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Home / Lifestyle

Meet social media's youngest fashion influencer

news.com.au
28 Dec, 2017 09:00 PM3 mins to read

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Ben Hampton. Photo / Instagram, @benhampton

Ben Hampton. Photo / Instagram, @benhampton

When Ben Hampton arrived at a recent pop-up shop in Los Angeles, he was greeted by a crowd of fans screaming his name.

The fanfare was the result of his new-found fame on the social media influencer scene, with the star having nearly 700,000 followers on Instagram and a number of viral videos on YouTube, according to news.com.au.

Making matters even more bizarre is the fact Ben is only six years old and has never made his own posts to Instagram or YouTube.

Yet, the first grader, who has only just learnt to write, often finds himself signing his name on to the iPhone cases, sweatshirts, and shoes of his adoring tween fans.

So how does a six-year-old with little tech knowledge become famous online?

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You might have to ask his father Branden Hampton, who works professionally as a social-media consultant, while also operating Ben's accounts.

View this post on Instagram

PUT EM UP!! πŸ‘ŠπŸΌπŸ‘ŠπŸΌ Comment your most recent 3 emojis

A post shared by Ben Hampton (@benhampton) on Dec 5, 2017 at 12:27pm PST

His parents first launched the Instagram account with a picture of Ben at his kindergarten graduation in February after noticing photos of their son were popular on their own personal accounts.

The account, mostly sharing photos of Ben's well-planned outfits, quickly gained a following.

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"When Ben was born, my wife decided to go all out on clothes," Mr Hampton told The Daily Beast.

View this post on Instagram

My VLOG is live πŸŽ₯ Link in bio πŸ“² SUBSCRIBE & comment DONE

A post shared by Ben Hampton (@benhampton) on Sep 18, 2017 at 1:29pm PDT

"She loves playing dress up and she just decided: 'I'm not just going to throw OshKosh B'gosh overalls and SpongeBob T-shirts on this kid. I'm going to dress him all out'."

Uploading photos of Ben with captions designed to go viral on Instagram quickly saw the young star gaining followers, while collaborating with Jake Paul β€” one of the largest YouTube stars β€” saw his fanbase skyrocket.

The six-year-old is now a regular guest on Paul's videos and has become so popular, he will launch his own line of merchandise in partnership with Fanjoy this winter.

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Despite his growing fame, Mr Hampton and his wife try to ensure Ben stays grounded.

"He's a kid first and a social-media star second," he said.

View this post on Instagram

Most call it a jacket, my mom calls it's an accessory πŸ€·πŸ»β€β™‚οΈ Comment two words that rhymes πŸ—£

A post shared by Ben Hampton (@benhampton) on Oct 12, 2017 at 5:00pm PDT

That said, Mr Hampton plays an instrumental role in his son's online presence, with a videographer at his production company shooting and editing Ben's videos for his YouTube account.

"He's done a couple pranks, a cooking video, or a taste-test challenge," Mr Hampton said, stressing that the ideas were all from Ben.

His parents' efforts don't stop there, with Ben's mother spending 15 minutes every morning getting him ready and taking pictures of his outfit to share on Instagram.

Despite their efforts, Mr Hampton denies exploiting his son.

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"This is not a financial game for us. Ben is a natural entertainer and we want him to flourish and do what he's good at," he said.

View this post on Instagram

Stepping into Fall like 😎🍁Name something you love about the fall season πŸŽƒ

A post shared by Ben Hampton (@benhampton) on Sep 22, 2017 at 12:40pm PDT

"If there is monetary upside, we want him to benefit from that when he's older. The money he makes is money he earns for himself."

And while Ben enjoys the fame, he said he wouldn't be too upset if he suddenly lost all of his fans.

"I would just be normal. I mean, I did that before for four years," he said in a recent vlog.

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