Fashion week is full of fakers. I assume so, at least. I’ve never actually been. But one figures that a celebrated commingling of art and commerce attended by many famous, wealthy, and powerful people would necessarily attract the sorts of grifters who can worm their way into these circles through charm, will, and cunning alone.
Among such people, we must now celebrate 30-year-old Gavin Barnes, who may or may not have ingratiated himself into the front row of at least two Fashion Week runway shows by pretending to be, or perhaps merely looking almost sorta kinda like, the R&B singer Sisqó. Page Six reported this morning that Graham and his “assistant” were spotted front row at shows by the designers Phillip Plein and Vivenne Tam, the latter of whom actually posed for photos with Graham that were distributed by Getty Images, a photo wire service used by practically every media outlet in the country. Per Page Six’s story, Graham was heard bragging about having performed this week as Sisqó, but had his act thwarted when he tried to work his way onto a private plane headed to the Caribbean:
Sham Sisqó, who bleached his hair to mimic the star’s trademark do of the 1990s, was even heard bragging to fashionistas that he had just performed at Meatpacking District celebrity haunt Up&Down until 5 a.m. this week.
But the shady Sisqó was ruffled when he tried to talk his way onto a wealthy New Yorker’s private jet heading to the Caribbean and gave his passport details for the flight, which revealed his name as Gavin Barnes, born in 1986. A source said, “This guy was 13 when Sisqó’s ‘Thong Song’ came out in 2000.”
Graham told Page Six that he never pretended to be Sisqó, only that he looks like him, which isn’t even really true. It’s hard to believe that anyone in 2017 would see someone and say to themselves, “That person not only looks like Sisqó, but is so clearly Sisqó that I’m not even going to ask for confirmation one way or the other and instead will immediately direct him to his front row seat here at the Phillip Plein fashion show.” I think this guy was telling people he was Sisqó.
Sisqó, the actual one, reportedly commented “Datz not me” on Instagram photos of Graham, and his manager told Page Six that nobody knows who Graham is.
And so concludes a wonderful story that makes me love America.
