Anna Koblish– So you grew up in Florida. Did you always want to move to New York City to do fashion or was that something that evolved with time?
Aiyana Ishmael– Um, it unfortunately is very cliche, but I've always wanted to do this. I don't know if it's like the Gemini in me or the Virgo-rising truthfully, but I've always been obsessed with magazines since I was little. My mom always subscribed to Cosmo and Teen Vogue, and when I was in elementary school I was obsessed with reading them. I was also weirdly obsessed with the editor's letter because the behind-the-scenes process was always very interesting for me. Those two were like my bread and butter - like obviously I shouldn't have been reading Cosmo at like eight, but I was doing it either way.
Then when I was in middle school I saw "13 Going on 30" at a sleepover and that changed my entire life. I was like, 'Oh! Jenna Rink, big time magazine editor, that's gonna be me.' I've always been interested in writing. My mom tells me I was more of a creative writer when I was little. I was writing fiction books every day, but once I got to community college, I started in journalism and that's when I officially actually started pursuing this as a real career. I just didn't really know the direction and how I would actually get there because I come from a sports family so my parents didn't really understand what a fashion magazine job even looked like. I really had to build from the internet, the editors I followed, and movies I saw [laugh].
Did the love for magazines and journalism come before your love for fashion.
I feel like they came at the same time. This is something I was just talking about, but I was just realizing how obsessed I was with modeling in a sense. Obviously, we all grew up with America's Next Top Model, but that was like my everything and I remember when I was like in the third grade, I was already 5'8" so I was very tall compared to other third graders and my mom's friend would always be like, 'You should model!' But I was like a chubby Black girl, I didn't think that was a real thing. I thought people were just being more kind to me, but I've always enjoyed that aspect of fashion - the runways and the photo shoots. When I got to college that was my go-to thing, like creative direction, leading our cover shoots and fashion spreads. I really enjoyed telling stories so the writing and fashion kind of blended together at the same time.
Did you ever model?
No, never, but I've always loved the idea of it.
I've always loved it too. Very glam.
Exactly. I think telling a story visually is so important. I was in theater so I understood the idea of telling something physically and not just with your words, so to me modeling was an extension of that. I just felt that I could never do it. Even when plus-size models became a thing, I felt like I wasn't the right kind of plus-size.
I know the feeling so well.
My stomach sticks out way more. I don't have an hourglass figure. I'm not the fat girl with the perfect figure. So that was my entire mindset. I was just like, 'I don't have that exact build that they're maybe looking for so I'm not going to worry about trying when I already love journalism so much.'