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Apr 2020
This is the most difficult newsletter I’ve had to send out this far. And frankly, we doubted whether we should be sending anything at all. In times like these, I highly doubt that people are waiting for what Olaf Hussein has to say. It seems a bit redundant for a fashion brand to say anything right now.
Yet, here we are. I have this platform, and I want to use it for the good. I’ll leave the in-depth analysis to the experts. I want to focus on what I see around me. The various ways it affects us on a personal level. Among my family, friends, colleagues, neighbors, and all the other people that are usually part of my daily routine. I think everyone is affected in one way or another. I’ve read about people getting sick, losing relatives, losing their jobs, and potentially losing their house. All that trickles down to others.
But at the same time, I see people getting creative. I see new ideas coming to fruition. I see people helping each other, picking up hobbies, and making music that some might consider beautiful.
It’s interesting to see what a human mind can do in times of need. But I hope you do see that a lot of these new initiatives come from a place of privilege. Look at the people who are alone, the people who work at our hospitals, and the kids who jeopardize their own health to keep our supermarkets filled and safe. How do we find a substantial way to support them?
Not everyone can be a hero. But you can help the heroes by doing your part. Supporting local businesses, freelancers, and other small entrepreneurs who might be unsure about how they’ll come out of this. Use the privilege of living in this era by FaceTiming, Zooming, or Skyping with lonely people. Order something small and have it delivered to a close friend. It can really be that simple, and sometimes a little effort is all it requires.
What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger. So I hope that everyone who’s going through this and comes out healthy will learn something from it. Am I living for myself? Or am I able to share my wealth (in whatever form) with others? Let’s use this time to reflect and reset. Support those who need it and stay safe. We’re in this together.
Olaf.
Tiffany Chung
29 Nov 2021
Text by Tiffany Chung
29 Nov 2021
“In terms of knowing what I wanted to pursue in my career, it was from being at fashion events and afterparties. I wanted to do more than just be a guest. I knew I’d love to be part of it, do nights, program nights, DJ, and everything else. But my actual start in music was just from being around musicians in general and having a community of musicians that gave us the opportunity to DJ for them, produce for them, and get immersed in their own careers."
“We were signed to the same agency when we first started modeling. I was 19 and Ashton was 16. Going to Milan, Paris, all these shows in Europe and America, we just created this bromance from traveling, living, eating, and working out together. Being like-minded individuals, we decided to join forces to create something."
Photography by Travis Gumbs.
With Ashton.
“Whether it’s business, creative, or financial, we both do the same stuff. In terms of role and character, I’d say Ashton is the good cop and I’m the bad cop."
“We were doing a lot of radio shows in London, both commercial and underground, NTS, Rinse FM, Capital XTRA and BBC Radio 1Xtra. We had these small residency series off the back of DJs that were already on those shows and what we wanted to do is to create a show within those spaces but realized very quickly that we had no creative freedom. So, we decided to just make it ourselves and do something that feels a bit more us. Be in a position to pick the guests and tailor it to our own interests. We just wanted to give people inspiring, insightful conversations from people that kind of look like us and speak like us."
“Not really. I just want to keep carrying on with the broadcast and keep creating spaces for me to breathe in when it comes to fashion, music, and lifestyle. Everything else is just up to destiny. I'm just happy with where I'm at now."
“Easily sport. Music is something I listen to every single day. Fashion is something that I have to think about in order to get ready. Sport is something that I do when I have the off time, it's a bit of a hobby, and I'm definitely not making any money from sport haha."
Fashion is something that I have to think about in order to get ready.
Self care.
“Worst advice is probably somebody telling me somewhere along the line of ‘this is impossible, and you can't do this’. The best advice was ‘move towards it’. It wasn't even advice; I was speaking to one of my mentors at the beginning of the year and saying how much juice and energy I have at the moment and how much I wanted to create. His response was actually just ‘move towards it’ and it made me realize that even a step forward is better than a step back, even if it's a tiny step forward. "
“Prada. I loved Prada since I was a child. From the age of 12 to 15, I wore Prada to school. I didn’t go to an affluent school where people had unlimited pools of money, I saved up so much money to buy it. So, it was one of those full circle moments working with them. It wasn't something I did for the paycheck, I'm proud to wear the stuff because of the child in me that just loved to wear them in school."
Working with Prada.
“My staple item would probably be jewelry because we change clothes. So, I would say somewhere between my Cartier bracelet and my Rolex."
“At the moment:"
“Greenwich, probably. I grew up there and it’s so different anywhere else in London. It’s not super fancy and it's not super hood, it's just normal. It’s so diverse, it’s got both historic and new monuments, and the O2 arena. It’s a good balance."
“Berlin. We love Germany. We haven't been able to go back for a while, but we’ve been fortunate to play a few things in Berlin. It's not like there is a massive hip hop presence but the kind of people there just love the music and are there to have a good time."
“The Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg. I’ve never been there but I’m dying to go. It's incredible, from the layout of it, to the chairs, the light, acoustics, the whole thing. The design and architecture make it the best venue in my opinion."
“Person. That’s a hard one. Can I say God? I’ll say God."
“A place that inspires me is London. Naturally. London has so many success stories whether it's football, music, fashion, community lifestyle, culture, business. So many people have made it here."
“In terms of a thing that inspires me, I would probably say, it’s an idea. The idea of achieving everything. Knowing that you could possibly achieve what you put your mind to. Even if you haven’t achieved everything that you want to achieve or know how to exactly, it keeps you going, getting to one hurdle, conquering it, then another. Then you realize everything can be done. I think that is so inspiring."