Derek Guy | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 7, 1979 |
| Other names |
|
| Education | University of California, Berkeley (graduate studies in political science) |
| Years active | 2011–present |
| Website | dieworkwear |
Derek Guy (born January 7, 1979), also known as "the menswear guy" on Twitter, is a Canadian-American men's fashion industry writer and commentator.
Guy was born in Vancouver to Vietnamese refugee parents. His family first fled Saigon in the late 1960s, crossing the border to Cambodia. From there they went to Iran and Canada, before settling in the United States, with his father overstaying his visa. Guy's father, who is ethnically Chinese, worked as a school janitor while his mother was a secretary.
As a teenager in Southern California in the 1990s, he edited an underground hip-hop magazine, Subculture, that at its peak boasted a circulation of 65,000. He became interested in fashion in the late 1990s, after growing up around people involved in the Lo Life subculture, which revolves around an appreciation of Polo Ralph Lauren and other similar fashion brands.
In December 2012, he was described as a "graduate student studying the political economy of oil countries," and in September 2016, a "graduate student in political science at the University of California, Berkeley."
Guy began writing about clothing around 2011, maintaining a Tumblr blog and writing for the website PutThisOn.
He gained fame following the acquisition of Twitter by Elon Musk when the site's algorithmically curated "For You" tab promoted his account @dieworkwear to a large audience. Guy has contributed pieces to publications including GQ, The Washington Post, Esquire, Foreign Policy, Politico, The Guardian, and The Nation. He is listed on the Business of Fashion 500, "the definitive index of people shaping the global fashion industry."
In 2025 a post he made sharing his family's undocumented immigration story went viral and received interaction from the official accounts of JD Vance and the Department of Homeland Security; both accounts posted memes in response to Guy.
Guy lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. He has cited author G. Bruce Boyer as an influence on his writing.
He is described as "oddly private" and is never photographed, maintaining a high level of anonymity despite his online fame.
Oh well, what's today? November 7? Two months until I shed the notion of "childhood" and sprout the velvet wings of "adulthood". For upon that frosty morning of January 7, I shall turn 18 years old. That's right, the Godfather of SubCulture is a rug rat 17 year old trapped in high school hell.
In his teenage years, Derek Guy published a hip-hop magazine called Subculture, but now he blogs about tailored men's clothing at Put This On and at Die, Workwear. [...] Mr. Guy, now 33, left hip-hop behind, both in his style and his soundtrack
Of all the new Main Characters on Elon Musk's Twitter, Derek Guy is the best dressed.
Ever since Twitter rolled out their algorithmic "For You" tab, one man rules your feeds. You know him by his bespectacled avatar, his prolific threads about menswear minutiae, and his Aimé Leon Dore jokes. He's the man they've started calling: "Menswear Guy."
Derek Guy has become known for criticizing the men's fashion of prominent figures. Some are growing tired of his tweets.
The Laguna Hills-based publication is one of the few dedicated to covering the entire hip-hop spectrum, with a 65,000 circulation nationwide.
Guy became interested in clothing in the late 90s after growing up around "guys who were part of the Lo-Life". This subculture was defined by its members who wore Ralph Lauren Polo shirts and came at a time when hip-hop was starting to intersect with fashion. "I admired the dress and became more interested in Ralph Lauren, and that's when you start to learn about its tweeds and button downs, and then tailoring," he says.
Derek Guy is a menswear writer who has written for the Washington Post, Financial Times and Esquire. He runs a men's style site called Die, Workwear!
Elon Musk's Twitter is tinkering with recommendations, and a men's fashion writer is suddenly everywhere. He has no idea why.
Derek Guy, @dieworkwear, doesn't know why he's suddenly on so many people's timelines. But he would like to talk to you about how to dress well and sustainably.
Quien halaga el estilo de nuestro monarca vive en la Costa Oeste, en San Francisco.
We know that Derek Guy is his real name, he is Asian-American and lives in northern California where he works as a fashion journalist.
Derek Guy is a menswear writer, critic and prolific Tweeter based in the San Francisco Bay Area.
He credits his penchant for cultural writing to the influence of author G. Bruce Boyer.