Meeting Icons, part 2

Recently, while I was doing a pre-shop for a new style client, I ran into Jay Manuel introducing his first clothing line “Attitude” at Sears with a fashion show. As you may know, he directs  photo shoots on “America’s Next Top Model” and also hosted “Canada’s Next Top Model”. Perfectly coiffed as always (he is required by his ANTM contract to maintain his silver manicured hair), he spoke with clarity, succinctness, and passion.   His line has a conservative yet modern feel to it, excellent for business wear in that it can be kept traditional or styled with colour through accessories.  The short trenchcoat was my favourite – I liked the edginess it threw in with its industrial looking fabric and detail.

I, like many others, wondered why he chose a mass market retailer and a working women look when he is on a glamorous and ‘unreal’ reality show. He attributed it to his admiration of women such as his sister  who do all that they do, being moms and out in the work world… You don’t always have to do what is expected!

What inspired me most in his talk was that at one time he was actually a pre-med student before he ‘detoured’ into the fashion world as a make-up artist. While the medical field is honourable, he chose to follow his passion for fashion. (He was into opera too. Talk about a serious boy!)  Now, he travels the world working with the elite and talented in the industry. Who said you couldn’t be successful doing what you love? There are numerous examples of those who’ve done it, and many others who’ve had quite the journey with the aim to get there. It really is up to us. My own brother quit university after two years and worked at odd jobs before he decided to go to London (where his big sis was at the time), and stayed for film school. Some years later, he got a job as a producer at Disney, until he left to pursue another opportunity that appealed to him.

This kind of thing happens more often than we realize – going in one direction and changing course along the way because something else calls to us. I read about an author once who was into ‘serious’ literature but found that when she put pen to paper, “chick lit” came out and turned out better than her attempts down the ‘serious’ road.  Our creative voice can feel foreign to us when it is a juxtaposition to our everyday expression and interests or the paths we thought we’d follow. And in some cases, it might even feel embarrassing compared to who we thought we were, judging it to be “too fun, easy, playful, not serious enough” or not carrying the status or weight we thought we wanted. Of course, there’s the opposite too – starting as an actor and turning into a politician (think Reagan, Schwarzenegger). Not paying attention to such thoughts is what allows us to go down a road that may be far more authentic, ‘right’, and the achievement of our real dreams; not to mention – hold the success we may dream of too.