Nolan Daniel White isn’t your typical fashion tiktokker
Getting lost in a wormhole on men’s fashion TikTok will bring you a lot of things. Recommendations for pants, inspiration for how to dress like your favorite Marvel villain, or how-to videos for pronouncing your favorite designer names (“it’s pronounced loo-ay-vay”). Among these creators, Nolan Daniel White stands out, not because he’s louder or dressed more crazily than the next one, but because his videos transport the viewer into his own personal world. His content, which is usually filmed or photographed in his bedroom, gives you a 360-degree view of his creative mind. The highly curated selection of objects in his bedroom will have you commenting “where is that lamp from?” in no time. (There is a video on his lighting recommendations here)
Nolan describes his content as being for people who are currently in the process of finding their own style for the first time. He even considers himself a “gateway” for people newly interested in fashion. This is characteristic of the new generation of fashion influencers and content creators who shy away from the old guard of fashion’s tendency to gatekeep. Nolan understands that no one wants their favorite things to become overhyped, but he ultimately comes from a place of wanting to support the brands he likes and wanting to point people in a new direction.
Nolan began making TikToks as a way to exercise his wardrobe after noticing he was wearing a handful of his items over and over instead of utilizing his carefully curated wardrobe. He used the videos as a way to hold himself accountable, actually wearing his clothes rather than leaving them hanging in his closet. Soon this snowballed into his community of followers asking about clothes and style recommendations, which continues to fuel the content he makes on the app.
When it comes to creating content, Nolan has a very thoughtful and caring strategy (I hesitate to use the word strategy here for its almost corporate nature). He considers what his audience might be looking for or wanting to learn more about. He looks to traditional media outlets like GQ to figure out how they tie the other topics they cover back into fashion such as skincare and cars. He looks to his fellow creators on the app to fine-tune the way he speaks to his audience and to attempt to come off more natural on camera.
Nolan admitted to me that it was the attention that first got him interested in style. His early fashion purchases were Jordans after learning about them through his barber. He describes wearing the sneakers as being the first time he felt like his style made people really look at him (even if they weren’t actually), and as an insecure kid, this made him excited about what style could do for him. Having gone through a logo-heavy phase at first, Nolan soon learned about things like materials and construction and diving into smaller brands.
Aside from being a TikTok tastemaker, Nolan is a student at Queen’s College in his homeland of Canada where he studies finance. While working at an internship in the field, he started making content and realized it could become a career. He was inspired by some of his favorite fashion Youtubers like Magnus Ronning and PAQ who have built careers around men’s fashion content.
Using his TikTok account as a jumping-off point, Nolan has made his own foray into the fashion world he has recently started his clothing brand Balfe Park. At first, he wasn’t sure he could do it because he’s didn’t feel he had enough skills as far as actually making clothing go, but after meeting the founder of Canadian-based brand Libero, he found that starting a brand is much more accessible than he thought.
The inspiration for his brand is the hidden beauty of Canada and the fact that people just aren’t exposed to everything Canada has to offer. Some of the inspirations behind the brand include menswear brands like Reese Cooper and RRL which often pay homage to the great outdoors in their collections, as well as his experience going to summer camp during his childhood. While the name of the brand is a fictional park, he chose the name for the fact that parks are democratic and accessible to everyone. He plans to honor Canada by working with artisans based in the country, such as Cowichan knitters and other individuals in the indigenous communities in Canada. “I want to make sure that my clothing has a positive impact on everybody from the person making it to the person buying it and everyone in-between”.
Nolan’s favorite piece of clothing in his collection is his brand new Bode senior cord jacket, which he has been wanting for two years. He finally got his during New York fashion week this past fall. Something he needs more of are pants. He is looking for the Cinderella’s glass slipper of vintage pants, you know the kind that slip on and are instantly a perfect fit. However, if he can’t get those a pair of Lemaire four-pleat trousers would also be good for him.
His style inspirations are wide-ranging including Hunter S Thompson, Jonah Hill, Shia Lebouf, and Matty Matheson. He also appreciates some of the more classic men’s style icons like Steve McQueen, Pete Sellers, and James Bond, looking to them for the basis of an outfit and then putting his own modern twist on them. He also loves the street-style photography by Mister Mort as a reference for style.
This winter, Nolan will be wearing lots of knits along with great t-shirts to wear under them as he is sensitive to how itchy some sweaters can be, as well as some nice cozy trousers. He is picky about it but tight check plaids are something he will be wearing more of as well. He’s also looking to add more “tuques” to his collection, which is a Canadian term for knit hats.
Nolan will be launching more long form content on Youtube and will continue to take your content ideas in the comment section of his Tiktok account. You can follow him @nolandanielwhite Instagram and Tiktok and Balfe Park @balfepark on Instagram.
