Everybody Wants This

May 18, 2024

Don't Say No

<p>The first episode in this series addresses the sometimes all-consuming nature of fashion work. Don’t Say No is a phrase I’ve used to describe this culture of agreeing to everything, because you feel so lucky to be in the room. Fashion is a dream job, so if you don’t say yes, someone else will.</p><br><p>This could be when you’re an intern trying to get your foot in the door, working long hours for little or no pay. Or, while working at a magazine or fashion brand where it’s the norm to do out of hours work. To put fashion before a personal life, because the industry moves so fast and there’s always so many products to churn out.</p><br><p>As a freelancer, you might not feel able to say no to jobs - whether that’s because you have to pay your rent in an expensive fashion capital, or you’re worried that you’ll be replaced in a highly competitive, novelty-seeking industry.</p><br><p>And, throughout, this episode is about not feeling comfortable to speak out if you’ve experienced mistreatment, for fear of losing out on opportunities. This makes fashion a very obscure industry, considering how ever-present it is in the media.</p><br><p><br></p><p>To help me tell this story, I interviewed 3 fashion professionals for this episode:</p><br><p><br></p><p>The first is Leeann Huang, a fashion designer who runs her own label in Los Angeles. She has had experience working in the design houses of big fashion brands in Europe. You can find Leeann on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/leeann.huang/?hl=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Instagram</a> and <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@leeann.huang" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">TikTok</a>.</p><br><p>The second is Dominic Cadogan, a writer and editor who has worked in-house at known magazines in London. A couple years ago they went freelance and moved to Lisbon. You can find Dominic on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/dominic.cadogan/?hl=en-gb" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Instagram</a> and <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@dominic.cadogan" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">TikTok</a>.</p><br><p>The third is Lucinda Graham, a stylist and costume designer based in London. Her work includes music videos, red carpets, performances and editorial shoots. You can find Lucinda on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/lucindalohan/?hl=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Instagram</a> and <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@cher4president" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">TikTok</a>.</p><br><p><br></p><p>Next episode, we’ll be talking Unpaid Glamour!</p><br><p><br></p><p><strong><em>You can find me here:</em></strong></p><br><p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/fatannawintour/?hl=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Instagram</strong></a></p><br><p><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@fatannawintour" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>TikTok</strong></a></p><br><p><a href="https://substack.com/@fatannawintour?utm_source=profile-page" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Substack</strong></a></p><br><p><br></p><p><em>This podcast is not definitive of everyone’s experiences. If you’re listening and want to share your story, I encourage you to get in touch. Maybe these experiences resonated with your own. Maybe you disagree, or feel like there’s some nuance I missed. Let me know!</em></p><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>