MEET ALIZÉ DEMANGE, CELEBRITY STYLIST AND FOUNDER OF ONLINE COMMUNITY NOTE TO SELF. ALIZÉ MODELS OUR SS20 COLLECTION AND TALKS TO US ABOUT ALL THINGS SELF-LOVE, INSPIRATION AND WOMEN SUPPORTING WOMEN.
HOW DO YOU EXPRESS YOURSELF ?
I like taking pictures, I have a film camera and I’m always capturing moments and milestones. I love how my mum always had albums of us growing up, I want to be able to have albums filled with memories. I want to save the real things. I am a Cancer - we live in the past.
WHAT DOES SELF-LOVE MEAN TO YOU ?
Day-to-day, being kind to yourself and speaking to yourself nicely. Recently I’ve noticed how much more positive my mood has been since practicing this. Self-love is accepting yourself for who you are and realising what your power is. When I personally realised my own power and capabilites, my self-love for myself changed. I can now see the influence I have on certain things and the ability I have to create change for others. I have everything I’ve always wanted to have.
HOW HAS YOUR BACKGROUND INFLUENCED WHO YOU ARE TODAY ?
My mum’s from Belgium and my dad’s from Martinique and France. I felt different for a long time I think it took me ages to feel comfortable in who I am and who I wanted to be but our culture here in London has a way of forcing you to work that out early otherwise you won’t survive. This definitely influenced my work ethic as well as my home life. I grew up on streetwear and I was introduced to the TRAPSTAR brand when I was 15 and immediately I was inspired. People like us making stuff for us and it was a success. It showed me I didn’t need to be in what was said to be “high-fashion” to be a success - you can make your own path within your own communities and those people over there will be watching anyway.
WHO DO YOU MOST ADMIRE AND WHY ?
There are people I admire for different reasons.I admire people who give different things a go and succeed. I am so lucky that I have been in close proximity to powerful women who visibly create amazing things. I really admire Sharmadean Reid and what she has built. WAH was a brand built around community, there weren’t many things at the time that represented a girl like me. Sometimes you are made to fit in a box, but real life isn’t like that. As I’ve grown I’ve found my people, it’s nice to find other like minded people. Also Irene Agbontaen is someone I really admire - when I was a teen she’d be the one (probably feeling sorry for us haha) letting us into the raves, the raves where I really found my people! Watching her career trajectory and the authenticity she keeps in everything she puts her hands on is incredible - she has played a big role in our scene and culture. These are the kind of women I want to be.
WHAT’S THE BEST ADVICE YOU WOULD GIVE ?
The best advice I could give is probably what I would say to myself right now. You need to have patience, you need to believe in yourself unconditionally, you need to listen to your intuition ALL THE TIME and you need to put yourself first.
HOW DID NOTE TO SELF COME ABOUT ?
I have always wanted to do something that created a sense of community for women, something that involved change and support, I just didn’t know what that would be. I vision board at the beginning of every year. Last December I decided to put on a vision board making workshop and share the positive vibes. Adidas hosted our first event. The event was a huge success, people were walking away with such a positive vibes, I knew I needed to carry this on.
WHAT IS YOUR VISION FOR NOTE TO SELF ?
After the first event it all made sense for me. When I started out in the inudstry I didn’t intend on having my own business, I learnt from experience that it can be a difficult and lonely, I’m creating a space of community and collaboration.We’ve been thinking about what to do next, we are working on building an interactive community open to everyone, not just those based in London. So long term, perhaps it becomes a hub - a space that houses pop-ups, events and educational programmes, not only for female entrepreneurs but also for young women wanting to work in the industry within an organisation.
WHAT DO YOU LIVE BY ?
I live by the law of attraction and I believe that the company you keep speaks a lot about the energy you are taking in. It is important to listen to yourself, I didn’t always but now I am more intuned and get early vibes. That’s probably the best advice I could give, listen to yourself - sometimes you already just know!
WITH THANKS TO CHAPLINS SHOWROOM.
PHOTOGRAPHED BY NASTASSJA THOMPSON
HAIR BY WILLIS GALBRAITH
MAKE UP BY FRANKIE NEAL