Growing up in the early 2000’s, hip-hop culture made a huge impression on Izabel Soucy’s personal style and fueled a love of fashion. “When you are young, living with your parents, the thing that makes you live a little is music. At that time, the style in hip-hop was very pronounced and different. I’d watch these videos and soak in the aesthetic of it all. Aliyah, Ludacris, and Nelly with the little band-aid he had back in the day. It was in those details. All my life I wanted to be different. To have these little details to my outfit.” Izabel would spend nights in her room just changing clothes, looking in the mirror and reworking looks. She saved up money working part-time and splurged on Timberland boots, which were arguably the it-shoe of that era. Unfortunately, her parents were not as enthusiastic about fashion and a potential profession in the industry. Knowing this, she reluctantly sent in her applications to become a police officer. “I didn’t really make an effort, sort of self-sabotage.” A Fine Arts program became their compromise but that plan too was soon thwarted after she began flunking out of classes. Fed up, her parents relented and Izabel enrolled herself immediately in Fashion Marketing. “I knew what I wanted to do all along.”
After graduating, Izabel took on various jobs to build her personal experience. “I said yes to everyone. I was just exploring and I tried everything. At first, I did a lot of unusual and off-the-wall stuff. I did more jobs that did not necessarily appeal to me strongly. I learned more that way.” At this time, a lot of the digital ease we’ve become accustomed to was not part of the creation process. Izabel learned the old school way, using polaroids to preview looks and preparing everything meticulously the first time around in order to get the shot. Through her years of gaining experience, she realized she thrived in commercial fashion work.
“I’ve worked with national retail chains for the last couple years doing campaigns and this is what I really love. To take a brand and redefine the perception of that brand in the eye of the public is very gratifying.”
Izabel specializes in cool. She provides a little twist that elevates and simultaneously personalizes. “I understand in building out a persona, there is this fine line between the authentic inauthentic; I am good at walking it.” Izabel finds her flow in taking a marketing concept from the client and delivering an angle or idea that visually rings true to their voice.
Just like in high school, she is still spending her evenings alone in her room listening to music and pouring over pieces of clothing.
“My friends will come in and see me staring off with racks of clothes all around me and be like, ‘Are you sane?!’ It may look like nothing but I am working. I am building out looks in my head.”
— Interview by Naeme El-Zein.