For instance for this project I had a fair
understanding of what was involved
and I worked hand in hand with the
Colossium team to ensure that the
best is put out there for both par-
ties.
CLS: What are some of the brands
you have worked with so far?
LHL: I have worked with Vita Mil-
ke, Girl Talk, Taxify, Woodin and a
lot more.
CLS: What style of picture editing
do you cringe when you see it on-
line?
LHL: I think the ones that look like they
took off phone or laptop screens. The
over smoothing – too much colour, I mean
they’re not my thing. I wonder why people
settle for those, anyway.
CLS: What do you wish you knew before get-
ting into the industry you’ve found yourself?
LHL: I will say I wish I knew how to make
money earlier. However I like to think that
although I have always wanted to be in the
fashion industry, I didn’t know there will be
other avenues such as brand influencing I
could explore. I think it’s something with most
young people. We mostly start off doing things
we like then before you know it, it’s a career by
which time you would have perhaps wasted
valuable time which you could have financially
benefitted from. So not knowing how to make
money from branding influencing in the ear-
ly days is something I regret but we are going
to put our discoveries in a handbook now for
the next generation to follow so they wouldn’t
have to response to a similar question the way I
am now.
CLS: I think social media presents a false
representation of beauty. What’s your take on
that?
LHL: I get where you’re coming from, however
it is a twisted fact. I don’t know why people
assume people are what they show on social
media. One time I was going to the barbering
57 | Colossium . March 2019
Fashion you can buy
“
but style you can’t buy.
You can buy the
fanciest clothes but if
you’re not stylish you
can’t put them
together. That’s how I
can define them”
shop for a cut when I run into one of my Insta-
gram followers. On a regular day, I will be in an
oversized t-shirts and flip flops; so this person
sees me and starts saying I’m fake and all. I
mean, the fact that I share photos of me wear-
ing fancy clothes on Instagram doesn’t mean I
sleep in my heels and makeup. It doesn’t mean I
don’t pick trotro or don’t have dark spots.