“I’ve never been the type of person to follow what everyone else is doing – I like being different. I was only 15 years old when I started a popular blog writing about children’s fashion and this led me to launch my own publication called Little One. I publish the magazine with my 17-year-old business partner and friend Saskia Peeters, who lives in the Netherlands. We made a connection on an online forum for kids’ fashion, but we’ve never met! We share responsibility for the magazine, from the editorial to the concepts for the shoots.
My mother was once a photographer and I’ve always enjoyed reading magazines and being creative. Also, English was my favourite subject at school. Through our blog, Saskia and I began speaking to top international photographers, who offered their services.
We print in the US and produce four issues a year. Our readers come from Europe, America and, of course, New Zealand. Our subscriptions fund our passion – the cover price is $20 and I get by on the money I earn.
One of our most recent cover stars was top international child model Harper Tillman, whose mother is P Diddy’s stylist. That was exciting for us because she’s quite well known and that issue got a lot of attention. I love kids’ fashion because it is fun and fresh. There’s so much you can do with a child’s outfit and some of the brands are amazing.
During my final year of high school, in 2014, I worked on the magazine during and between classes. I often had my phone taken off me by my teachers!
Parents all over the world seem to love reading our magazine and finding international child models is relatively easy. Many of their parents are our followers! There’s been a lot of controversy over child models, but the children in our pages never wear suggestive clothing and are always age appropriate.
This month, I’m embarking on another exciting adventure. I’m spending the rest of the year in Europe – and finally meeting Saskia! Then I’ll go to LA before returning home. I’ll produce the blog and mag during my travels. I never knew what I wanted to do with my life, but since starting the blog, I hope to work in media or public relations. My goal for the magazine is to get it into stores and collaborate with some bigger brands.”
As told to Aroha Awarau
