Perhaps the best indicator of 7-year-old Kelvin Davis’ future as a model, influencer, and body positivity advocate was his refined appreciation of the art of apparel. He says, “My mother taught me how to do my own laundry when I was around 7 years old because I didn’t like the way she folded my clothes.” Kelvin’s scrupulous attention to the way his clothes were washed, folded, hung, and worn was one of many early expressions of his artful aptitude. These expressions also manifested in the form of classroom doodles — much to his teachers’ chagrin.
Over the years, his doodles evolved into more polished applications of art, eventually earning him a bachelor’s degree in art education from the University of South Carolina. Shortly after graduating, Kelvin treated himself to what was supposed to be a celebratory shopping spree to freshen up his wardrobe prior to starting his job as an art teacher at St. Andrews Middle School. However, the celebration turned sideways when a female sales associate publicly body-shamed him as he pieced together what would have been his new wardrobe staples. He says of this disheartening experience, “Men tease each other all the time, but when it comes from a woman, it just feels different.”
In response to this abrasive encounter, Kelvin turned to yet another form of art: writing. He penned Notoriously Dapper, a body-positive mentor blog, in 2011 with the objective of giving everyday men style advice and life skills, which later evolved into a book and modeling. He explains that his sour shopping experience led him to the conclusion that “there was not only a discrepancy when it came to sizing in the men’s fashion industry, but there also weren’t a lot of men that looked like me in the ads.” Notoriously Dapper quickly became the artist’s preferred avenue by which to address the considerable room for improvement in the men’s fashion industry. He says of this foray, “I wanted to create a space where guys that look like me, or don’t look like the guys on fashion ads, could feel comfortable wearing the things that they see in fashion ads.”
In the years following Notoriously Dapper’s inception, Kelvin dutifully maintained his commitment to blogging and began to explore his potential as a model, all while attending to the responsibilities of his day job as a classroom teacher. Passion and purpose — not profit — fueled this demanding routine for the next six years.
As his platform grew, Kelvin benefited from the occasional free sweater given to him in exchange for his promotion of a company’s product on his social media channels. This quid pro quo arrangement was suitable enough for a side hustle but lacked profitability. He recalls several instances during which he was led to believe he was on the cusp of a lucrative brand partnership only to be deeply disappointed. “Over the years, I got offers to model for different companies, but every time a modeling agency wanted to sign me, after they would see me in person, they would tell me no.” The excuses he heard included being too short or having too many stretch marks, among others. Fortunately, his resolution to effect change outweighed any potential setbacks. He good-naturedly says, “For me, no doesn’t mean never, it just means not right now.”
Nevertheless, Kelvin was intent on removing the “not” from “not right now.” In 2015, he put his side hustle on a plane to New York Fashion Week. In this hub of fashion phenoms, he rubbed shoulders with many of the male influencers and fashion moguls who had long been on his radar, several of whom touted Kelvin for his impressive portfolio. However, when the group casually suggested their expectation of his income relative to this portfolio, the conversation pivoted. Kelvin shocked the group with a humble confession: “I just do it for free clothes.” Immediately, his cohort advised him to make getting paid a priority.
The following year, he won the inaugural male modeling contest for Chubbies, a men’s clothing company that built their brand around short shorts and highlighter hues. Kelvin fondly recalls of this collaboration, “They were the first brand ever to have an online modeling contest for just regular guys.” While his winnings from the Chubbies contest still came in the form of clothes, he was wise enough to see the long-term benefits of partnering with a company whose values aligned with his. “You have to build relationships, and sometimes you have to do things that don’t give you any monetary feedback. It’s all about building those relationships,” he says.
As Kelvin continued to reconsider his approach to brand collaboration following his great awakening at New York Fashion Week, his commitment to building relationships was rivaled only by his commitment to building his portfolio. His experience with Chubbies played a pivotal role in both respects. “Doing the shoots for Chubbies did help me build a portfolio on my Instagram to show that I could do professional modeling. They taught me how to be my most authentic self in front of a lens that wasn’t my own.”
Positioning himself in front of paying lenses, however, continued to be an uphill battle. Kelvin’s waist size and inseam were stark deviations from the industry norm, which maintained a tall, slim-cut status quo. However, as the fashion industry slowly caught up with the demands of its constituents, his stature and charisma became highly sought-after assets.
In 2017, six years after launching Notoriously Dapper, the blogger-turned-social-media-influencer and part-time model closed the chapter on his teaching career in order to swing wide the door of opportunity in front of him. To his delight, Kelvin’s students fully endorsed his bittersweet departure from teaching, saying to him, “You always encourage us to go after our dreams, so why wouldn’t you go after yours?” This question quickly became rhetorical when, in a matter of weeks after signing with his first talent management agency, Kelvin became the face of Target. He modestly says, “The rest kind of just took off from there.”
The explosiveness of Kelvin’s career that year was amplified by the release of his first book. Notoriously Dapper: How to Be a Modern Gentleman with Manners, Style, and Body Confidence immediately became a one-stop-shop extension of his preexisting blog. In the book, Kelvin provides practical advice and real-life skills for a target audience that he and his publisher consider to have been overlooked by the existing canon of etiquette primers. Although he was initially hesitant to accept the prompt from Mango Publishing, the agent who reached out to him won him over with one simple, yet effective, question: “If you don’t write this, who will?” With that, Kelvin was hooked — and so, too, were his readers. Within months of its release, Notoriously Dapper was nominated for an NAACP Award for Outstanding Literary Work/Instructional. Its sequel, Be A Good Man, Not a Nice Guy, is currently unfolding as the author’s schedule allows.
Since converting his creative outlet into a full-time career, Kelvin has leveraged his talent and tenacity to build relationships with an extensive cross section of companies, ranging from DXL to Dick’s Sporting Goods. In addition to using his platform to advocate for body positivity through inclusivity in men’s fashion, his firsthand experience as a diabetic provided him a fitting opportunity to become a spokesperson for Freestyle Libre, a glucose monitor system. He was also recently invited to speak to students at his alma mater who are interested in studying social media content creation, a new minor the university is planning to add to its school of journalism. Kelvin offered a humbling perspective to the students in hopes of encouraging them to weigh their career options objectively as they consider a future in influencing. “Although it’s the No. 1 career young people are interested in, I tell them we still need firefighters.”
According to Kelvin, what Columbia needs is to maintain its current trajectory. The city’s fashionable food scene, inviting outdoor amenities, and distinctive pockets of people and places have given him and his daughters every reason to live, work, and play in Cola Town.
Q&A
The Short List: Kelvin’s Favorite Things About Columbia … and Life
What is your favorite aspect of living in Columbia?
The people and the culture. Whether it's game day or just a regular day, the people are what really make this city great. The food scene is getting better by the year, and we keep growing; I truly love to see it.
What is your favorite Columbia restaurant?
I would have to say Pasta Fresca and Tacos Nayarit. From Pasta Fresca, I get the chicken gorgonzola with spinach angel hair pasta. From Tacos Nayarit, I get the tacos birria, a side of Mexican rice, and chips and queso.
What are your favorite activities to do with your family in Columbia?
Go to the Soda City Market on Saturday mornings, kayak down the river, ride my bike for a few miles on the riverwalk, and go to Columbia Firefly games.
What really makes your day?
Hanging out with my daughters, having a good walk on the Riverwalk, and finding a good local spot to clear my mind.
Are you an introvert or an extrovert?
I’m most definitely an extrovert; I wouldn’t have been able to get this far in my career if I wasn’t able to be. But I also have daily introverted moments because of being ‘on’ and so naturally extroverted most of the time. So, one could say I’m an extroverted introvert.
What was your first job?
My first job was doing landscaping in the summer with my cousin. We worked for one of his church members who owned a lawn care business. It was hard work, but it taught me a lot about having a good work ethic and building relationships.
Is your desk messy or neat?
Neat, for sure — sometimes color-coordinated.
What store would you choose to max out your credit card?
Cola Kicks in Five Points.
What advice would you give to a young person just starting out?
I would tell them to go with their gut; your intuition knows you more than you know yourself sometimes. Listen to it, trust it, and follow it. Take the leap of faith, and always keep promises you make to yourself.
