Singer/songwriter/actress/reality star Sophie Tweed-Simmons stopped by the Cosmopolitan.com office to recreate the opening credits to Sex and the City. While she was here, she sat down for a revealing chat about life in the spotlight and the unfortunate pressures that can bring.
Wait, look at her. Who are these haters saying mean things about her?
And if you haven't seen that snowy tribute to Sex and the City, please check it out now!
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Photo Credit: Kathleen Kamphausen
"I wanted it to be a casting couch," is how Adam Selman described the presentation of his first clothing line in New York this week. Selman, who is best known for co-designing Rihanna's River Island clothing line, wasn't talking about a pornographic scene, though. He dreamed up the clothes after studying the famously sexy covers Francesco Scavullo shot for Cosmopolitan in the '70s, '80s, and '90s.
Then, he decided to put the clothes — bra tops, slip dresses, bathing suits — on models lounging on a set that consisted of a water cooler and potted plants. "It's totally sensible," Selman joked. "But a photo shoot really is like that - lots of waiting around, lots of hair and makeup, people going in and touching stuff up."
Selman certainly knows his way around a photo shoot after working with Rihanna for so long. Though, "I actually didn't read a lot of the reviews," Selmam said of the River Island debut, which might be good given that the Daily Beast called it "A horror show." "I also think something with Rihanna's always going to create more controversy than if I show my own collection because they [say] 'It's skanky, it's nasty.' You're always going to get that with celebrities. It's hard."
"People love to hate," Selman continued. But, Selman said, Rihanna only makes him better at what he does. "She's constantly pushing the boundaries and going onto the next thing, which helps me as a designer say, 'Okay, I have to keep on top of it.'" Selman had trouble naming his favorite memory of hanging out with Rihanna but finally settled on the time he went to Barbados with her for Carnival. "We were hanging out in, like, a big Scarface mansion with a pool," he recalled. "She likes to have fun." Insert big wink face here.
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She's wooing a famous fan base with her sweet tweets and social media strategy (she just won a Shorty Award for her social media prowess). Cosmopolitan.com caught her on a momentary tweeting break just as she hopped off the party bus to chat growing a business as a teen, working with mom and living the dream.
Cosmo: You started Jawbreaking at fifteen, and five years later, you're running your own successful business for the teenager to early twentysomething demo. Tell us how you did it?
Silverio: When I was fifteen, I didn't want to get a real job, but I needed money before I started my junior year of high school. I was selling stuff on eBay, but then I started a jewelry company using polymer clay. I basically pushed it on MySpace, which was popular at the time, and then Facebook and Twitter and Instagram. And since then it's blown up.
Cosmo: As for your Twitter following, how did you attract such an audience?
Silverio: This time last year we had 3,000 followers. Now we have 20,000. It really blew up after One Direction wore our shirts. Their fan site went crazy. We have a lot of interaction with our followers and customers. I like to talk to them, help them figure out what they want to buy and what they should wear it with. You tweet them back, and it makes their day.
Cosmo: Your business started to really take off when you transitioned from jewelry to shirts.
Silverio: When I was doing jewelry, I had under 1,000 Twitter followers. When I turned 18, I started doing the shirts. I vended at the Vans Warped Tour, popping around in a van selling shirts. That got word out even more. I thought the jewelry was pretty big on the Internet, but once I started selling shirts I realized that now I was getting big. Sometimes we have 1,000 shirts to ship out weekly if we have a new line or a huge sale.
Cosmo: What do you think is the attraction to these shirts?
Silverio: I always try to have meaning behind every shirt. One of the top-selling shirts is 'Dream while you're awake.' Stuff like that that people find inspiring and relatable. Like the 'Boys Suck' shirt because obviously boys suck. I try to make the shirts from my own life experience.
Cosmo: So how did you get these shirts on the One Direction guys?
Silverio: I sent them free shirts, and they ended up wearing them. I cried when they wore "The Wanderer" shirt.
Cosmo: You and your mom do all of the designs, not to mention all the business behind the scenes. What's it like working with her? Plenty of girls at the age you started your business would rather spend less time with their parents, not more.
Silverio: My mom is the best momager a girl could ask for. If I don't like something she'll tweak it. It's really a back and forth process. Sometimes it's hard, and sometimes we don't agree, but it keeps us both grounded.
Cosmo: So do you share an office?
Silverio: I did everything out of my bedroom for a few years. My family got an office two months ago so now I have my bedroom to myself.
Cosmo: So no apartment of your own?
Silverio: It was an apartment or an office, and I decided to pick an office over an apartment.
Cosmo: Have you inspired other younger girls to have strong relationships with their moms?
Silverio: There are some people who tweet at me that their mom is their best friend, too. I'd hope I'd inspire people to get closer with their moms.
Cosmo: Which celeb would you love to see in your shirts next?
Silverio: Well I have four of the five One Direction guys. It would be nice to have Harry, the fifth, since everyone else is all on board. If they [all wore them at one time], I probably would not be alive right now.
Cosmo: What advice do you have for other young female entrepreneurs?
Silverio: It's very cliché, but don’t give up. Don't let anyone tell you that you can't do something. If you listen to that person, you will never know if it would have worked out.
Want more from Jessica? Follow her on Twitter.
Credit: Danny Roche
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Who isn't a fan of young love? It's happy, exciting, fun, and filled with endless options.
Now we'd like to introduce you to a new young love—one you might not be too familiar with, yet has all of the benefits of the one that gives you butterflies.
Young Love is an E-commerce boutique based in NYC, started by three BFF's: Mercedes, Seymore, and Claire. The site is a fresh take on trendy clothing, but the prices definitely won't break the bank. We're talking $9 to $275.
"Our consumer shops high/low, but knows quality; we just want to curate the ultimate cool girl's closet online," Mercedes explains. "And with my dad's guidance (Mercedes's dad started Club Monaco and he is Joe (Mimran) of Joe Fresh), we were able to do just that when we began this project nine months ago."
What we thought was especially cool about these three chic ladies is that they were best friends since elemetary school!
"One day we were having beers and started brainstorming fashion ideas. We were all in fashion at the time but wanted to give girls original clothing options somehow, since we would go to parties and everyone would be wearing the same thing from Urban Outfitters or Nastygal," says Mercedes. "So, we painted this picture of what our company would look like and got started on creating Young Love."
"At our company, I do all of the visual aspects and site design, while Seymore is our merchandising guru, and Claire is our copy writer and writes the blog. She really knows our demographic and has nailed our voice," she says.
What can you expect to find at this East coast, NYC-born dot-com? "A plethora of young, emerging cool designers that are local girls like us," she adds. For example, the site is currently home to vintage pieces that are dip-dyed from designer Brooklyn Unicorn and Love Leather, a designer who creates leather goods that are super poppy and fun."[To anyone who asks,] we describe the site as if Jeremy Scott, a floral garden, and Gwen Stefani had a baby together. We're all '90s babies, so we really play into that nostalgia. We just want to post what we would want to see," adds Mercedes.
So, are you psyched to check out shopyounglove.com?
Photo: Courtesy Image
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