Jada Pinkett Smith’s Oscars Look, Skims Fluffy Drop & Black Women In Fashion | SheerLuxe Podcast

12:42Georgia Medley:really really important no definitely i would wholeheartedly agree with all of that and yeah so sad i've literally been listening to all of the old albums yeah it was so weird because i

12:53Funmi Fetto:literally played but i love music yeah and i played when we get by like literally last week i just had it on repeat i was like oh i love this song and then literally i was like oh that's so

13:02Georgia Medley:weird yeah bless you celeb moment for you this week it's actually my client i'll give her a shout

13:08Funmi Fetto:out yeah da costa she is um a black female film director yeah um she was known for her marvel movie a couple years ago in candy man um she has just premiered her movie header um who the lead role is Tessa Thompson yeah so she premiered that yeah at the BFI this this week so that was a good moment it's a lovely cast I'm excited to see it I haven't seen it yet yeah but yeah that's doing the film festivals at the moment so yeah I'd say that was a big moment this week I am going to

13:39Georgia Medley:stick with the premiere premise um Kim Kardashian has just had the premiere for her new show All's Fair which has got this amazing female cast it's part of the American horror story kind of house I mean she looked incredible yeah on the red carpet she's got Chris next to her exactly who now looks like her twin has obviously had the best surgery like well yeah I mean I think it's a secret um but yeah has had the best surgery known to man I think speaking on the

14:13Funmi Fetto:kardashians actually i just got a flash of the press release that i received in my email this week of her new release in skims yeah oh my gosh how can we not talk about that oh my gosh how

14:25Georgia Medley:i just literally was like oh my god how have we not spoken about it the fluffy panties for anyone that doesn't know this week kim kardashian and skims have released a thong that has pubic hair. Of course, yes. I can't remember what it's called. It's like fluffy something.

14:45Funmi Fetto:I was like, my friend sent it to me

14:47Georgia Medley:and I was like, yep, this is the press release. She was like, it's true. I was like, yeah. Yeah, so it's meant to emulate having a bush, let's say, I guess. Like, what do we, opinion?

14:59Funmi Fetto:I mean, to be honest, I'm not surprised anymore because obviously she did the nipple bras, which is interesting, but this is kind of next level.

15:07Nana Acheampong:yeah because i don't really know what what's the what's the purpose yeah who's seeing that and like

15:14Funmi Fetto:who's it i don't yeah anyway it's yeah interesting i'd love to know in the comments if people are for or against yeah i think i saw somebody on instagram do a post and was like i can't remember if it was i can't remember who it was it was either galliano or goldier and they were like yeah they did it first and they did it better and i was like i didn't even know it was a thing yeah i had no idea no idea but yeah i just saw multiple people that have done yeah that have done this she's now added to the list for the reason like but just for the record i will not be purchasing

15:43Georgia Medley:i love i love skins i actually do yeah like you can't be so fast but that's just something that

15:50Funmi Fetto:i will not yeah that's a little step too far not for me love you kim but not for me

16:01Georgia Medley:before we move on i would just love to say again please please make sure you subscribe wherever you listen to your podcast it really helps us out continuing to make a great content that hopefully you love now ladies we are moving on to mustn't miss because it is black history month i want to do a deep dive into both of your careers because they have been epic and i want to know everything and just what it means to be a black woman in the fashion industry because I'm sure we've all got a lot to say about that so Georgia I am going to start with you for anyone that doesn't know just give us a quick round up of your career where it started where you're at now

16:46Funmi Fetto:okay so I've been in the industry for about 15 years I started out when I was yeah 17 started out interning from the ground up with Charlotte Stockdale and Katie Lala at Garage Magazine and then I moved on to GQ because I wanted to get you know experience in menswear moved on from that and moved into women's wear worked at Harper's Bazaar as a fashion assistant but then was also styling celebrities outside of that so then I shot my first women's wear cover at Harper's and then as I developed and grew there I then got promoted and moved across to L UK and became fashion editor and then whilst I was doing all of that I had a lot of celebrity clients that I worked with um in the UK and in the states of A-listers um Venus Williams, Jada Pinkett Smith, Michaela Cole.

17:36Funmi Fetto:Yeah I'm just sorry I'm gonna interrupt that Jada Pinkett Smith when

17:39Georgia Medley:you did the oscars that like and it wasn't just the oscar it was also that oscar for anyone that doesn't know the year that was got up on stage and had a little slap but her dress that year is still one of my favorite favorite red carpet yeah that was glenn martin's jean-paul gotier

18:01Funmi Fetto:collaboration i think we were the first to put it on the carpet so it was like yeah quite a moment yeah huge sorry carry on so yeah and then yeah so now I am fully freelance I was contributing at L but now I'm fully fully you know freelance and continue to style celebrities and editorials working for different publications and content and all of that stuff that we that comes with the industry now and what you've got to do as a fashion editor interning was like that was your

18:30Georgia Medley:start out that was my start to be honest actually my first first first internship was at bliss magazine and i was younger i did bliss magazine yeah when henry holland was the fashion editor

18:43Funmi Fetto:i was really young yeah so i'd say from even then because i've always known when i was in school that that's what i wanted to do yeah i did child modeling when i was younger okay so i was like what is this world yeah i was like yeah so it started from really young but really in the fashion game was yeah um garage magazine with charlotte and katie and that was incredible because i was yeah 18 or whatever when i was there and i just had this whole world of what the industry was yeah worked my butt off to kind of you know prove myself and like was able to like go on sets with willie van der pierre and like do things at such a young age yeah wow this is incredible yeah so i started out in such a great environment yeah and charlotte and katie they're just so creative and like I remember being on one shoot prep where we actually were doing this massive shoot with Tim Walker and I remember Robert Wan coming to the studio to drop off his pieces and it's now amazing to see like when you're yeah the progression of designers and different people when you you're really you know working and I just that's why I respect so many of them because it's just like I've seen you grow because I've seen you drop off your stuff firsthand

19:54Georgia Medley:when we've been like yeah it's nice yeah so yeah it feels like a long time ago

20:01Nana Acheampong:yeah how about you for me um so unlike you I don't think I knew right from the start that I wanted to be in fashion um or in magazines but I'd always loved fashion and always loved magazines

20:16Georgia Medley:but I studied finance oh I studied finance at uni and I actually left uni as a part qualified

20:23Nana Acheampong:accountant and I worked within financial management in corporate spaces for about three years and just thought it's not for me yeah and I quit and I started an internship actually at L nice and I was there for a bit and then I went to and that was on the fashion side yeah and then from there I went to I think it was Sunday Times Style and then after that I went to the Telegraph and then I was also doing some freelancing on the side like assisting loads of different fashion editors and starting on and different shoots music videos which made me think I never ever want to work on music videos they are the longest days ever I've also done that as well they are wild I was like this is not for me not that one and then my first proper job I guess was on Harper's Bazaar but back then it was called Harper's and Queen so I'm talking about a long Oh, wow.

21:19Nana Acheampong:Yeah. I remember that. Did that for a bit. And then I left because I wanted to. I'd been styling quite a lot and on styling, but I wanted to write more. OK. And so I left and I that's when I started writing quite a lot for Vogue and all the international Vogue. Yeah. I wrote a book on vintage fashion. I've always been obsessed with vintage fashion. And then I was an accessories editor at at InStyle. I started writing about beauty, not because I had any interest in beauty per se, in terms of editorially or, you know, how it was covered. I found that the way that beauty was covered was either really, really trite or it was just not applicable to someone like me.

22:07Nana Acheampong:So I never even looked at the beauty pages in any publications at all. Yeah. And so there was a time that people would start asking me to write, you know, about beauty. Yeah. Because they were finding that, oh, actually, you know, we are getting questions from people who are of, you know, darker skin tone and so on. And they're not being covered. Yeah. And so bit by bit, sort of just freelance people were asking me to write for them. and so then I got a role at covering as um beauty director at Tatler which was so fun the editor was Kate Reardon at the time obsessed with fancy dress so we would always have fancy dress like just bonkers kind of situations but um it was actually really fun and then after that went to

22:52Georgia Medley:Vogue um covering as beauty director there yeah and um yeah and then since then I've kind of

22:58Nana Acheampong:written across the board which is why I've also written fiction yeah as well um I had a book out in April called Hail Mary and that's a collection of nine short stories with sort of nine black women as the protagonist I still also have my beauty column that I do at the Observer that's

23:14Georgia Medley:a weekly um column what I found really interesting it's kind of my next point what you were saying about there was no one that was doing kind of beauty stories for people that looked like us at that time when you guys first started was there anyone in the industry that you could look to to be like oh that's the person I kind of want to emulate like their career or like what they're doing you

23:39Nana Acheampong:know what I think is really um something of a fallacy you know people say you can't be what you can't see and I don't believe that at all yeah I don't understand why people would say that because a lot of times things have to be birthed from your imagination yeah there is always going to be someone who is the first yeah yeah I think all of us are the first in different ways in the sense that everyone's an individual there is no two people whose careers completely mimic one another you know because we take different paths so I don't actually think that there was anyone in the industry that I thought to myself oh I want to be that person yeah I just knew what I wanted to do I've never really been that person who has looked to see something that exists and then says I want to do that for me it's really important that we utilize this thing called imagination yeah and creativity and just think about what could be possible yeah so yeah and I don't mean that in an arrogant way no not at all I just kind of knew that I wanted to work in the industry I love magazines loved fashion yeah let's go I feel like that's how I started like

24:50Georgia Medley:there was no one in the industry that I could look to at that time but again I was like I want to work in fashion and I did journalism at university and when I started doing my work experience and my internships I quickly discovered I didn't want to write I wanted to style someone had said to me you're either a stylist or you're a fashion writer which obviously now isn't the case we do it all but at the time I was like no I'm gonna go down the styling lane because well they look like they were having more fun to be honest and I just love playing with clothes and shoes but I think yeah like you said it's just really important to know what you want and then go for it that way but yeah when I was growing up in school we did everything a year

25:36Funmi Fetto:early I went to a grammar school where we were like tested as guinea pigs to do our GCSEs and stuff early so I finished my a-levels when I was 17 and I was adamant to like I was like no I know what I want to do yeah you know my dad had to come in and have a meet with my teacher because they were like you sure she doesn't want to stay on and do extra a-levels and I was like no I want to go and do my foundation course because I want a crew in fashion and it just was never an option for me not to do that yeah I just it wasn't even that I yeah had anyone that I spied to be like or it was just that or that I thought that I was going to be the first yeah that wasn't really my mindset was just that this is what I want to do I feel gifted in it and I've got a creative eye so I'm gonna go after it and just do it so that's literally how I like approached yeah approached it

26:18Georgia Medley:so probably or potentially being the first black woman that was on Harper's Bazaar or I don't know were there anyone else that looked like you in these magazines when you were there at this time

26:30Nana Acheampong:so yeah I mean when I was on InStyle Cheryl Conte was um fashion editor there yeah and that was quite wonderful actually in the sense that I always remember her from the shows before we even worked together I remembered her at the shows and we wouldn't necessarily even speak or you know or anything like that but I would spot her from across the room she would spot me and we'd give each other

26:56Georgia Medley:the nod the nod exactly the understanding just the appreciation yeah the acknowledgement that oh

27:03Nana Acheampong:you're both in the room yeah in many ways it's only now further down the line actually that i've had conversations with other people who may have started during that time yeah or maybe later on down the line and we were all quite isolated yeah we were very isolated in the sense that we because we weren't surrounded by each other yeah we had our different pockets yeah we were different pockets and so on we didn't really come together maybe because we didn't feel like that was potentially an option I'm not quite sure but you were just kind of isolated in your feelings as to how you're navigating the industry yeah so I'm loving now where we can speak quite openly about certain things yeah where we can you know come together as a community we can talk about certain things you know talk about things openly and I think that also comes with experience yeah But it also comes with power.

28:01Nana Acheampong:I would say that, you know, when we talk about representation and so on and so forth, the only time that that really starts to really shift the needle and change is when people have power. Yeah, for sure. You know, it's like organizations when they sort of say, oh, yeah, we have tons of people of color and blah, blah. And I'm like, yeah, if they're all assistants, please. It doesn't count. It doesn't count. Because they have no power. They have no agency. They have to be at a certain level. before it means anything. Absolutely. I'm always talking about the corridor of power. Like who has agency here?

28:36Nana Acheampong:Who has agency? And so it's not enough that, oh, look, you know, we've got an assistant who's black. Good for you. Well done. Well done. Hand on the back.

28:45Georgia Medley:Exactly, exactly.

28:47Funmi Fetto:You're really making change. No, no, Georgia,

28:50Georgia Medley:the same question to you when you were actually started out in the industry. Like how did it feel? Were you the only black person on set?

28:57Funmi Fetto:or yeah most of the time I was the only one yeah um my first experience was when I started at GQ British GQ and GQ style when I walked through the doors and I saw this tall elegant beautiful black woman that was Vanessa Kingoree and I was like oh wow okay so it's literally me her and I think yeah just her assistants there was three of us black women that's the first time yeah that I've been in a fashion environment and that was you know also an office predominantly of like white men yeah so it was really interesting that we were kind of the only females really and then bar one other girl yeah that was like my first experience of seeing a black woman in a position of power yeah in you know an office that's what I think is so important diversity is often

29:46Georgia Medley:treated like a trend I think what would you say we need to do to make sure that it's like an everyday practice with inclusion

30:00Georgia Medley:it's a big question I know and it's one that I feel like gets asked often and it's like are we

30:08Funmi Fetto:really seeing the change actual change you know because I've been in those magazine environments as you would have been for me. And it's like, I've experienced certain things in certain environments. And it's like, again, we need to have people in positions of power. But then also making sure that if you are in a place where you have obviously your seniors, that it is a safe space for black people as well. So like if you are actually experiencing any issues or whatever that you can go to somebody and speak to them openly about it without the fear of being pushed out. Because that's a common story, you know?

30:49Funmi Fetto:That is so important. So I think making sure that that is a fundamental principle in any company, that it is a safe space that somebody can actually speak out about their problems or issues if they are race issues and not have that fear of being dismissed. yes you know that's it because it's a problem that you might not want to deal with exactly

31:13Georgia Medley:exactly head on so the easiest way is to kind of yeah wash it under the carpet usher them out yeah

31:20Nana Acheampong:that's even a nice way of putting it yeah exactly exactly i'm trying to be very

31:26Georgia Medley:what shifts have you seen in fashion in media in the last 10 years when it comes to

31:35Nana Acheampong:people like us being in the room maybe in terms of certain product offerings yeah um i certainly remember going into a local chemist where i sort of grew up and you know with my school friends and trying on makeup for instance the foundation

31:56Georgia Medley:did a really great campaign last year saying not no you're not nw45 not every black person i mean i think i remember we all had it yeah yeah that was my first foundation you wouldn't have been able to go in into that chemist and find a foundation absolutely

32:13Nana Acheampong:not you couldn't you couldn't find anything yeah like it was just a joke you know so i think in that sense i think a lot of things have changed you know in terms of finding colors that actually suit us and so on what should have changed alongside that is the skill set in order to apply those colors so you know we have a lot of makeup artists that have no idea what to do with black skin that is an issue yeah i'm surprised well i shouldn't be surprised but i am still surprised that that is still an issue yeah um i think it's terrifying sometimes when you have to go and be shot somewhere and you know a makeup artist is being brought under set and they're like yeah this person knows what to do with black skin and then you're i mean yeah you end up looking

33:00Georgia Medley:gray or orange or same thing can be said for hair as well yeah so you know we have products

33:08Nana Acheampong:the product side of things are getting better yeah but the actual skill set yeah is still not there yeah so that's one of the things that i think and i think that's a really huge thing i don't think we should be having models um backstage at you know fashion weeks at shows who still have to bring their own kit who still have to do their own makeup yeah while while their you know caucasian counterparts are being sad yeah you know so i just think that that is definitely something that still needs to shift yeah you know yeah how about you georgia what have you seen yeah i would i would

33:44Funmi Fetto:agree with um what Fumia said but then in terms of actual shifts I think if I stem back from when I was starting out and what I did see yeah the only representation that I did really see worse models slowly coming through like Jordan done all of you know that era um I didn't actually see like you said I don't think we knew we all existed when we were kind of all coming through I didn't see other editors and other stylists so it's nice to now actually see and see a hub of like us coming through and we're here and like we're making space yeah we have voices and so it's amazing to see that you know um most of my friends are in different publications and even like people who I've worked under you know as editors-in-chiefs and all of that and we're black women it's amazing to see but I would say something that does still need to shift that I've seen it's as if it's gone a little bit backwards is like some brands being reluctant still to work have like a diverse spectrum of people that they work with because I feel like we soared post-covid because of the black lives matter yeah exactly everyone posted their black squares yeah exactly and there was like and I feel like there was so much work and things were booming and but obviously there's been so many other factors within the last couple of years as to why things have halted and may have dipped and things like that but I think there's been a little bit of a like retraction not even a little bit yeah okay well yeah someone i remember someone

35:14Nana Acheampong:saying i remember someone saying yeah the window is closed and i'm like babe the window is shut

35:23Nana Acheampong:i mean it's quite terrifying i think the shift the peddling back of all those promises all those commitments there are so many brands that have just been so performative yeah and it hasn't formed a part of their DNA. Their actual DNA. Yeah, exactly. You know, it was just for that moment. And I keep saying to people that, you know, black people aren't a trend, people of color aren't a trend. You know, this is something that you just need to - This is for life. Yeah. We shouldn't even be having these conversations, you know. It should just be the norm. Yeah, it should be.

35:56Funmi Fetto:And even with like, in terms of trends, I see so much of like, you know, black culture being worn. by people who aren't necessarily black. But it's like, if I was to go out like that, it would be perceived in a certain way. And it's like, you know, but I'm seeing so many people

36:17Georgia Medley:that are influenced by our culture

36:19Funmi Fetto:and it's so esteemed as something so amazing on them. But then if it was us, it's like, so again, that's a personal thing I'm also trying to navigate. I'm like, okay, how is this even? Yeah, because I can't have it. I have to say, my biggest one at the moment

36:35Georgia Medley:is the new Louis Vuitton Ghana Must Go bags. Obviously, Balenciaga.

36:40Nana Acheampong:Also, Celine did those quite a few years back as well. I mean, that's it. A lot of designers have done that.

36:45Georgia Medley:Like, these bags you can get for two pounds. Oh, yeah, of course. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I remember when Balenciaga did them. Yeah, exactly. Balenciaga, Louis Vuitton are the newest designers to do it.

36:57Nana Acheampong:I think also, I think when people are incorporating certain elements of culture into um their creative stance i guess or their creative output i think it's really important to understand where that comes from i lived in nigeria when the situation was happening and danians had to leave nigeria yeah that was not a funny situation at all and so you know those bags knowing the history of where those bags came from and why they are named and what they mean I think it's really really important to really understand the context of it and to your point as well you know around you know certain things that are adopted by people who are not from a particular culture and so on and it's it's lauded when it's on someone else but when it's on a black person it's read differently yeah I absolutely I mean it's a huge bugbear for me and I don't know how that can potentially shift I mean I wrote a piece um recently actually um it was my observer column my observer beauty column and I was talking about nails and I always remember when it came to like nail art yeah that when black girls had them you know this was a lot of women who were in the Jamaican dance hall yeah my mom's best friends long nails and so on that was part of black culture yeah and but then it was seen as really ghetto yeah suddenly you know a lot of white celebrities are wearing these nails and suddenly it's like super cool and so on and you know I always think about that um I think it was a Dre Beats ad where um there was a voiceover that was saying you know you love my culture but do you love me yeah and I think that that sums it up it's like you know our culture is it's like it's for the taken but do you actually love the people who create that culture and do you sort of open doors for them or reverence them or give them the respect or whatever it is yeah you're happy you don't want to take anything else yeah exactly but I think again why Black History Month is so

39:06Georgia Medley:important because obviously it highlights everything that we do and our culture but also So for me, it's not just a month. It needs to be an every day, every year. Because we exist beyond a month.

39:22Funmi Fetto:Think how much us as black people are doing in industries across the board. Like, you know, celebrity world, all of that. It's like, yeah.

39:31Georgia Medley:What would your advice be to any stylists, editors, journalists that are coming through now? what do they need to do to survive in this crazy industry?

39:44Nana Acheampong:It's a big question, isn't it? I would say be really, really, really good at what you do. I think a lot of people think that it's okay to be mediocre. It will only serve you to a certain point. Whatever you're really passionate about, just be really, really, really good at what you do. Go above and beyond and nothing should be too much in order to achieve what you want. Georgia, what would your advice be?

40:10Funmi Fetto:I would say be really bold and confident in your originality and your point of view. It's like, you know, everyone has something to say. And I think you can enter into this industry and be swayed left, right and centre. But if you kind of know what you want to present into the world and what you want to say, I'd say don't let anyone sway you from that and kind of be bold and strong and confident in believing in yourself believing in what you bring to the table yeah but that also comes from what you were saying for me is actually just like honing in your craft and being excellent in what you do and like yeah being being confident in that and just strong-minded in okay this is what

40:52Georgia Medley:I bring to the table so yeah I obviously agree with all of those points to add I would say what I really like now is the visibility that we do have and like you're saying instead of having those little pockets create a network of people that you can speak to that you can talk to that you can lean on that are also having the same experiences as you as you're coming up so that it doesn't feel yeah maybe so daunting yes yeah or isolated exactly and isolating so yeah create a really good network which i think that's why the age that we live in now is so easy to do and I always say get a mentor I really think that is there's no kind of fast track or you can't kind of cheat your way to the top but I think having a mentor is a really good kind of

41:43Funmi Fetto:cheat code that could help you

41:51Georgia Medley:we are going to do ride or die products that we are

41:56Nana Acheampong:loving at the moment for me i'm going to start with you so my ride or die at the moment um hasn't quite launched yet but it's my new brand called good different and do sign up at good different dot com it's good different one word one d and essentially good different is a luxury hospitality approach to black hair opening the salon in liberty should be before the year is out I know that's so exciting.

42:24Georgia Medley:It's very, very exciting. Can you tell us more about what the salon is going to look like in Liberty?

42:30Nana Acheampong:Well, essentially it's been inspired by the living room of immigrants who started their hairdressing businesses in their living room. And so we've taken this concept of the living room and basically just really elevated it. and so because I've never really understood really sterile spaces that are supposed to make you feel nice yeah I've always loved color I do love color and I love you know feeding the eyes whether it's with you know books or art or you know something going on and I just wanted to build that kind of space for people to come in and get their hair done but also to come in and be able to browse the books to be able to look at the art and buy the art buy the books um you know the space transforms into an event space oh and so um we'll be holding sort of

43:28Georgia Medley:private events there as well so yeah and it's in liberty yeah i love that oh my gosh i'm so excited about that i cannot wait georgia what are you loving at the moment or ride or die product yeah

43:42Funmi Fetto:A Rye or Dye product, I actually would say, I actually just got it back because it kind of, I thought it was broken and the charger had broken. But actually I went in yesterday and it's fixed. Okay. But it's my skincare doctor, Dr. Varley. She's based in Selfridges and she has this product called the Cutest. Okay. And it's basically, she calls it a vibrator for the face. Sorry. Love that. And basically it just is something that you can use every day. it has different like variations of vibrations but it just helps lift your face and oh my gosh yeah and it just lifts if you wake up in the morning you feel a little bit puffy or you're a bit tired or under the eyes or around the neck wherever you can just use your cutest do a few strokes with like different the different vibrations and it lifts your face before you've even had to apply any makeup or skincare or anything it is honestly when it when i thought it was broken i was like oh my god i'm like use it too much going back just in time before filming because i've been working so much this week i was like great de-puffing yeah oh my god yeah yeah that's always that's fab yeah such a great product so yeah check it out dr barley amazing

44:55Georgia Medley:mine's actually not a beauty product but because again i was at home all last weekend i have to my electric blanket like i have got this throw it is kind of like a furry throw so you can have it just over you on the sofa it's from dreamland i think it couldn't have been more than like 70 pounds but cost per wear if that's a thing or cost per use i should say um i'm really getting my use out of it like i just think it's kind of like cozy season we're hibernating um i think they're just a really fun accessory to have on the sofa also myself i've got a new sofa which from swift which i'm also loving at the moment so those two the most iconic duo

45:45Georgia Medley:we are going to move on to dilemmas that we've been sent in so i want your expertise ladies please okay I think this is a really great one because I had this um a lot when I first started out I love wearing my natural hair but still worry that it's seen as unprofessional how do you deal

46:04Nana Acheampong:with this bias it really depends on the environment um that you you work in and if you don't have this um this kind of chorus of say sisterhood you know this community of people who can sort of really sort of boost you up yeah then you can feel really isolated in it yeah i mean i would say ultimately first of all your hair is not unprofessional that is a lie that has been

46:32Georgia Medley:sold to us over the years you need to unlearn that yes so it's unlearning that idea that it's

46:38Nana Acheampong:unprofessional and i think you just have to gain the confidence and the boldness and just be who you are how your hair grows out of your head is is your hair and there should be no apology for that and I think that also it's illegal now for anyone to sort of come up to you and sort of say oh your hair is not quite right you know you can't there are laws around that now and so I think it's just having that boldness just taking that step yeah of just having your hair the way you want to have your hair and showing up at work with your full chest yeah and just just owning it just owning it i think that's the thing and i understand that in some spaces you know we are really quite fortunate we work in creative spaces where pretty much anything goes yeah i'm with a different hairstyle every other day

47:32Funmi Fetto:i actually would just use this as a place to shout out page i don't know if you follow her but she's just launched a book called yeah how to love your throat yeah and i think as well for all of us is such a process and she was speaking on actually just like giving yourself grace with like because there's so many things that have been sold to us that we've been affected by you know like subconsciously so it's like you know allow yourself to just actually you know go through the process of being you know gaining that confidence and building that to be like okay I'm going to show up in my actual authentic self today because it is a process and sometimes you might feel like you want to wear straight hair some days you might want to wear a throat or whatever or braids it's like it changes I think so yeah it's just giving yourself grace next

48:21Georgia Medley:dilemma it's kind of the same how do I build confidence when I don't see anyone that looks like me in my industry so this could be in a corporate space perhaps or you know do you know

48:34Funmi Fetto:what I'll if you don't mind yeah I'll go ahead because I kind of used it as my superpower there was no one that was like me or looked like me or had my eye or my point of view because how I grew up my culture everything's completely different to the surroundings so my mindset and how I saw black people or how I saw colorways or fabrics or patterns and things like that or you know I knew that they didn't see it in that way because they had a completely different upbringing yeah nine times out of ten from the same you know places yeah whereas I used my indifference as my superpower I was like that is you're not like me yeah I think that honestly

49:13Nana Acheampong:I think that's the best answer and I feel like that is yeah pretty much how I've been a lot of

49:18Georgia Medley:my career as well it's like no one else yes has the experiences that you do goes to I don't know for me it was going to ghana every christmas or easter and it's like that's a whole other experience that you can bring that knowledge and put it into so yeah put it into your kind of day to day the last one that this probably be a good one for you georgia myself i love my curves but struggle to find brands that flatter me and make me feel modern where do i start it depends if you

49:50Funmi Fetto:luxury or mid-market and there's so many yeah high street brands today that you know have created curve ranges and all of that yeah and just have the sizes that vary for all different shapes and sizes but yeah I do love um brands like Izzy Miyake like pleats please that are like really chic and fit every single you know body shape and size but their pieces are exquisite and like pleats pleats is great and so that's like a piece of clothing like I have a great top from there or like some really great trousers and also just thinking about like trouser shapes and things so you know I did something with Montclair where we were talking I was doing some consultancy and talking about different body shapes and how to dress for your body type and a lot of it does come down to the structure as well like barrel pants you know these days are really great for someone who has more of a triangular body shape yeah you know um so yeah that's what i would that's what i'd say it's kind of finding pieces that could help accentuate even your curves yeah

50:51Georgia Medley:you know that's it i always say like yeah biggest mistake people make i think when it comes to styling is not dressing for your shape yeah like know what works on your body size exactly and your shape and then kind of go yeah yeah that's why i love shoulder pads too because they're just

51:09Funmi Fetto:like if you've not really got like broad shoulder shoulder pads just give you that like kind of

51:13Nana Acheampong:why do you yeah i think also um finding a good tailor oh yeah i mean yeah yeah i think that's probably good for everyone yeah yeah so many different things because things can look fabulous if they fit yeah exactly isn't that the thing exactly if they fit right if they fit your shape right they fit you right they can look fabulous regardless of what it is when things don't fit

51:37Georgia Medley:yeah there's an issue shout out uh sojo josephine phillips yeah but obviously they've now got a stand in westfield amazing in stratford and in white city and obviously you can go online that

51:52Funmi Fetto:service comes to your door amazing picks up whatever item it is that you want tailored

51:57Georgia Medley:takes it off and then drops it back off again like I honestly think it's just like the most genius idea it's true I'm so gonna use that oh my god yeah

52:05Nana Acheampong:cause I follow yeah yeah yeah Instagram I can think of so many different things yeah I mean

52:11Georgia Medley:I usually just go to the dry cleaners at the end of my road oh my gosh well that is it ladies I could literally talk to you all day thank you so so much for joining me it was an absolute pleasure thank you so much that wraps up this week's episode thank you for tuning in I hope you enjoyed the conversation and please make sure you do subscribe wherever you listen to your podcast see you next week bye