r@e Gets Real: rae.jpeg For The Culture Crypt Issue II
In collaboration with Sekkle, The Culture Crypt sits down with rae.jpeg, the dynamic digital trendsetter to discuss representation, fashion and internet culture.
The Culture Crypt Issue II: rae.jpeg. Photo by Effiom Edet.
'Oh my God, Rae?!' We hear someone shriek as they spot her walking into the dimly lit cafe we’d organised to link up at. A fashion and beauty content creator, Rae has been recognised in the first few seconds of us meeting.
We talk over ginger beers, with the fan interaction still lingering. Her actual favourite drink is a Kiwi Strawberry Snapple, she tells me. I make a mental joke that I'll come away from this conversation with more than a nifty little fact like their famous bottle caps. But right now, what's true is how she conducts herself with an air of sweetness, warmth and sophistication, even off-duty—or rather, offline.
As a former stylist, Rae—or @rae.jpeg to you on Instagram—is doing the Lord's work, curating her wardrobe and yours. "It's very full circle," she tells me. The impulse to become a stylist stemmed from being her own mannequin and canvas. "When I was starting in the industry, it wasn't about me. It was about what I could do on someone else. I'd do my own hair and makeup, but I'd do my sister's too. I'd sew, screenprint. Styling was the next best thing."
On gracing the rebirth issue, she says she's honoured. "I feel like I've died three times and each time, I'm a bigger, better version of the last. I love where I am but I look back and think, 'this is cute but we've got to upgrade'." She oozes the sensibility of someone never quite happy where they’re at, but in a way that's admirably self-seeking.
Harder, better, faster, stronger. "I know Zino [Vinci] is covering too and I love him. We're both Aquariuses." I have to press for what this means as I'm not astrologically fluent. "Just the uniqueness. Being one of one. Does what they want. Headstrong—I think that’s me."
Is there a difference between rae.jpeg and Rachael then? "For people on the outside, yeah. People on Instagram, I mean. But my friends know me as Rachael. No one calls me Rae really. But they are the same person. Apart from getting done up, I don’t really change myself." The fan run-in is sharpening in focus.
rae.jpeg for The Culture Crypt. Photo by Effiom Edet.
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF JANAN JAMA / PHOTOGRAPHY EFFIOM EDET / CREATIVE DIRECTION NIALL SMITH / ASSISTANT CREATIVE DIRECTION & PRODUCTION COORDINATION KHURRAM SALIM RANAThe idea of 'the outside' and 'Instagram' being interchangeable is striking. I gather she means outside of herself, a space where the audience receives her. It's in how her username is typified like a file format. Like an editor retrieving the contents of a document, this is how we take her in. "But Rae and Rachel are a team."
She explains that, having studied Fashion Promotion at university, she had to "brand" herself. But she is hesitant to call herself an influencer. Together, we get into the semantics of what it means 'to influence'. If you were to create videos building and reverse-engineering outfits, with care to break things down, show how it looks and cite sources, it might not be influencing but it sure is close. "I just don't like the word.
But I should stand firm on it. Once, a girl came to me at a party and said, 'I literally wear every outfit that you've worn. Like I've specifically bought things you've told me to get!'" I didn't tell you to get it but it was so lovely." Eventually, through gritted teeth: I guess, on paper, I am an influencer."
wORDS JANAN JAMA / GRAPHICS RADHIKA MUTHANNA / STYLING JAZZY NEWNHAM / CLOTHING SEKKLEIt's definitely a long way from what she used to use the internet for—like most young girls. "My relationship with social media has always been fun. When you're young, you think the internet is just a playground. I'd use it to play games. Shout out girlsgogames. It was just a place to escape and entertain your hobbies.
Then Instagram came along." Has it helped? Has it hindered? "Well, it's now work. It's serious. Because I'm not that controversial with my words, I'm moreso controversial with my style. 'Just don't let me go live' is a running joke I have, though." The pivot from naive net baby to www dot muse is one many are making. To be good, you have to market yourself. But to be great is to bottle star power and brilliance. This balancing act is lightwork for rae.
“I’m not that controversial with my words, I’m moreso controversial with my style.”
Fashion icks?
"I can't be judgmental, because I wear what I want. But white skinny jeans on men."
Fashion inspirations?
@omgtiffanie and me."
Most coveted piece? (Can't be a boot)
"Why would you say that?"
Being conscious of your perception is something that is part and parcel of the influencer experience. The added dimension of "being not so beautiful in school" and wanting to "reclaim some of that negative energy from my inner child" is her fuel to keep going. In that way, the pixelated limelight can be self-affirming.
While your background and experience can steer your persona, she tells me: "It's your audience that will direct the way you're perceived or the kind of feedback you'd get. If I was on the wrong side of the internet, people might say, "this is not that cute," or "this is not it." I posted on Twitter and French people were telling me my outfit was bad! Like damn, they're cooking me in French!"
This keen, even global, self-awareness, of course, skews racial. On being a Black woman in the creative industry, rae has a lot to say. "My zine 'TerraFirma' focused on being the token Black girl a lot of the time. I've been at shoots as the only Black girl and I know a lot of Black women can say the same."
"On Instagram too, I might not get paid the same [as white counterparts] or get the same opportunities. So black influencers have to be a lot more tactical in the way they present themselves." She says all this without defeatedly accepting it as an abstract obstacle. She says it almost matter-of-factly, as a statement of the structural condition of the place. Knocking the wall with her manicured fist, saying 'no good', all with the self-assurance that she can overcome it. And will.
Her sense of self-presentation regarding fashion kicked in at around 13, she says. "Growing up in South London, at school, it was all about trainers. I always had the latest Jordans, Blazers, Air Forces, Timbalands… If it was new, I had it." But novelty isn't always king. She knows that what's en vogue can be fickle: "I wouldn't pay attention to trends. Things come and go so. Even if I don't wear it, I can style someone in it, wear it later, sell it on… And that's why I hate Shein."
She can relate to the rapid hamster wheel of keeping up. As she mentioned, South London schooling will do that to you. But most importantly, that nudge to taking extra care to present a certain way leant its way to self-discovery. "I felt like I needed to curate who I am and I had all these different tastes. That's where my versatility came from. Streetwear, almost masculine looks. And then I would get into more conceptual looks. That came from studying textiles and referencing, researching, looking into materials and what works together.
I started taking Instagram more seriously and would come up with concept shoots at home. I want to show people who I am." But this year, rae was approached by ASOS to be a PUMA ambassador. "I felt truly accomplished. Ever since I was 14, I've wanted to work for ASOS. Like as an assistant or a buyer. For them, not with them! It was my first big check from influencing. An amazing start to the year and an amazing birthday gift."
To be noticed like this, not only given flowers, but compensated, is meaningful. She has reach, this tells us. "Likes don't matter anymore! Now, when you see the engagement, it's telling you people don't have to like your shit, they've saved it, they're sending it out… I've had people tell me they've seen me on Pinterest. I don't even use it!"
It checks out that she has 'dreamer' tattooed high on her right thigh. "From childhood, I've had big dreams. Everything I said I wanted to do, I've done. I wanted this job, I got it. I wanted to be in campaigns and advertisements, I've been in them. I went to uni, I got a first. I made the magazines I've wanted to make, the shoots I've wanted to do. No one can tell me no”.
With this streak-free record, there must be some new goals to tackle. "I also have a podcast called rae.jpeg's positivity podcast. It's the creative release I'm looking for, to express my personality and share things that you can't find on my Instagram. I have a clothing line too. But it's time to go back to the drawing board and think of what I want to curate. I would also love to be on a billboard and since everything I've dreamt has already happened so why would it not continue to?"
rae.jpeg's positivity podcast is out now.
