A Quick Q&A with Yannis Henrion

Meet Yannis Henrion, a Parisian cool kid and young creative mind. In 2010 he launched, alongside his brother Jordan Henries, the blog Les Freres Ainsworth. It was one of the first French fashion and lifestyle blogs for men and now has over 50 thousand faithful followers.  The duo, who share the same passion for art, fashion, travel and photography, are now putting their creativity to work in the service of Ykone, an influencer marketing agency. Through his social media platforms Yannis shares his love for sleek design, dreamy destinations and vanilla ice cream.

Here Yannis gives us his views on the current state of social media, what makes an Instagram account hip and his talent for picking the perfect tunes. 

Yannis Henrion

What’s your definition of an influencer?

To me, an influencer can be anyone: a model, an artistic director, an actor, a dancer, the girl next door… no matter what they do in their everyday life. What makes the difference is the way they apprehend the world and how they capture the reality surrounding them.  And of course, it’s someone whose sense of aesthetic speaks to a community. Cause what’s an influencer without his followers right?

According to you, what makes an Instagram account trendy and hip?

The key on Instagram is consistency!  The more coherent your feed is, the easier people can identity. But to be honest I’m not very good at playing that game.

What is the aim of being present of social media and on Instagram in particular?

Instagram allows you to interact directly with a community. Whether you’re an individual or a brand, it’s this notion of proximity that is so new and different from other traditional media. You can build up a story that’s longer than a 15seconds TV commercial and will really engage your followers because every post adds up and is part of a bigger picture. If today the goal for marketing teams is to reduce drastically their time to market, I think it’s a bet that social media have won a long time ago!

What does your account say about you?

What I have been trying to do with my Instagram account, is to create a kind of visual travel book of moments that I really want to recall. I share them with my friends and followers, but it’s also a nice way for me to keep memories. In my personal life, I’m trying not to hoard and accumulate material things so Instagram is the perfect tool to practice. You see instead of keeping 100pictures of your holidays, you only select one and post it.

A few of the latest posts on @yannishenrion

One influencer often hides another. Who is part of your squad?

Easy, my friends and family. My brother Jordan who is always up to something cool and whose pictures keep amazing me. And my girlfriends, Anne-Laure (@adenorah), Alice (@alicezielasko), Sabina (@sabinasocol), or Claire (@clairelagalere),  they all have their very own universe but all inspire me in different ways.

How did you first get interested in fashion?

When I was a kid, I didn’t really like playing that much. Instead, I’d sit at the kitchen table and start cutting pages of magazines and my grandmas’ old books and reassemble them as collages. It’s pretty much what I do now as a creative manager – I’m still finding the right images and words to illustrate an idea, a concept.

Who inspires you?

People I know, my friends, but also complete strangers. I usually get less and less inspired by people the more I get to know them. Mystery is a big source of inspiration. I love places where you are with complete strangers and you have the time to observe them – airports for instance. Does that make me sound like a stalker?

Who living or dead would you love to be able to have dinner with?

I would love to spend an evening with Cocteau or Rimbaud, hoping that they would write me a poem, or do a drawing for me…

What is your favorite trip?

Brazil: it has everything. Great architecture by Niemeyer, amazing beaches, the Amazon rainforest, desert…

When are you happiest?

After I’ve just booked a flight.

What is your secret talent (something you are good at or can do that people might not know) ?

I asked my friends to help me answer this one and they said I’m good at picking the right song at the right time. Pretty cool right?

What is your motto or the best piece of advice you ever got?

I thought mottos were only for girls on Pinterest…? I’m kidding! On a more serious note, my grandmothers shared some really good advice and I love that they gave me a bit of an old school education!

What emoji do you use the most?

I keep using this one cause it makes everything sound nice & cute.

What’s the latest feed you followed?

These days, I really like Pietro Bossetti Lindlom’s account. He lives between Stockholm and Milan, publish quite mysterious pictures but always with great taste and in irreproachable aesthetics, half way between scandinavian purism and italian dolce vita.