- 2 days ago
Flaviana Matata and Maxwell Osbourne at Essence Fashion House
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:01Essence Fashion House we are talking all things fashion and black creatives
00:06throughout the weekend and we are so excited to have with us today beautiful
00:10model extraordinaire Flaviana Matata an entrepreneur and businessman founder of
00:19public school Maxwell Osborne and today we're here to have a conversation about
00:27fashion with a purpose so how can our young creatives not only you know put
00:32out great pieces and make their mark in the industry but also really affect change
00:37and have a level of social responsibility as they're out here affecting the
00:41business so first Flaviana and Maxwell could you share a bit about your journey
00:47in fashion kind of how you started out in the business and your kind of journey
00:51throughout the years ladies first okay for me actually I got scouted in New York I
01:00was attending a charity event where they were raising money to build a hospital
01:05in Tanzania so you can see this is like a perfect platform to speak about my
01:11journey because it's fashion with purpose I was there for charity and that's how my
01:16journey started there was a lot of those are different modeling agencies and people
01:22from next scouted me I started there I had to go back home of course and put
01:28together my paperwork I came back and I'm really glad to be here because this is
01:33one of the first people who I lead highlighted my work yeah that was pretty
01:41much it okay and the rest is history you want to talk about some of your
01:45highlights as far as editorial work and partnerships with brands yeah I've done
01:50a lot of work was when I moved here I had to go to Europe because it was easier
01:56than for women of color to build your portfolio and I had a great two years in
02:01London actually I booked like I remember one of my first big gig was a hair
02:06campaign and I'm I don't have hair I've done a lot of editorials I've worked with
02:12Essence so many times so it's like you guys like Essence is like home they're
02:17family I'm family and I've done big campaign I've worked with Kenzo I've worked
02:23with Vivian Westwood I've worked with Donna Karen Tommy Hilfiger
02:29Tory Burch Rachel so it's been a great journey but I'm happy that I've been able to
02:35use it as a as a platform to give back to my community back home yes she's a big deal
02:41guys she's everywhere she's huge so Maxwell could you share a bit about you
02:47have a really interesting journey as well and how you started out in the
02:50business from where you started till now yeah for me it was a bit of a mistake
02:55like fashion was never kind of a thing growing up I grew up in Brooklyn kids
03:00whenever it's like you bought you bought like polo or Tommy and you never thought
03:04about being a designer it was never like meant for us so I was always in the art but
03:09then I got an internship working for Puff Daddy which then led for led me to
03:15designing assistant designer to designer but there was something when I something
03:19clicked in my head being an intern realizing that I actually really really
03:23enjoyed it because at that point I had no idea what I wanted to do and I was kind
03:27of a derelict and I had to do something before I got in trouble and I mean for my
03:32family but it really started there and it just clicked in my brain just kept going
03:37from there later on we started public school with somebody a friend of mine and
03:41and partner that we met at chanjian and then later on after doing other things
03:45came together again and started public school and then went on to just change the
03:50game and win awards and just become this base this huge brand
03:56I'm so proud of you he's all humble and quiet and his aunt is one of the first
04:04people that they're like family to me so I'm so proud to see your growth and you're
04:09doing amazing keep making us proud yes yeah my aunt and my mother some of those
04:13people that wouldn't let me run the streets like that yeah we all have those
04:17aunties grab us up real quick so okay so fashion is often recognized as a
04:23platform for social change so how important do you feel it is for young
04:27creatives to you know use their platform to not only just create you know great
04:32art but to also make an impact and have a purpose have a social cause that you're
04:37standing up for do you feel like it's a responsibility of creatives to kind of
04:40you know work from that thinking as well I think it's super important it's like
04:46everybody is looking up to the fact to the creative industries so it's really up to
04:52us to use it to do good I remember when I first started no one got it especially
04:59as a model because they expect you to be this way they don't they just want you
05:03to be a pretty face and I remember they used to say she's too much for us because
05:07when I first started it's just I realized that it's my responsibility to give back
05:11to my community because I graduated from college I had an option to either
05:16continue school or pursue modeling as a career but I thought about those young
05:20girls back home they just want to go to school they didn't have any option and
05:24that's how the Flaviana Mateta Foundation started we started by providing
05:28scholarship and everything that a girl need to go to school and stay in school
05:33but also renovate school infrastructure and provide school supplies so I think it's
05:40super important now it's like I'm like I'm so impressed to see that especially I'm
05:44gonna talk because I'm a model I'm gonna talk from what I know it's like to see
05:48girls are doing really using their voices to advocate for good but it never used to
05:55be that way and it's good that client are embracing that they're highly
06:00highlighting stories so I'm just afraid is it just a cool thing to do now or is
06:06something really people are trying to change and do good yeah no you're
06:10definitely right as far as from the modeling perspective models haven't always
06:14been supported and using their voices as a platform it's just kind of like you're
06:19the pretty face you're representing the brand but you don't really have a
06:22perspective and so it is a shift that we are seeing in the business in terms of
06:26supporting our creatives and really you know using their voices to advocate I
06:31think it's good too because it's like we are this position that is like I can
06:36decide if a brand doesn't have the value that I believe in I can easily say no
06:41and thank God I have a great agent I'm with the Lions it's like they run
06:46everything to you it never used to be that way it's just book a job go shoot but
06:51now I can say no I can't reason it with that brand they don't have any anybody
06:57like me because I'm really tired of us being used as again as a token it's like do
07:02you really appreciate the presentation or you just use that to to make it look
07:09good yes as a one-off one-off so I think I think it's good that I think we have
07:14power and it's important you can say no I can say no but so it's up to us to use
07:20these platforms to do good yeah what are your thoughts on that Maxwell yeah pretty
07:25much the same it's it's really as a creative using our voice and our brands
07:34or art as our soapbox like I don't do public speaking to talk about
07:39sustainability or social consciousness it's really like the brand and we try to
07:43talk it through the brain because that's our loudest voice that's where we touch
07:45to most people we personally can't touch anybody but as a brand and people that
07:50follow the brand it's our biggest touch point so that becomes our soapbox that
07:53becomes our way of you know spreading the word and and really pushing and
07:59pushing our beliefs you know we use it as our as our that's our microphone Maxwell
08:06can you talk a bit about the work you've been doing with your line branching out
08:10into sustainable basics what it was like kind of creating that initiative and you
08:16know and what it's been like really making bring that to fruition yeah for us we we
08:21had to take like a really like look in the mirror for our brand and realize we
08:27were part of the problem of what's going on and I think once this new presidency
08:31came in and you know we realized that change really had to happen and it's not
08:37really about sustainability it's always been like a call it's like a call to
08:40action it's like a social conscious piece that it's bigger than just like you
08:45know global warming it's about people of color diversity education and doing
08:51things like that and the brand being our voice so in the root of it it is
08:56sustainability but we've taken a step back and looked at our own business and
08:59realized we were part of the problem so like doing fashion weeks and developing
09:02all these samples and polluting the world and like that wasn't it like we
09:05realized just selling these stores was it wasn't making us feel good so like
09:09taking the step back and we did a collaboration with Eileen Fisher not too
09:13long ago which was again two brands that you would never think to work
09:16together but she's been doing something really big in terms of like taking over
09:21a million pieces back of her clothes and then using those to to make new fabric and
09:25new clothes which is less damaging to the earth and then she keeps doing that you
09:30know going forward so we did that collaboration with her but just to have
09:34that conversation so people get it out because she didn't even know who we were
09:37we're like oh we'd love to do this collab and we did it and it's really just to
09:41open the conversation up because more and more brands have to have the
09:44conversation it's less of a competition because it's our world you know it's
09:48like our it's our it's our sorry where we are we live in so that led to us you
09:54know recently becoming the award winners for this competition with the Lexus and
10:00CFDA about sustainability and our proposal was just opening up effect like
10:07developing a recycled organic fabric that we're also making blanks t-shirts hoodies
10:11that all these street wear brands and brands use nowadays to make quick strike
10:16programs but they're just buying fabric that is just really fucking us up you know
10:21like they're really fucking the world up to be honest with you so our goal is to
10:25use this organic and organic recycled cotton and sell it to other brands so it's
10:32gonna start as a b2b is a business to business and you know having our brand use it and
10:37having bigger brands use it that we have already reached out to and using it as a
10:41platform for opening up the conversation where more people get to use it and it's
10:44not just exclusive to us it's more inclusive and and everybody can get
10:48involved and that's what really the conversation as it starts like all of us
10:51coming together instead of like holding it as a secret and that's what we've been
10:55kind of working on now have you faced any design challenges in terms of making the
10:59transition to you know becoming more sustainable are you able to kind of create
11:03the same level of pieces that you are used to or is it just kind of a shift in
11:08terms of the aesthetic no the shift actually hasn't changed the aesthetic it's
11:13actually as a creative been more fun because you actually are like we're now
11:17we're taking like old garments and upcycling them like you know cutting up old
11:21garments and then repurposing them into another piece and or shorts or
11:24something and then also buying deadstock fabric and then you have like this you
11:29know you're creating with a limited amount a limited amount of like room to
11:33create and instead of like the whole world of like I want this fabric I need
11:36this I need this print now it's like here's five fabrics you have a couple
11:39yards of each like go to work and it's it's almost like being a kid again in a
11:44candy store so like as a creative we kind of love it yeah and it's it makes it
11:47exciting again it's not like and it gives it limitations and then it's
11:50limitations with a purpose yeah so it challenges you to kind of really think
11:53outside of the box which makes it even more of a creative process yes Flaviana you
11:59touched on your foundation earlier could you kind of expound more on the work
12:03that you've been doing when you started the Flaviana Matata foundation and some
12:07of the big wins and initiatives that you've been doing yeah I started the
12:12foundation like seven years ago as I said it is my a way of me giving back to my
12:17community that raised me and to be honest what I'm doing is not new growing up my
12:22father my mom died at when I was very young so I was raised by a single parent
12:29and growing up I saw my dad what he was doing he brought like cousins like just
12:34typical of extended African family and what he was doing was just helping them to
12:40get an education so and he always say if you want to help someone's kid you just
12:44need to give them one education so as I was looking back to see what I can do back
12:49home especially coming from Tanzania if a family can only take one child to
12:56school they will prioritize boys and not girls so I decided to give platform to
13:00girls to go to school stay in school up to date we have been able to help over
13:064500 kids it's it's been it's been a journey it's it's not easy as they say
13:17it's like I've never done any fundraising I just did one this past February so it's
13:23me it's just a commitment I decided to do it's like oh no I'm gonna do this for my
13:28people for my community and sometimes I was like why did I get myself because
13:35something is overwhelming it's like you're trying to share all these things
13:39that you're doing especially in the industry people people don't get it even
13:44with my model friends it's like you're sending them emails like just donate us
13:48even five dollars people don't respond to the emails it's like they don't care but
13:53they just yeah you're doing a good job I'm like okay come come on board and
13:57support it it's not just money it's even just to advocate for what we are doing
14:02but that didn't not stop me I kept doing it uh our girls now in their first year of
14:09college so I'm super proud of them I'm a mom of 15
14:13girls a lot of kids and um later on I decided I started my own nail polish line it's based in
14:23Tanzania super clean good quality and affordability because I saw the need back home it's like women
14:31didn't have access to clean and affordable nail polish and they were using all this nail polish full
14:37toxic yeah so I started a line and as we were doing a research when you're starting a business we
14:46realized that a lot of nail technician in Tanzania are men so it's a male dominated industry and I was
14:53like what's going on so when we launched last year we started training women and girls how to do nails
15:00and start their own nail businesses we gave scholarship to 10 women and in this 10 women six of them started
15:07their own nail saloon two are working under lovey my line is called lovey as nail technicians and two
15:15we place them in in different saloons and this year now we are training six more girls because I'm
15:21trying for me it's about the impact rather than numbers because you can train as many girls as you
15:29can but if if you don't see the growth if you're not bringing any impact in their lives it's just gonna be
15:36about numbers and the this September we are launching I'm launching a a sanitary pad line
15:44because a lot of girls a lot of girls are missing necessary up to five days of school when they're on
15:52their periods so every the profit we'll be getting from it will be providing sanitary pads for free
16:00in different schools in Tanzania so that's great great well we applaud all the work you're doing
16:08to impact girls on so many different levels Maxwell what are some of the challenges that you faced in
16:16kind of making the transition to go more sustainable with the brand did you feel like there was any
16:22backlash from the industry did you get a lot of support and kind of making that transition yeah I
16:27wouldn't say there was a lot of obstacles there was definitely a lot of support because people
16:32do know that it needs to change yeah a lot of people just don't have the balls to do it so
16:37I think the support came actually a lot more than we thought um the support was definitely there
16:44it was yeah there was no real obstacles it's really just the obstacle within yourself because
16:51you do have a business and to to jeopardize that business to do something like this is the biggest
16:57part like that's within ourselves like yes we're selling stores it's a hard decision to pull back
17:02by selling stores not make money take this whole approach on like upcycling and taking this whole
17:09social social conscious piece into effect and and really trying to live off of it you know like so
17:16you're used to operating one way to change that whole model from when you started to another way
17:22becomes a whole different ballgame and that was the biggest challenge but that's within ourselves and
17:26not to the public like that's just us making that change and just taking the leap and expanding yeah
17:31it's like 10 steps backwards to like you know for a huge huge huge jump and what's it been like for you
17:37since oh no we're still like the leap we're still we're still trying to take that leap okay it's a work
17:43in progress it's still working okay okay um what are you most excited about in the industry um we touched
17:49earlier on how this there is kind of this wave happening of the change of more brands and more
17:54creators becoming more aware of the need to you know make these changes um what are you most excited
17:59about um in your respective industries in terms of what's happening i think there's a lot of changes
18:05as we say especially when it comes to inclusion yeah and especially when it comes to doing good
18:12every brand is trying to do something to give back to their community and to just try to save the planet
18:19it so it's good as i said only if it's gonna continue and it's not just a cool thing to do
18:26right now yeah yeah that's what i was gonna say also like it feels like it could be a really cool
18:30thing and people talk about it but people don't really believe it but um what i've been excited
18:36about in fashion is like um diversity and and how open it's been and and i mean there's also parts
18:48of it that kind of bother me where it's just like let's add diversity so because it's the cool thing
18:53to do but there's actually been a lot of conversation and you know seeing models come in and brands come
18:58in and and just seeing as like part of us or like just seeing other even black designers or people of
19:03color designers just be in the conversation in a vogue or in a you know like it just that's exciting
19:09to see that's even top of mind is exciting in its own right um and that's part of the social social
19:15consciousness piece that's like you know really changing like you you actually feel part of it
19:20you know essence is adding a fashion house which was never you know never done as the first year for
19:24it so that's like again top of mind and it's it's making everybody really aware and at least for me
19:29like as a kid like you know you could be a designer yeah as a kid i didn't know it was to be designed
19:33i'm like oh i'm not i'm not from europe and i'm not like a you know white kid like it wasn't a thing
19:38for me but now i feel like everybody knows it could be done yeah just having these conversations is
19:43important you know so that we can all be aware of what's needed um so one last question um to all of
19:49the young designers we have a you know house full of young creatives here that are all interested in
19:55getting into the industry in various ways what advice can you give to them about how they can
20:01get into the business make their creative mark but still have a level of social responsibility
20:08i know a lot of times it's easy to kind of get caught up in the idea of creating and you know
20:12having that part of it but it's hard sometimes to also wrestle with the idea of also giving back and
20:17having taking a stance and making a social impact as well um so what advice can you give to young
20:22creatives about how to kind of balance that the two you know putting your work out there and
20:27expressing yourself while also having a level of social responsibility in whatever it is that you're
20:33doing uh i think uh people have to you start small start where you are even if you're changing one life
20:42that's that's huge because that one life will multiply so and do things that you believe in and not
20:49only because somebody else is doing it's okay to look up to people um but be the best version of
20:55yourself so it's like if i'm looking up to maxwell it's just okay i'm gonna learn something from
21:01my i don't want to be him yeah i just want to be inspired and be the best version of myself so but
21:08the first uh the important thing when about giving back or doing good is just do something that's really
21:15close to your heart not because you are a designer i think you have to just do sustainability only
21:19because you see public schools doing things around that area so find a cause that you really believe
21:26in and commit yeah and if you and if you believe in it it's it just comes organically and yeah i'll
21:33definitely say that like work hard you know figure out your lane you know work on yourself first because
21:38honestly without working on yourself and being true there will be no platform for you to help anybody
21:43else like you could try to be everybody and try to help everybody but unless you have your own
21:47foundation you're you can't there's no soapbox for you to talk on like you have to you have to put in
21:52the work you have to work hard then use that you know like if it is that one life and change just keep
21:57changing that one life or in that one life could just be yours and like changing your mental and and
22:03figuring figuring that out then your soapbox you could build your soapbox because sometimes people
22:08want to hear it without the work being done like you could scream everything but if there's no track record
22:12yeah you have to start somewhere nobody wants to hear it from you so like yeah start somewhere
22:16build your truth know your truth and you know speak your truth later on
Comments