Nadia Masri: Navigating through the ugliness to find the untold beauty

Nadia Masri: Navigating through the ugliness to find the untold beauty 

I’ve known of Nadia Masri since I was 16 years old when I first dipped my feet in the fashion industry. As a confident, strong, and determined fashion blogger, she felt wise beyond her years. I would see her at all of Toronto’s Fashion Weeks events supporting the designers and wearing the latest designs. I watched her start her own blog, cofound a social media app, create her own magazine, and become the CEO of a company called ‘Perksy’. Being a young and accomplished woman, she seemed like the perfect candidate for an ‘Oh George!’ interview.

I had always dreamed of working for a magazine; the editing, styling, and putting together photoshoots appealed to me. More specifically, I wanted to know more about the organizational process it took leading up to a photoshoot and what happened afterwards, before a series of images went to print. Her magazine ‘Birdcage’ never launched because of hardships and financial matters, but regardless, it didn’t make her three year project any less impressive. I wanted insight from someone, from my perspective, who had a variety of experience of navigating through the ugliness of the fashion world to find the untold beauty. 

Nadia is currently living and working in New York City. However, being from Toronto she was home for a couple weeks and agreed to meet me for coffee. Immediately she was inviting and happy to share all of her experiences and ideas. I could tell right off the bat that she has a knack for the business industry and was extremely goal oriented, which was inspiring to someone like me who is new to the industry and in their second year at George Brown. 

After we ordered coffee and made ourselves comfortable, I was able to express my interests within the fashion world and more specifically, her Birdcage Magazine project. My first question revolved around why she chose to create her own magazine, rather than work for one. Her answer was big and bold and what really peaked my interest was when she said, “I wanted to create something with a more human look and feel.” Something that focused on people, rather than just products and fashion. “I wanted to do something bigger, something real and meaningful, and I felt like I wouldn't be able to get that anywhere else.” Knowing how judgmental and cliquey the industry can be I admired her determination, especially starting it at a young age of 23. The fact that she wanted to write about people in fashion who are making a difference rather than just spewing upcoming trends and printing pretty pictures was so inspiring. 

There was no such thing as a “typical day” for Nadia, because each day was different, bringing a brand new challenge. Being a creative type myself, I liked that each day for her meant meeting and working with new people and fighting challenges that she had never experienced before. She even expressed that as one of the more exciting components to her job; the diversity of the work, everyday working on something new. However, that being said, she expressed the downsides of the job were managing a million things all at once and mainly by herself. If something didn't get done on time, she was the only one she was letting down. In the end, we discussed how that can be tiring and taxing on a person, taking on so much all by herself. 

This launched me to ask what personal qualities a person needed for this job. Nadia immediately answered with “grit.” Followed by grit, she lists that, resilience, perseverance, and immense passion are all important and play a part in overcoming the trials and challenges that come with running her own magazine. I listened to her answer and told her that I thought it took courage as well. She laughed and definitely agreed, trying to remain humble. 

Listening to Nadia refer to the fashion industry as a “dog-eat-dog” word, isolated, and lonely, resinated with me. Not knowing the lay of the land, she faced a bundle of challenges. She experienced hardships with everything from logistical operations and distribution rights to publishing legalities. She states, “There's a reason why 9 out of 10 new magazines fail, and it's not for a lack of talent, passion, or good content. Logistically, it is hard.” She went on to say that she was extremely passionate, but the job was all-consuming. She eventually brought on a team for the components of the job she wasn't an expert in. Instead of taking off some of the pressure, it added stress to different areas, like the management of her new team. She was now a boss, the responsibility had transferred within the magazines dynamic. This confirmed the notion that instead of becoming a fashion entrepreneur, I would much rather start by joining a team; to be able to collaborate, delegate, and learn from other people.

Being a topic of conversation in class regarding the decline in demand for this job, I was interested to hear her take and perspective on the issue. Even though I had an idea of the answer, given that we are moving into a more digital and technological age, with the internet and social media at our fingertips. Her answer was somewhat expected, being that there is a decline in print media and magazines. However she added that digital media has increased fashions accessibility, which has increased consumption of content, in turn popularizing the industry even more. This has boomed the market for fashion startups, online media companies and blogs. If anything this answer motivated me to keep up with my social media presence and use it as an outlet for my passion for fashion, and maybe even start a blog. 

As our interview was winding down, I wanted to lighten the mood and ask who her favourite person or person’s to work with had been. Her answer was Stephen Jones. She told me that he had worked with amazing designers like Alexander McQueen and Jean Paul Gaultier and was most excited about the fact that he used to make the hats for Princess Diana. Apparently Jones only had amazing things to say about Diana and told stories to Nadia about his experiences of working with her. It just goes to show that the fashion world is vast and has endless opportunity to work with inspirational and creative people if you work hard enough to get there and make the most of all your experiences along the way. 

My final question was if she had any advice to give someone who is starting out in the fashion industry. Nadia told me to immerse myself in areas that align with my talents, passions, and values; learn as much as I can through various internships and people within the industry who I respect; and remain loyal to myself and remember my own goals. I believe that this is great advice for a person just starting out, to remain humble and not get caught up in the politics and vapidness of the fashion industry.

I learned a great deal from Nadia in just a short amount of time. Although I do not plan on starting my own magazine this interview offered me a tremendous amount of insight into the fashion industry and what it takes to make it. I admire her ambition to create something of her own and am inspired by her actions. I feel as though Nadia was the perfect choice to be my interviewee, she is knowledgeable, determined, goal-oriented, and definitely has grit.