Fashion Friends: Annu & Aki
One of my most treasured outcomes of having a ‘thing’ for fashion, aside from you know - building an empire of clothing - is the people you meet and the friends you make. Along the way I’ve met two very cool cats, one a super-slick fashion & editorial photographer Annupam who is always up for the great weekend combo of a delicious brunch and photoshoot.
The other is Aki, arguably New Zealand’s queen of women’s fashion influencing. Aki is an Art Director by trade and her talent oozes through her work. Her knack for making individual pieces work in harmony, her fast eye for detail - where she can make small but impactful adjustments - and can you believe it…she even takes her own photos!
So after catching Annu and Aki recently for a spot of brunching at Winona Forever we hatched a plan to shoot a couple of looks at an intimate and sophisticated underground whiskey bar in the city called The Jefferson.
The brief was simple, Aki & myself would wear complimentary looks and vibe with the bar environment and well, just have some organic fun and see what we get from the stills. It’s a hoot spending a few hours together framing up different shots, reviewing and tweaking. You instantly get to see the magic result.
Having mates like Annu who take time out of their busy schedules to catch up, snap you and edit the images is incredible. Without people like him it can be hard to maintain doing the whole content creation thing unless you know, you’ve got the skills to do it all like Aki. But for me I rely on others’ talents and it’s a good thing in my eyes. By tapping into their skillset, you’re learning from them and hopefully they’re getting something out of it too. Plus when there’s a few of you in it together, it’s a much better experience with lots of energy and laughs.
Annu and Aki are friends who’ve continually inspired me through what they do and not only that they helped me continue to work on my little and humble side hustle. I know I’ll never be the world’s most acclaimed or followed man in fashion, but that’s not the point. It’s about doing something YOU love, and if at the end of the day, it’s just you that loves what you’re spending your time doing then that’s cool by me.
I enjoy finding new pieces of apparel and accessories to express myself. To experiment, see what works, what doesn’t and exploring new ways of smashing elements together. I’m 33 now and I know I’ll still be wearing some dope as shit well into my retirement.
You don’t subscribe to fashion, it subscribes to you, so be prepared for it to be sticking to you for a while yet.
jb