NAME: D'Mahdnes Lavaughn Failey
LOCATION: CT/ NY
AGE: 18
STYLIST
- I grew up in Connecticut. A pretty small state, no real action with very little artistic ideas being created. I remember as a kid I'd sit in my room and sketch outfits that I wish I could wear and more than likely not be able to afford. I grew up with a single mother who spoiled me as best she could while handling to pay the bills and keep food on the table. I spent most of my childhood living under the influence of what others considered fashion. What was right and what wasn't. I tried so hard to "fit in" that I was forgetting about the true essence of who I was. So around the time of middle school I decided it was time to really show who I was whether people liked it or not. I would put on obnoxious things like bright colored socks and cuffed trousers as statement. I can't tell you how many people would refer to this statement as "Gay" because it was so different from the typical idea of what a guy should wear, but this was a statement that somehow said, "I'm going to be me and I don't give a shit!" I remember the day I came in and I saw someone mimicking this style that I had created. It was so rewarding because so many times I had been told what I was wearing was wrong. Even from family members. So, to see that was beyond words. I knew from that moment what I wanted to do with my life. And that was styling.
So around my later years in middle school people would start asking me my opinion on outfits or what not or ask if I was free to take them out shopping. Fashion, to me is not just putting on expensive clothing brands in a specific color pattern. It's feeling. It's breathing. It's owning and being. It's like a living piece of art. Every step in that outfit, every gesture you make in that outfit should make you feel different. It's not about "matching". It's the way one owns the garments they have on that sells your outfit. It's like smoke, it's very lucent, you can't grab it, you can't contain it. So, I started styling on the side. I would even get paid a fair amount for my services.
Once I hit high school, I knew fashion and styling was something I was going to get into in the future and I knew I would need connections. So, I spent a lot of time on Instagram networking and following other fashion icons and accounts that inspired me. Instagram became my personal outlet to another world that I couldn't get to from Connecticut. Quickly, others artists really loved my work and would follow back and even engage in conversation with me about what was my overall concept for creating the looks I had because they found them aesthetically pleasing. I gained such a large fan base from Instagram because I wanted to be exposed to more ideas and other artistic creation from other artists around the world.
High school was that "transition" stage for me. I continued making statements but reasonable ones. I transitioned from wearing things for the sake of reaction and started wearing things for the sake of art. I wanted to make fashion more of a professional things so I started taking in clients or family members out when asked or would sketch them looks for proms, graduations, etc.
Currently, I still work as a stylist on the side either sketching looks for clients or going out and shopping with them. Having a stylist who knows what they're doing is such an important thing because some people really would appreciate the help.
My life is still forever evolving but I'm so proud of how far I've come. From a child who was beaten down every time he tried to be himself to a man who continues to do what he loves forgetting all about what others might think
"Fashion, to me is not just putting on expensive clothing brands in a specific color pattern. It's feeling. It's breathing. It's owning and being. It's like a living piece of art." - D'Mahdnes L. Failey
You can contact me via email: [email protected]
Instagram: @dmahdnes.jpg
Twitter: @dmahdnes
MODELING
- I wouldn't consider myself a major model. Yes, I model but I wouldn't consider myself a model. Before considering yourself as a specific art I feel you must be well rounded in that art and it must be your focus. I'm still learning. I started modeling in high school. I was contacted by one of my Instagram followers who was looking for promoters and wanted a fresh face to model some of his pieces. We exchanged emails and addresses and be sent me a few promo products to model in. This was one of my first ever photo shoots. I was so nervous. I wasn't sure how to use my body or face because taking a selfie and modeling are two completely different things. However, I got on set and I felt so at home there. It made me happy being in front of the camera in front of talented photographers (Shout out to photographers because they don't get enough credit). So ever since then I'd connect with local photographers, friends or local designers in need of a portfolio and model for them. I enjoyed this because I felt so free on the set. I love modeling. It's not about having a pretty face when modeling. I think it's more of selling your flaws and accentuating your inferiority as well as your beauty creating a great work of art. I recently started connected with more photographers in the Connecticut area in hopes to in the future go further with it.
You can contact me via email: [email protected]
Instagram: @dmahdnes.jpg
Twitter: @dmahdnes