Hiker in a suit? He goes by the name of ‘Mr Poppins’

A hiker in a fancy suit might not be what you expect to find on your daily hike. Especially not when he’s striking poses with an umbrella.

In an interview with Cape Town etc, local fitness model and trainer, Armani Minani, or “Mr Poppins” as he also known by locals, opened up about the reason he’s become somewhat of a local attraction.

Introducing: Mr Poppins!

“The thing that inspired me to ditch any hiking attire and put on a suit was the belief that I am different and unique- I was born to stand out! Not fit in! I believe I am an eagle. I was born to soar,” the 25-year old said in the interview.

“The idea of hiking in a suit came to me in 2017 whereby I tried hiking the three peaks — Devil’s Peak, Lion’s Head & Table Mountain — in a suit, but only ended up doing Devil’s Peak and got busy. So, I ended up not going through with the mission because life happened.”

Mr Poppins

“However, before the end of last year, I thought about bringing the suit back to life again and even thought deeper about it – what if I can show people that you can hike in formal attire as well? What if I can use the suit to draw attention and generate funds which I can use to help the less fortunate? I got my suit and started hiking late in 2021. The rest is history now. It’s become my new hiking outfit,” he told Cape Town etc.

Minani’s photos show him jumping up into the air dangerously close to the edge of a mountain, sitting perched on the edge of a cliff with his feet dangling and of course, his signature “Mary Poppins” pose.

See him out and about

“When people see me, they give me a lot of different reactions and they make hilarious comments like, ‘are you late for a wedding’, ‘was there a meeting on the mountain?’, ‘Are you lost sir?’ or ‘did you hike up in that?’, Minani told Cape Town etc.

And the suits? His name is Armani afterall.

“I’m just being myself and doing what I enjoy in style now,” he says.

Of his name, he also indicates that he’s waiting for Giorgio Armani to sponsor him a suit so that people stop saying to him: “Is your name Armani, like the suit?” he said.

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