We’re not calling football star Myer Bevan and model Juliette Perkins NZ’s answer to Posh and Becks – but you could
Making their names in football and fashion, with a beautiful young family and personal style for days, Myer Bevan and Juliette Perkins are certainly in power couple territory. But this Auckland-born, Calgary-based pair couldn’t be more low-key, despite three-quarters of a million Tiktok followers tracking their style choices on and off the pitch.
FashioNZ caught up with the young parents and social media sensations to talk personal branding, on- and off-duty style, and making fashion a family affair.
Sorry about the headline but you have to admit, there’s an overlap! Tell us about the role of fashion and sport in your life and relationship…
Juliette: I’ve been a model for 12 years, living in multiple countries shooting for all different types of brands. This has heavily impacted the way I’ve looked at fashion and my personal style.
Myer: I am a professional footballer for Cavalry FC in the Canadian Premier League. I started playing football at the age of five at Western Springs AFC in Pt. Chevalier, Auckland, and it’s a sport that I fell in love with and has made me the man I am today. But I’ve always been attracted to fashion, too, as I grew up around it. My mum and uncle are both big parts of my life and both have been heavily involved with fashion.
Myer, how have you woven fashion into your personal brand, and how has this shaped your profile as an athlete?
Fashion for me has gone hand in hand with being a professional athlete. I think that in the same way I try to express myself on the pitch, I try to express myself off it, and I do that through my personal style. Stepping out of the house wearing what I think looks good, also makes me feel good. Look good, feel good, play good.
Juliette, the convergence of sports and fashion and especially the rise of ‘athleisure’ has become a part of your personal brand. How does this sit alongside your core fashion aesthetic?
I remember when I moved to LA from New Zealand, athleisure was huge. There were lots of different athleisure brands that I was shooting for, and also living in LA it was impossible not to immerse myself in that lifestyle of working out and eating healthy. Wearing sportswear became my fashion style very quickly.
Myer, how has partnering with brands like Nike and Puma influenced your personal style?
Nike hasn’t just influenced my personal style, it effectively launched my career. I was selected to join The Nike Academy in the UK when I was a teenager, and this is where everything really started happening for me. The experience opened my eyes to what it takes to be a professional footballer. From training twice a day everyday, to eating right, to wearing the right footwear dependant on the weather…it was a place that made me feel at home, and a brand that showed me there are opportunities everyday, on the pitch and off it.
Nike obviously has a sportswear side, and so by my late teens/early 20s I understood the role of fashion in creating a personal brand, and the value in that.
The Nike Academy helped me break into the New Zealand ‘A’ group teams, including The All Whites, and to play against some of the best before eventually signing my first professional contract with Vancouver Whitecaps in the American MLS. Nike is a brand that I am very grateful for in the multitudes of ways they have supported me.
Myer, how do you think your fashion sense and style and how you portray that on social media has set you apart from other athletes who may not prioritise fashion as part of their image?
I think fashion has opened up other opportunities for me. I don’t necessarily think fashion defines me as a footballer, but I certainly think it’s helped me to establish an off-pitch persona. This has helped me work with companies and brands and show other athletes and footballers that you can be seen as more than a footballer – as someone that can express themselves in different ways.
Juliette, tell us how you built your TikTok presence and how fashion has played a part in that journey.
We definitely saw a space for a family channel on TikTok and we ran with it. Initially we would just put together outfits for skits we would make. It was super fun for us to have creative freedom on the app, and it grew really quickly and organically which was great. We were just showing people what we were wearing, dressing up or dressing down depending on what we were doing that day.
What have been some of the positive benefits of having grown such a unique social media presence that blends your style with Myer’s sports profile, and your growing family?
I think for both of us it just felt like a cool way to explore the world of fashion and our personal styles. And then becoming parents – there was definitely an element of ‘cool comfort’ we wanted to express. Days with kids can be hectic so you want to be comfortable, but still look put together, and sportswear became a huge part of our aesthetic.
Have you found that building your brand around a unique fashion edge has attracted negative criticism, compared to others who have focused on food, or tech, or home decor, for instance?
Myer: I think expressing yourself through fashion or any creative medium, they’re are always going to be negative takes. But something I’ve analysed in people who are successful at brand building is that they aren’t focused on others’ opinions. Their focus is on creating something that people will love, or that hasn’t been done before.
Juliette: I think on social media especially, you’ll always get negative comments. We decided early on not to look at these, or care about them. As a result we’ve built an amazing community on TikTok that is supportive and super positive.
How do you see yourselves using fashion as a tool to evolve your brands and social media profiles in the future?
Myer: Fashion itself is constantly evolving and changing, so being able to evolve with brands but adapt them to my own aesthetic is what I think will shape my personal brand, and hopefully make it successful.
Juliette: Being a mum, a lot of women ask me what I’m wearing while pregnant and post-partum. They want to be comfortable while still feeling like they’re rocking a good outfit and I like that I can help them there. I’m definitely evolving alongside other mums who don’t know how to style the bump, and getting inspo from other pregnant mums. It’s a fun journey and the community is growing, which I love.
Myer, what’s been your impetus for pursuing this fashion persona alongside your football career? Is it about creating something that will keep you in demand?
When I finish playing professional football l want to have built something that will help me to transition into whatever is next. For me, being relatable and always staying true to myself is the most important thing. People are attracted by those who don’t follow the crowd. That’s what I enjoy about engaging with fashion – expressing that individuality and encouraging others to do the same.