15 Minute Coffee
Fifteen minutes conversations designed to explore the complexities of the human experience with curiosity and empathy.
15 Minute Coffee
#49 - Anne O'Shea
Anne O'Shea is a fashion stylist and producer with nearly a decade of experience shaping the Irish fashion industry. As the Contributing Fashion Editor of Irish Country Magazine, Anne brings her creative vision to life through stunning shoots and editorials.
Anne talks about how her passion for fashion started with gel pens and handmade magazines, the lessons she learned from early mistakes (like setting off smoke alarms on set), and tells us about her upcoming event at the Irish Embassy in Abu Dhabi.
Follow Anne:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anneoshea/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anne-o-shea-15bb3a140/
15 Minute Coffee is hosted and produced by Alan O'Donovan.
For inquiries, email: alan@15minutecoffee.com
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I was steaming on a commercial for Grace and the ceilings were really low as a cottage. Set the smoke alarm off twice. And I've paid like €700 for shoes that got ruined on set.
Then I learned tape them with white masking tape, put a layer of black duct tape over it. How diamonds are made, Alan. Like yourself, Anne.
Okay, perfect. Okay. Once I start talking, I won't stop talking, so that's fine.
Perfect. Okay. My name is Anna Shay.
I'm a fashion stylist and producer based in Dublin and moving to London soon. Fantastic. Welcome to the podcast.
Thank you. Thank you for having me. I did a little bit of research, even though I know you already, but what did you find? I'm always curious so much.
Your Wikipedia whack. Yeah, it's whack. No, you have a.
You have a good online presence. Cool. Okay.
So my address isn't up there, though. I sometimes check that. Okay.
But what I did found was that you started in the fashion industry nearly 10 years ago. Yeah, I know. We're old.
Mad. Yeah. Why don't you start by telling us what interests you in that world and then how you got into it and we can go from there.
I suppose when you remember your childhood, you remember it differently every time. But I never really thought it was a job. So I found Emma Hickey and I used to make.
Well, we made. Definitely made one magazine out of like a five paper. And they're like, we use gel pens to draw all the pages.
And it was like editor's letter. Then there was one page of what's Hot, what's Not. Then it was another one was like, wear it, like, whoever Amy Winehouse or whatever.
And then I had like, her leather pants she's wearing for like 800 Euro. You can get in Topshop for whatever, which is mad. I must, like, root it out.
So I always enjoyed fashion and publications and reading magazines, but I just didn't see, like, the trajectory. Like, obviously a CAO doesn't have fashion styling. And then when I was doing my leaving cert, I was dead set on doing food science or nutrition.
Points for nutrition are pretty high. So I got food science. And then my sister had done a year's PLC in not psychology, but something to do with that.
Yeah. Before she went on to do her degree in psychology and she was like, ann, you should do it. It's a really good year out.
Then the course I found was called Fashion Industry Practice in Sally Noggin. And I was like, this actually looks really cool. It was definitely on the up.
Then as well. So I did that and then that kind of flowed into a second year and I was like, oh, I'll do the second year. But in the first year of that I had done.
I started assisting Grace Moore and she was working with Hosier and Saoirse Ronan at the time. So she was busy and we were. I was like constantly emailing my course coordinator, being like, I'm not coming in today because I'm working backstage with Coldplay.
So it was class. Yeah. And then obviously you're like for years you're just not making any money and you don't care.
You just like part time jobs or whatever. And then eventually I started to see all the different departments that you could end up in. So like a commercial stylist, costume designer, work in print, editorial, that kind of thing.
And I was like, oh, okay, I do really like this job. And now I've eventually seen like how you progress so you become producer, creative director and branch out that way. Just on.
On Grace, like how. How did. Was that you reaching out to her to.
She had done my course as well. Okay. And she came in like the October and we only started the September and we both had short blonde bobs at the time.
People still kind of mistake us, which is really funny because she's like half my height and it's just the two of us come up to you like, hi, big blue eyes. And they're like, are you sisters? Yeah. And I'm like, no, we're just morphing into each other.
But she. Yeah, I emailed her like I took out my phone under the table and I'm a goody two shoes. So that was a big deal.
And I texted her and was like, I'd love to assist you sometime. And Grace has like, since I've known her for six or seven years, does not take on any other assistance. She might have somebody as well as me, but she's like, I'm just not working with anyone else.
So I still assist her because she takes. She gets like big commercial gigs. Yeah.
So. And we worked on a film there for Netflix together recently as well. One thing I've thought about when I talk to people in creative industries, it's the balance between not burning out and because you're putting a lot of yourself into.
And even with styling, like you are putting a lot of yourself into the creativity process. And how do you sort of, you know, manage the business, that is, you manage to be creative and still have a bit of a life outside of that, I actually think. And my editor said this to me before, she's like, I know how important family and essentially your social life is.
And I was like, yes, true. Like the amount of things I don't post, like the amount of late night parties I go to, the amount of family, family and friend dinners I do. Like the other morning I squeezed in a breakfast with my cousin.
I just don't post about it but it's always actually a priority. I just see the day as like a full 24 hour clock. So because I've never worked a full time job, like I've had part time jobs where you're in from nine to six, but I see the day as like you don't have to start your day at 9.
If you were up till 2, you can start at 10. So I kind of just see it as a continuous stream of time and that's how I fit it in. Like that's how I took that month off this year and went to China and the Philippines.
I don't have a very. It's not a good thing. Like I'm not advising people to do this but.
But because I probably have the privilege of saying I just won't work this afternoon, I can kind of take back my time that way. The guilt though, I still have a huge issue with guilt of being like, I should probably be working now, but in my head I'm like, I can go home and work from 8 till 10pm tonight and make up the time. Yeah, that's not really how I like.
It's not really balancing it but it's how I fit it all in. But I think I'm at that sweet spot at 27 where I'm like, oh, in the next two years I know I won't be able, you know, your body just says absolutely not. Yeah, you need these eight hours to function as a human.
So I'm kind of just enjoying it now, putting all my energy into it and I'm like kind of reaping the rewards. So it's definitely worth it. But it is something I definitely want to work on is managing, getting a bit more rest.
I want to get a little bit of behind the curtain look at what is the sort of creative process for you to, to bring into issued. So I with an editorial. What's interesting is because I've worked as the contributing fashion editor for Irish country magazine for two years which is a job I pitched three years ago.
I just saw other publications in Ireland. You'll have to reign me in as well because I know I'm, I'm Going away from the topic, but remind me of the question. Yeah.
So I was noticing other prints in Ireland were kind of streamlining so that there was a, a look and a feel to the magazine. And now Irish country magazine has always been amazing at like Irish brands and Irish businesses are always at the forefront. Like they always, it's like an 8020 balance, whether it's like marketing, editorial, anything.
And we always want to give new creatives the opportunity to showcase. So obviously coming on as the fashion editor, it did mean I was doing the shoots, doing their four page write up and the covers. But like we always have different teams so I always use a different photographer, makeup artist, whatever.
But I just wanted to streamline it in the sense that like we weren't using the same brands for the COVID shoots as well as the editorials. And then I was putting cutouts in the four page feature as well. But that's, that's very much what I want.
And now it's kind of become, it's just like my personal preference and I kind of don't really know what my aesthetic is until somebody tells me and I go yeah, I suppose that is like I tried on a Simone Rasha dress recently cuz it was in sale, it was kind of like a baby doll style and I thought it was really cool, but I probably just wanted to own a Simone Rasher dress. And Adam goes, did you really like that? Cuz he was like that is so not you. And I was like, oh yeah, I suppose that just isn't so.
It's not until somebody says this is your style or a lot of people recently have said the magazine looks great, blah, blah, we love this, this and this. And you're like oh yeah, I supp do have an aesthetic, but that's very much because I'm producing those shoots. That's why they end up looking like what I kind of want them to look like.
Yeah. And then you might get for the Irish Rail one, a photographer messaged me on Instagram. The creative agency had suggested me and he was like, we're doing this.
They gave me, we had six characters, two couples. So he gave me four briefs and I was like, okay. It's very explanatory.
Like it was like eco conscious girl. I obviously put my take on the brief. So if you were to give five stylists that brief, we would all do it slightly differently.
But yeah, so when it came to styling, you don't really get that much time to do the creative part because a lot of it is in the Emails approving the mood boards and then you're kind of. You're also trying to fit that in While you're doing 10 other different creative things. So you have to be a bit more practical and commercially minded to get it over the line.
But that kind of happened with the editorials as well, because I did 14 editorials in two years. Not every single one of them is creative genius. It's just not.
They become. Can become a little bit commercial and then sometimes it's just based on what model was available. We had one shoot this year, that gorgeous one at the forty foot.
Somebody cancelled the day before, so I had to fly somebody else in from London. She ended up being perfect and I'm so glad it happened. But sometimes, like whenever I'm in an airport, I always buy a magazine in the country I'm in.
And I used to critique them. Now I'm like, well done, everybody. Amazing.
Cuz I know there was 58 hurdles. There probably was 10 dresses you wanted that didn't arrive. And if you could have your choice of anything in the world to put in an editorial or in a shoot, it would be so different.
But you just don't. Yeah. And sometimes an outfit gets prioritized for a VIP celebrity over your editorial.
Of course. I think the interesting thing about that is sometimes creativity is at its best when it is within those frameworks of the hurdles and of the things like. Yeah, if you were left to your own devices, it might, it might never happen.
You might overthink it. You might. Yeah.
You know, the way it's like, to an extent, creatives need that sort of, you know, pressure. Pressure to get it delivered. And it's how diamonds are made, Alan.
It's how diamonds are made. Like yourself. But that's, but that's how like the creativity comes out, regardless of the pressure or not.
I think. True. And that does separate the.
Like I always say to people trying to get into this, like, you've got to get on a shoot because you need to see what you're made of. And that's the part I hate is when the, when that message comes in on Instagram. I.
And then you may have five days before you do the prep and you're overthinking it and you're like, should I just go into town and check what's in the shops? And then you actually get your prep day. You go in, you're like, I have nine hours before the shops close. And you just get it done.
And you go, oh, yeah, that was fine. Like I had an assistant that's been with me for a while and she did her first big gig recently and I was like, how was it being like responsible? Because that's the feeling that you want to give to people cuz that's how they learn. And she was asking me a question just about filling out the invoice.
And she was like, she was like everything was changing so quickly. You have so many different opinions. And I was like, that's the experience you want.
Yeah. Like I remember being thrown in the deep end and I was like brilliant. Like I've set alarms off in houses.
Cuz we were. I was steaming on a commercial for Grace and the ceilings were really low as a cottage. Set the smoke alarm off twice cuz somebody kept closing the window and I forget to open it.
Like I spend most of the time making mistakes. Yeah. You know, but that's a.
But that's how you get to where you are. Like you don't, you don't just slide into any sort of thing. It's.
No, no. And I've paid like €700 for shoes that got ruined on set. Then I learned tape them with white masking tape.
Put a layer of black duct tape over it. You, you kind of show some this in, in every question we've, we've, we've talked about, but what advice would you give to someone? And I'm sure you've given plenty of advice to people coming in to the industry. But one piece of advice that do you think is the sort of the main.
Like an important nugget. Yeah. Other than don't do you know, I think the main advice would be arm yourself with a skill.
So if you are thinking of doing a degree, do it. If you're thinking of doing a trade, do it. It's not really a fallback, but I would just give yourself that leverage and then come in when you're a little bit more mature.
Like I went and it worked out and it was fine and I have great supports around me but I went like head first into freelance and I've had to learn so many difficult lessons and I probably don't acknowledge how stressful it can be, but I would just arm yourself with something and also take those like four years or whatever to hang out and have fun. Like it gets, all of a sudden it gets very serious and you're like oh, whoa, there's actually no going back now. Like yeah, I could go off traveling for a year but you still get to a stage where you're like okay, yeah, you are an Adult.
And there are responsibilities with just being alive. Yeah. Like, being alive is a responsibility.
So I would just arm yourself, and then you never know if you became a carpenter, and then you get into set design in fashion, how handy is the having. Do you know what I mean? Like, yeah, I just think arm yourself with something first. Yeah.
And I know you have an event coming up next year, that very exciting event. I'm glad I probably didn't end up talking all because I feel like it's the only thing I'm thinking about. Yeah.
Yeah. But it is. It's a huge opportunity.
Very honored to be a part of the production crew with Ashley O'Donnell and Jess Calavet. We are bringing. I think we have 18 designers.
We haven't publicly announced it yet. We will be hopefully next week. We're bringing those designers so, like, across fashion, so jewelry, accessories, clothing, to the Irish embassy in Abu Dhabi.
And we're hoping to do, like, well, we will be doing a sunset fashion show, depending on what time the sunset is. Of course, we have a performance and a huge opportunity to network. Like, we're inviting 400 people.
Wow. Yeah. So there's so much to it.
Like, there's the guest list. There's even just bringing in toilets to the embassy. Like, it.
It's a huge undertaking, but I'm really excited about it, and I think it's come at a time when I'm very ready to do it. Okay, thank you very much. Thanks, Alan.
Giving me your time, and, of course,
