Fashion ‘outsider’ Hanan Besovic on American Vogue, Duran Lantink’s debut for Jean Paul Gaultier, and loving ‘bad’ collections

Fashion’s ultimate fanboy and fly on the wall Hanan Besovic – better known by his Instagram handle, @ideservecouture – isn’t here for followers or fame. “I’m here to uplift and spread the gospel of fashion,” Besovic tells me on a recent stopover in Hong Kong. “Do I criticise fashion? Yes. Do I think that I’m a critic? No. Do I deserve to be a critic? I deserve to be me. I’m not striving for anything else.” The self-described “supporting” actor in fashion now stands as one of the industry’s most powerful voices. Half a million followers devour his daily commentary, which, in Besovic’s signature style, sounds more like your gay best friend’s hot takes on the clothes you just bought rather than a standard review of the season’s hottest shows and trends. “The industry, we love to laugh, but we’re scared to make jokes,” Besovic says of his Instagram tagline: PhD in meme, master’s degree in throwing shade, minor degree in fashion. “I grew up on Joan Rivers, Kathy Griffin, and used to watch roadshows by Lisa Lampanelli. Joan Rivers was very much like, ‘I’m never going to apologise for a joke.’ These are strong women that don’t take bulls*** from anybody. I take that and apply it to fashion. We’re talking about if socks match the shoes, right? It’s not that serious.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by @ideservecouture Raised in Croatia and now residing in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, Besovic relishes being an outsider looking in on an insiders’ industry in every way possible. For starters, having a private life away from fashion – “People are shocked I have a husband”, he exclaims – gives him the necessary time and space to detox from an insular, often elitist line of work. “I love Palm Beach because – it’s going to sound awful – all the women are in their 70s and 80s, I don’t have to talk about fashion to them. I love the fact that they don’t care,” he says bluntly. “They can afford luxury pieces,” he quickly clarifies, laughing. “They just don’t care about it as much as I do, which is normal. When you’re in this business, you want to know everything.” How else could Besovic be expected to stay grounded and keep it real? He rarely hesitates to share his honest opinion on things. “The worst thing in fashion to do is have an opinion,” he says, alluding to how advertiser money and the industry powers try to tell editors, influencers and fellow commentators what to think. “I always say it’s an industry built on ego, and you don’t want to hurt somebody’s ego,” he explains. “Everybody puts themselves in a leading role. I’m here to talk about fashion, not me.” Even when it comes to delivering sharp, witty and real criticism, Besovic doesn’t venture into the cattiness that feels all too common a fashion stereotype. In some ways, being mean feels like the easy way out. “I could be the biggest a**hole if I wanted to,” he laughs. But Besovic wants to do more than that: to aim high when others choose to go low. It’s exactly what makes his content a brilliant balance of humour and insight. “I love a good collection, but if there’s something I love more, it’s a bad collection,” Besovic says. “It’s very underestimated because it’s the most fun time on the internet. Everybody comes with their opinion, everybody’s honest. And funny! But that doesn’t give you a green light to be mean. That’s the thing I hate.” He balks at the implication that he couldn’t be flat-out rude if the situation called for it. “Can I be mean? I can. I’m a gay man!” Besovic doesn’t hold back when asked, cheekily, which of the recent spring/summer 2026 shows didn’t sit right with him, diving right in to an in-depth analysis of Duran Lantink’s debut collection for Jean Paul Gaultier. “He’s very talented,” he says. “He won the Woolmark Prize and I met him there. But for me, this was not a good collection. When a debut clicks, you know it. Louise Trotter at Bottega Veneta. Matthieu Blazy [at Chanel].” You get the sense Besovic chooses his words carefully, not to avoid hurting anybody’s feelings, but because sincerity – even in the form of constructive criticism – is the foundation of his personal brand. His respect for all designers and extensive knowledge of fashion history are self-evident in every single one of his takes, but especially the ones in which he calls out people who he knows could do better. “We’re not meant to like everything,” says Besovic. “In [Lantink’s] own collection, the breastplate went viral. People loved it or hated it. I didn’t think much of it. It’s difficult to shock today. I have a feeling he saw how much exposure [he got] and wanted to do the same for Gaultier.” Besovic praises Gaultier’s “intellect” as a designer, how “he showed beautiful aspects of the underdogs of society … people seen as outcasts”. Compare that with arguably the most viral pièce de résistance of Lantink’s debut for the house, which took naked dressing to a whole new level – in Besovic’s words, “a piece that looked like Jeff Bezos [at] Amazon [said], let’s put a naked man on a catsuit and put it on the runway”. Besovic levels similar criticism at American Vogue, a magazine often regarded as the pinnacle of the fashion establishment and what he believes should be “the prime example of excellence in fashion”. He laments how “creativity is dying in a field” that is supposed to be dominated by creatives, and questions why the same celebrities grace the covers every month, their standards being surpassed by smaller editions of Vogue worldwide. “I don’t get how that’s possible,” he says. “The reason why I’m constantly on their a** – not because I hate them, the teams in Vogue are actually very, very nice – is because I know they can be the best of the best. But [they’re] not.” Isn’t it ironic that for an industry so obsessed with newness, fashion insiders seem stuck in their own old ways, afraid to step on the toes of powerful figures and think outside the box? That’s not lost on Besovic, who points out how those on the fringes of fashion are pushing the boundaries of what’s popular and even permissible. “You cannot tell me every possible cover in American Vogue has to be shot by Annie Leibovitz,” he sighs. “It’s always Kendall and Kylie [Jenner].” View this post on Instagram A post shared by @ideservecouture As legacy media conglomerates like Vogue’s parent company Condé Nast continue to see their influence wane, it’s worth noting that the clout wielded by high-profile commentators like Besovic and his contemporaries now eclipses that of many magazines. This includes Luke Meagher of Haute Le Mode, Albert Ayal of Up Next and Elias Medini, better known as Lyas, among others. Could it be that fashion’s old guard are shaking in their boots, scared of losing their grip on an industry that once seemed so under their control? “Talk to the [Maison] Margiela team about that,” he says, sarcastically, of the increasingly blurred lines between editors, influencers, critics and so forth. “They left me a very nice email when I asked about my seat [at fashion week] and said the front row is only for editors and VIPs.” Besovic isn’t fazed by the “you can’t sit with us” energy and isn’t clamouring for anyone’s seal of approval. He’s busy being flown out on trips to Hong Kong and London for the Fashion Awards. “Every month there’s an article dismissive of fashion commentators,” he says. Besovic sits back and shrugs at the uproar. “We contribute numbers and clicks a lot more than the regular magazines. We back s*** up. We read. They don’t realise as long as I have Wi-fi, I can talk about fashion. I don’t need the degree.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by @ideservecouture This isn’t the first time the tides of fashion have changed. “Everybody was against them,” Besovic says of bloggers who entered the industry in the 2010s. “And now they’re the editors-in-chief of magazines.” But there’s something remarkable about how @ideservecouture reverse-gatekeeps insider knowledge and industry happenings, opening a once-exclusive club for the rest of the world to see. It speaks a lot to the state of the industry, that power has been relinquished to a relatively low-key observer who seems happy to agree to disagree, and sounds upbeat no matter the tone of his takes. It’s criticism, not cynicism, after all. “I never referred to myself as a critic,” Besovic states for the record. “The industry does that for us, gives us that title.” If fashion is notorious for silly titles and outdated hierarchies, Besovic wants no part of it, once again reminding me how deeply unserious all of this is. “I lived without a Celine show for 35 years,” he says, laughing. “If I don’t go to the next, I’ll be fine … If I tell you I don’t like your collection, nobody died.” All things considered, @ideservecouture is a funny handle for someone who appears to be the least entitled person in fashion. Besovic gives credit where it’s due, explaining how the name wasn’t even his idea. The personality that gave life to that moniker, though, is all him. “You’re talking to what was a meme account. I have nothing but time and tea,” he laughs. I’d argue there’s a little more than that: a dash of honesty paired with a healthy dose of kindness makes Besovic the figure fashion needs, if not the one it deserves.

Fashion ‘outsider’ Hanan Besovic on American Vogue, Duran Lantink’s debut for Jean Paul Gaultier, and loving ‘bad’ collections

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Fashion influencer @ideservecouture doesn’t need your approval: ‘As long as I have Wi-fi, I can talk about fashion. I don’t need the degree’

Fashion influencer @ideservecouture doesn’t need your approval: ‘As long as I have Wi-fi, I can talk about fashion. I don’t need the degree’