Out With The Old, In With “The New Exclusive”
Our Founder, Tiona, had the idea back in November. She, together with our Writer and Director, Chelsea, and friend and Editor, Alyssa, wanted to create promotional content for Industry Collective, yes, but they also wanted to make something that creatively and artistically captured the heartbeat of our brand: creating space for the undefined in a way that is exclusively inclusive.
They tried shooting a month later and ended up with vignettes shot on an iPhone. It was a bust, mostly.
At the start of 2021, they started thinking more seriously about the narrative and how they could tell the brand story while still allowing for creative interpretation. It came about naturally as they talked about this version of exclusivity we creatives had all encountered that had always excluded us.
redefining exclusivity
We are well acquainted with this traditional definition of exclusivity: wealth, status and luxury tied to old money, something most of us don’t have and never will. We are used to the systems and people who always received that luxury — the old, cishet, able-bodied, white men — but the purpose of this project was to shake things up. To say that we would no longer accept not having a piece of our moment.
They found a location that captured the opulence of this more traditional ideal. Glamorous and beautiful, but pieces within the mansion that reflected the other side of exclusivity. The side that revealed it to be outdated, out of touch and, frankly, uninspiring.
They chose to fill that space with our faces, with our versions of luxury, our hairstyles that were deemed unprofessional and our style that was deemed too much.
Friends of Industry Collective were brought on to the project — creatives who were also feeling siloed due to quarantine, creatives with full-time jobs who worked on the weekends to make this — to produce something purely creative and highly impactful. To come together and create art outside of work. To capture a redefined exclusivity, a luxury that was a state of mind and not a label.
Generational wealth and a luxury gatekept by the old guard can only do so much, can only inspire and exclude and last for so long. We wanted to tell a story that not only exposed this old, outdated elegance, but introduced the new exclusive.
WE ARE THE NEW EXCLUSIVE
Our community showed up and showed out, boldly and unapologetically as themselves. The point was to let their personalities shine through and add color and modernity to this new space. To inject life into this space with what we’re bringing to the table. To paint it with our presence, with life and playfulness and eclecticism.
No more of us being boxed out, purposefully, by design. No more of being kept out of this exclusive. Instead, we’re saying that all are welcome. We’re declaring that we’re confident and self-assured of our place and belonging, the rightful inheritors of this new exclusive.
We’re saying, “The new is here, and we’re not going anywhere.”
And we’re so excited to share it with you.
Watch “The New Exclusive” here.
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS
WEAR BRIMS
Rotari
Dame Beauty
POC Beauty
While Entertaining / To Be Hosted
Hue You Know
Industry Collective
Michael Tessler / Multihouse
Second Home
Dr. Tammy and John Langley
About the Contributor
Shine graduated from the University of Central Florida with a BA in Creative Writing. Her highest aspiration is to use what she learned from that degree to write and produce her own films, shorts, and TV shows that will tell stories of the underrepresented and marginalized groups, and to give a platform and make space for members of those groups to tell their own stories. Shine’s hope is to see a cultural shift brought about, in part, through accurate and positive representation in media. This year, Shine began her journey as a Freelance Communications Manager for entrepreneurs and small businesses that share the vision of diversity, inclusion, and social justice, taking on blogs, newsletters and social media copy so small business owners can focus on growing their businesses.
You can find Shine on Instagram @sarahjoy.co.
