I realised my life had changed and that people weren’t trying to trip me up. They just wanted to say thank you a lot of the time,” he said.
Legacy and celebrity fans
Wan, who has teamed up with lingerie brand Pour Moi for its ‘Designed to Fit’ campaign, said he still gets stopped in the street daily. He said younger generations often tell him they used to watch the show with their mums. “The legacy of the show is something I’m really proud of,” he said. “Plus, I can still guess a woman’s bra size like a true expert. Whoever you are, I can size you on sight!”
He also recalled a moment at Pikes in Ibiza when the owner told him Dua Lipa was in the club. According to Wan, she responded to the offer of an introduction by saying: “Do I want to meet Gok Wan? Every girl wants to meet Gok Wan!” He added: “Sadly, I had to go DJ so I didn’t get the chance to meet her but it was still lovely to know she was a fan!”
Body image and misconceptions
Wan said he is not shocked by the return of the super skinny ideal in the so-called ‘Ozempic era’. He said: “I knew it was never going to go away.” He pointed to past campaigns for plus-size mannequins and representation in shop windows, and stressed the need to talk honestly with the next generation about the images they see.
He also addressed misconceptions about his personality, saying people often think he genuinely cares what others look like. “I care about the person that you are,” he said. He added that he does not live a celebrity lifestyle, preferring garden centres with his family.
