Six Fashion Trends Midlife Men Have Killed Stone Dead

As Rishi Sunak apologises to the adidas Samba community for ending the run on the classic trainer, Simon Mills looks at what else over-40s ‘outfluencers' are rendering unwearable

Rishi Sunak has a new "side hustle". As well as being prime minster a job that requires him to get the British economy back on track, stop everyone from smoking, and win the next general election - the man with more than 3 million followers on Instagram has managed to find time for another key role: men’s fashion outfluencer.

Unlike an actual influencer, whose visual endorsement of a particular product or clothing item can cause a spike in sales and a rush on pre-orders, the outfluencer’s effect is the opposite. He can kill a look, or a style, or a beloved adidas Samba sneaker with just one picture, which happened last week when Sunak wore his pristine white, Dadidas footwear with narrow-cut trews and a crisply ironed white shirt during a Downing Street interview.

Public outcry and fashion outrage were so strong that on Wednesday Sunak was forced to issue a “fulsome apology to the Samba community” for killing the trend for the classic sneaker, which had been regarded as the “it” shoe of the moment.