When asked about their initial response to the outbreak of the pandemic, they both offered similar responses. Lex : Confusion, Paranoia and waiting on all the information. What exactly are we about to experience? Then it was not really clear where and when our next check was coming. Ifeoma : It was a bitter truth to swallow that fashion wasn’t an essential. There was fear and anxiety about the future but also understanding that it was all out of our control. Of course I sometimes missed being in front of a camera. About booking jobs, campaigns, shoots and client relations being affected by the pandemic, both responses were largely similar. Lex : Not as many brands were working especially when the country was on lockdown. After the lockdown was eased it was a gradual resurfacing. A lot of our correspondence and planning was done online and we endeavored to reduce human contact as much as possible. Ifeoma : A lot of brands were restructuring to adapt to the current situation. They were settling for home
content next to zero campaigns and I feel like that’s not going away, it’s here to stay. At some point, Lex Ash joined the world in experimenting with FaceTime shoots. Here’s what he had to say about that experience. Lex : I’d do it again, it wasn’t a special or exciting feeling per say, but it was amazing to create with someone I’d never met and probably would never have, Brazilian model, Rojane Fradique. It felt super natural, it helped that she what she was doing. It was basically us having a conversation, me throwing in a couple directions while we worked. It was really cool. For a lot of people around the world the matter of income was uncertain especially in fashion. How did these fashion professionals fare? Ifeoma : It was surprisingly good for me. I got a job I didn’t expect to, plus I run a business, Fru Girls (a thrift fashion business). It showed me that you can have a lot even with little. I am incredibly grateful for what I do have because I know a lot of people are going through a lot.
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