In this edition of Chit Chat Tuesday we are thrilled to get to know the stylist, Junior Style contributor, and mum extraordinaire Yvadney Davis. With over 15 years in the fashion industry, Yvadney Davis brings her signature eclectic style and positive creative energy to everything she touches.
JS: How would you describe your mothering style?
YD: I’m a very tactile mother, lots of hugs kisses and tickles, as well as positive affirmations like “You’re so clever!” and “I love you!” I want my children to look back on their childhood with lot’s of fondness, so this is the house that love built.
However, we do believe strongly in discipline, there are boundaries, warnings and consequences and we always follow through on our punishments, which mostly include no TV. That said we have a reward system where the kids get “Lightning Bolts” and 20 equals a treat—we’d rather focus on the positives than the negatives. They’re still so young.
The most important things we can teach the kids is to love themselves and other people. We promote global empathy, compassion, integrity, standing up for what’s right and knowing when to say sorry. We’re a Christian family and our faith is really integral to our lifestyle, attending church weekly, prayer, family time. We’re also raising the children to have a strong sense of themselves as black children, already having to tackle racism and the power and importance of women.
JS: How did you get into kids’ styling? Is it much different than working with adults? What would be your dream gig?
YD: It sounds like a cliché, but I got into kids styling after having my son six years ago. It wasn’t really anything I had ever thought of doing before I started shopping for him and discovered the most vibrant and effervescent industry. While I love adult fashion, there is much more creativity and innocence in kids’ fashion. Yes, kids can be temperamental, but it’s their unaffected sense of humour and joy that make them a pleasure to work with and always interesting.
My dream gig would be all budget ad campaign for a luxury brand, with a boundary-pushing concept and a full team. So amazing art direction, photography, set design, hair & makeup, models and of course myself— a complete team to create something that won’t get scrolled by, but people will remember and get excited by. Something memorable and preferably shot in a tropical location. One can only dream right?!
JS: Ok, bucket lists. What’s on it right now? More immediately perhaps, what are you and the kids up to this summer?
YD: Japan for the 2020 Olympics—we don’t really know where to start but we know we have to go. We’d love to go to Portugal this summer as a family, but also enjoy staycations in the UK, there is so much to see here. So we are thinking of returning to the Isle of Wright which the kids just love. My husband and I are headed to the Bahamas in the autumn for our 10th wedding anniversary. There is nowhere like the Caribbean. I can’t wait!
JS: Favourite way to unwind….what is it?
YD: A hot bath with all the minerals and salts, a nice glass of wine and a book. No phones allowed!
JS: Are there any trends that just get on your nerves?
YD: No not really, there is always a way to tweak it better. I think essentially no matter how twee or repeated something has been done, there is always a way to mix in cooler accessories, interesting colour palettes or play with layering.
JS: Do you have a ‘uniform’? Top three womenswear designers you actually do/would wear?
YD: My style is very changeable day to day depending on my mood, but I’m mostly seen in patterns, statement earrings and am very partial to a headwrap. I wear a lot of Asos because it’s next day delivery is dangerous and I love the ASOS white range. I have a couple of Vivienne Westwood pieces that suit my curves to perfection and would love to wear more. I’ve recently been introduced to Bellerose and love the quality, cuts, and interesting colours and prints in the collections. So flattering.
JS: Who won at the MET gala in early May? Ok, top three (too hard to choose)!
YD: Yeah tough choice, so no. 3 Chadwick Boseman, because of #WakandaForever and it’s so refreshing to see a guy step away from dark colours on the red carpet and pull it off. No 2 Cardi B, because just wow, I like someone who commits to the brief and she ticked all the boxes with a bump! No 1. Zendaya’s Joan of Arc chain mail was so breathtaking. It was fashion and art, without looking like a costume, stunning!
JS: What are you listening to right now?
YD: A lot of hip-hop and jazz to get me through the late nights— I often start work when the kids have gone to bed. My jazz artist on repeat is Christian Scott, hip-hop, trap, jazz all mixed in one and I had the pleasure of seeing him last year at the Love Supreme Jazz Festival.
JS: Top hidden gems to discover with kiddies in tow in London?
YD: The museums in Greenwich, situated in the most beautiful part of the city with so much to do and see. Horniman Museum in South London, which is an eccentric combination of Victorian taxidermy, musical instruments, an aquarium and interesting objects and finds from around the world. They have amazing workshops for little ones in other languages and even a petting zoo next door with alpacas. The Leake Street tunnel in Waterloo is covered in every inch with street art and graffiti, great for active kids to gawp at and skate through.
JS: If you could travel in time to any past decade which would you choose, what would you do, and who would you hang out with?
YD: I’d go back to the 1930s and be an artist in Harlem, hang out with all the poets, musicians, and artists like Zora Neale Hurston, Duke Ellington and Langston Hughes, I’d go dancing in the Cotton Club. I love everything about the Harlem Renaissance, it was a very special time.
View Yvadney Davis work on her website and be sure to follow along with her on Instagram @Yvadney You may also like Yvadney Davis Rainbow edit.
Images courtesy of Yvadney Davis – All posts copyright Junior Style Sales Ltd.
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