Almost two months ago my partner and I shot for Dior!!!
I'm still screaming inside about it but my agent tells me that I need to act cool. While I certainly see his point, it's not lost on me that I landed my first designer partnership during the pandemic (CRAZY). Looking back to who I was in April, May or even June there was absolutely NO WAY that I thought this would happen.
I was crying every other day and feeling so guilty for making my partner put up with me.
I'd become dependent on my photographers to take all of my photos up until the pandemic. Even though I always had my own camera, I never took the time to learn how to use it because I didn't think it was necessary – my photographers were always going to do a better job than I ever could and I couldn't let the quality of my work suffer.
But of course, when I realised that I wouldn't be able to go to London every week to shoot, let alone leave my house, I made the decision to invest in better camera equipment (for both photos and video). I watched tons of photography videos on Skillshare and YouTube, set up my tripod and started taking self portraits. In the beginning they were terrible and I was always comparing myself to everyone else's content (pro tip, that's the worst thing that you can do!).
But my partner agreed to help me and we went out every week to shoot! We learnt how to shoot for my own style and he developed a really great eye for it, too! It was our perseverance that led me to land this partnership with DIOR!
It's still absolutely crazy when I think about it now.
You see, I've never been able to afford high-end designer pieces and always struggled with how I would be able to take a step into the market. It's extremely, extremely, EXTREMELY hard to be noticed by these brands if you aren't already in this space. But I couldn't justify, buying a piece and then returning it when I couldn't really afford it. It just wasn't authentic for me.
Luckily though, my agents are so incredible and we made this happen out of the blue! (Well, I guess not really "out of the blue" considering all of the hard work we've put into my brand).
We were super honest with Dior because, clearly, my audience isn't with me to find or be influenced to buy luxury items. I've always been about affordable fashion and thrifting. Of course though, we evolve as we get older and I've come to appreciate slower fashion and investing in those pieces that you'll have forever.
This was truly my opportunity to bridge that gap and create beautiful content, which would also be relatable to my audience.
Let me know what you think of the images!!1 Clearly, I still can't contain myself hahaha
