KEEPIN IT A HUNDRED
Victoria Sou has always been on the right side of the fence of creatives and young professionals.
Having styled for Jay Z,Selena Gomez, rubbed shoulders with J Cole and worked under Anna Wintour’s supervision for Vogue, Victoria Sou is now pitching ideas for global sports powerhouse, NIKE. I got to sit down with the young creative on Monday morning at the super snazzy American Tea Room in Downtown Los Angeles. In great taste she showed up not disappointing me with a black leather jacket around her shoulders, purely expressing the idea that fashion never dies and if its too hot for you, then don’t even try.
GODSPEED
Travel does something to you. It expands the imagination giving your own eyes unlimited vision. Growing up in the Bay Area and raised in a “high-priority” neighborhood by her mom. Sou got hungry for more than what was offered in the bay. She felt the need to work with like-minded individuals from places other than home. She was serious about seeing unfamiliar places to explore by herself as a youth,
“most kids would save up for clothes and shoes, I wanted to spend my money on travel. I realized now that I invested on the right things to help shape my identity”
She’d cut class to make trips to LA and it kept calling her back.
CANT ALWAYS LEARN EVERYTHING FROM THE BOOKS
Aside from being enrolled in University- she scored her first internship with Luke Storey, Kim K and Kendall Jenner’s stylist.
“I did returns and pulls for his assistants, untangle expensive jewelry, and be invisible on set. It humbled me but frustrated me at first. I had to put my pride to the side because I knew the things I was learning in the moment cannot be taught any other way”
Despite how unimportant she was feeling her hard work didn’t go unnoticed.The industry is small; she built her repertoire by word of mouth and what she is capable of producing at a rapid pace.Sou was asked to work at a CFDA for VOGUE under Anna Wintour at the Chateau Marmont. A month later, she worked on 3 back-to-back editorial covers and one of them was for Jay Z for Time Magazine “100 most influential people”.
GET YOURSELF A GIRL THAT CAN DO BOTH
The music and fashion world collided for Sou when producers, directors and designers alike would send her a glimpse of their projects they’re currently working on and ask for her thought and input. In fact, she sat in during long studio sessions or was on set even when it wasn’t her own
“I wanted to expand to being more than a celebrity stylist because I knew I had more to bring to the table- ‘conceptionally’ I didn’t want limits. I hate when someone pigeon holes me into 1 thing or 1 category and that’s not me.”
Sou was in Toronto and asked Gavin if he can link her up with Universal Music group. During her short stay there she said she got the opportunity to collaborate with her friend TG who was working on a multi-media series ‘Rawluck’ with Gavin and a cast of Toronto talent. Then she left before winter ended. When she took a flight to New York for a gig is when things started falling into place.
The thing that truly inspired Victoria Sou to keep going was her restlessness and curiosity.
“I didn’t ignore the light inside me, it kept me up at night because it wants out. I didn’t only talk about it but I did something about it. It’s not something you can cure like insomnia.”
Written by: Gelo Espejo
Photo credit: Garrett B.Carter
