I had role models when I was little but they were mostly animated and poorly placed. I remember talking about it in school and kids would say “the President” or “Big Bird” or “Bill Cosby.” Kids can be really stupid. Since the whole “being Ariel from The Little Mermaid” thing was bound to fail, I looked mostly to my parents and my older brother when I didn’t know what I should be doing. I am lucky that they are all wonderful people, and because of them, I am not a garbage person. But in terms of my career, and the grown up work stuff, I didn’t know where to look because I didn’t know where I fit.

It took me a long time to figure out my career role models, probably because it took me a long time to find a career. But now that I am in it, I see incredible people I can look up to and relate to, and it is infinitely inspiring. The two ladies in the video below,‎ Garance Doré and Diane Von Furstenburg, are two of those people for me. They have very different stories, different jobs, and different lives, but they both value creativity and fashion in the same way. I think they thing I like about them the most is their candor. They both tell it like it is, talk about the bumps and the missteps and the struggles of doing what they do. They are both able to laugh at themselves, and while they live glamorous lives, they don’t take themselves too seriously. I want in on some of that.

I think fashion can be a beautiful, creative, emotional expression, but I fully aware that it can also be a breeding ground for vanity, greed, and over-all shittaaayness. (technical term) What I like about these two women is that they keep their damn heads on straight. One is a raw, authentic writer and photographer who captures beauty and substance in a seemingly effortless way, and the other is the damn fairy godmother of fashion. Here they are talking to each other. Try looking away from Garance’s gold booties. Try.