Hi guys, I am really excited to announce that today I am sharing this Q&A with Ayo Ojo, who is a wonderful youtuber that I watch constantly. He has a lot of really interesting and informative videos on his channel that you have to watch if you love fashion or want to enter the fashion world. I know his videos have helped me a lot. His youtube channel is The Fashion Archive: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVmPyrwjL0wepDhmvgzlOcA and I will also link his instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fashionroadman/ . Let’s start:
Q:How did you know fashion was what you wanted to do?
A:After my first fashion internship I started to get obsessive about fashion. All I would do in my free time was read fashion magazines and books. At this point I knew I wanted to pursue a career in fashion.
Q:How would you describe your style in 3 words?
A:Experimental, Muted, Minimal
Q:What inspired you to create your YouTube channel?
A:I have been an avid watcher of fashion youtube for a longtime and as I started to read more fashion magazines and books I realised there wasn’t anyone talking about what I was reading about so I thought there was a gap to fill in the fashion youtube sphere.
Q:Who is your favourite designer of all time?
A:I definitely can’t choose one because there are so many designers I love but if I was asked for my favourites I would say Ann Demeulemeester, Alexander McQueen, Elsa Schiaparelli, Ann Lowe & Yohji Yamamoto.
Q:Who is one designer you think will blow up this year?
A:Thebe Magugu from South Africa
Q:Where do you see the fashion industry in 10 years?
A:Definitely a greater shift towards digitalising commerce and events. We will also see a shift to an in-store shopping experience being a form of luxury.
Q:What would you say is your signature piece, clothing or accessory wise?
A:A dad hat. It’s almost become a meme at this point.
Q:What would you say to someone who wants to work in the fashion industry?
A:It really depends because there are so many aspects to the fashion industry. You can be a writer, designer, accountant, photographer, videographer, make-up artist, hair stylist etc. Therefore, I can only give advice to a person that wants to become a writer / journalist. Right now, there are more journalists than there are jobs so you need to set yourself apart to give yourself a competitive edge. This can be done by building a platform where you can constantly learn more about fashion and write things consistently whether that’s a Youtube channel, Instagram page, website etc. From what I’ve noticed, a lot of aspiring journalists expect jobs to fall on their lap because they think they’re amazing writers and while that may be true, if there is nowhere one can find your work you won’t get jobs. The only people that can be lazy in the fashion industry are people born into money or born into a family where their parents have many connections within the fashion industry. If you are a complete outsider like me who started with no connections, you need to fight and hustle for your
spot. If you can’t do that I really doubt the fashion industry is for you as the nature of the industry is very cut-throat.
Q:Could you recommend a few fashion books for beginners?
A:Once again, it’s hard to answer this directly because it depends what one is interested in learning about. A beginner who wants to be a designer should probably start by reading books about the basics of sewing, pattern making and marketing. On the flipside, an aspiring journalist should start by reading books on the history of fashion. However, in a general sense some good books if you’re just getting started are “The Work of Art In The Age of Mechanical Reproduction” by Walter Benjamin and “The Fashion System” by Roland Barthes.
Q:How do you think fashion influences society?
A:Ultimately, everyone wears clothes which means that clothing is a powerful tool in influencing society. This is such a broad question that I could write about for days but in the most dumbed down way, what you wear says a lot about who you are. You can change the way people perceive you just by the way you dress. In a historical sense, what clothing you wore to give certain signals constantly changed. Once upon a time the height of masculinity was wearing a bronze skirt, now it’s a well-structured and tailored suit. Whole subcultures and movements come hand in hand with the way they dress.
Q:What is your favourite trend of 2020?
A:To be very honest I don’t even know what the trends of 2020 were because I don’t really follow trends or concern myself with what’s trending per say. What I did see everywhere though were chunky boots which I would guess was influenced by the Bottega Veneta boots. It’s been good to see men more willing to step out of their comfort zone and wear boots with higher platforms and soles.
I hope you enjoyed it. I know I loved this interview and I am a huge fan of Ayo so I was fangirling a little bit while writing the questions and when I got the answers. Have a great day, and let me know what you would like me to do next:)
XOXO, Delayla
delaylable 