Profile: NAYVA

NAYVA is an all-female fashion tribe building a community. Made up of Angel, Esme, Faith and Jasmine, the young and vibrant group create short films about fashion and beauty. Built on a foundation of having fun and being yourself, the girls focus on experimenting with trends and reinventing Y2K and 90's fashion.

Can you describe your personal styles?

Jasmine: I feel like I'm still figuring it out. I like the high-fashion, sleek look of an off-duty model; recreating runway looks, but in a streetwear sense.  I'm also very inspired by the 90's and Y2K era.

Faith: My styles more like a tomboy. I'm really athletic, I like to play soccer and skate.

Angel: I don’t know how to define my style. I like to dabble around and try everything: baggy pants, tight tops, two-piece sets, Y2K, 70's styles - but I do like to be feminine. I like to do my hair and makeup to match with my outfit.

Esme: If I was going to define my individual style, I would say 90's. I'm very inspired by the 90's hip-hop scene.

What are your earliest memories of fashion?

Angel: I’ve always been into fashion, even as a little kid. I always wanted to dress up but my mum would love to put me in boy clothes. She told me I’d always get mad because I wanted to wear heels and the things that she was wearing. At a young age I was all up in my mums closet taking her dresses, putting on her heels, walking around and putting clips in my afro.

Faith: I've been into fashion since the 7th grade. I became best friends with this boy who went to a private school in a really nice area. I went to a public school and I remember him saying “what are you wearing? Ew, what is this? Gap?”, making fun of my clothes. At first, I didn’t really care what I wore, but then I started paying attention to my clothes. I still couldn't afford the brands he was wearing so I had to make all my outfits look cool, even on a really low budget.  That was when I first started getting into fashion.

Jasmine: It was when I was about 8 years old.  My mum used to model when she was younger, in the 90s, and she would show me all of her photos from the runways she did. I was fascinated by it and it left me wanting to delve into the arts and self-expression. When I was first starting to explore my style, I was in a similar situation to Faith.  I wanted to look cool but I had to do that on a budget. I would go to charity shops, DIY stuff and create a sick outfit.

What is it about fashion that interests you?

Faith: The coolest thing about fashion is that you can express yourself through it. You are your own canvas.

Esme: A different day, a different outfit. You don’t have to stick to one theme, you can explore.

Jasmine: Clothes are like armour. If you don’t feel like you want to step out the house, but you have a sick outfit on and you’ve done your makeup sick, or whatever it is that makes you feel confident, you then want to leave the house and you feel so much better.

Angel: With clothes and dressing up, it's fun and it's something that I feel like anyone can get into. Any person with any budget can get into clothes, enjoy it and feel good.

What’s the best thing about working in a team?

Angel: I get to work with my best friends every single day.

Jasmine: You get so much inspiration when you work with other people. If you work on your own, you can really get into your own head and start to question everything. Whereas, when you get a second, third, fourth opinion or perspective on something, it makes everything so much easier and fun. You've got a support system.

Faith: It makes everything so much less intimidating. Because you’re doing it as a group, you’re doing it together. If we were doing this by ourselves it would be a lot more nerve-wracking.

Angel: I would be nervous, but the fact that I have you guys by my side, I know I can do anything.

How do you come up with the ideas for your looks?

Faith: I colour coordinate. That’s how I put my outfits together.

Angel: My outfit picking usually takes a bit longer because I like it to be cohesive and have a certain vibe to it.  It has to match my mood of the day.

Esme: I feel the same way. It depends on the mood of the day and what make up I have on, because usually I match my outfits with my makeup.

What are your dreams for the future as a group and individually?

Jasmine: Our dreams as a group… World domination. NAYVA runs the world.

An individual goal of mine is to have my own line or to collaborate with a brand. I want to design some sick pieces of clothing.  I’m really fascinated by stitch work, so to be able to do that would be really cool.

Faith: We want to inspire and help as many girls as we can. Whether it be through a fundraiser or a festival, we haven’t figured it out yet - we just want to help everyone. Our most important message is for people to express themselves and be confident about it. Love yourself, in whatever colour, texture, tall, short, small, big, whatever you are. Just love yourself and express yourself.

I don’t know how I’m going to do it yet, but I want to be a spokesperson, or motivational speaker, to help a people with their confidence. Confidence is something I’ve always had since a young age but I know people actually really struggle with it. I want to make people so confident that they can do whatever they want.

Angel: I want to do something that brings technology and beauty together. I don’t know how to do it, but I want to dive into that world that I feel hasn’t been uncovered yet.

Esme: A long term goal of mine is that I want to create a charity in Mexico that gives back to the people; donate makeup, clothes and resources.