When I was younger, there were fewer things that made me cower more than group projects, team building activities, and meeting new people in unconventional social situations. These uncomfortable feelings were partially borne from years of fostering a crippling social anxiety, but more so, I believe they were accredited to being a perfectionist afraid of sharing the ~shine~ with others. That’s why it surprised me more than anyone else, that I spent my formative years (read: my early twenties) fostering relationships, and building a team rooted in honest, shared successes.

Photos by Desy Cheng

While it has shaped my entire being, I recognize that this industry that we have found ourselves in is extremely peculiar. ‘Influencer culture’ – be it blogging, Instagramming, or YouTube-ing – are incredibly insular. Communities formed on the basis of being inclusive and all-encompassing have ultimately increased the divide between “creator” and “follower”; perpetually elevating those “on top” and separating groups in tiers: further highlighting a hierarchy and a divide between the creators and their respective audiences.

Generally, I have witnessed the concept of collaboration through new, digital forms. Now, “collaborations” are heavily focused on numbers, statistics, likes, and shares. The digital landscape is built on the concept of social reach, and people are gravitated towards those that have that pull. At it’s finest, collaboration involved creative minds working together to produce and create something tangible. But currently, collaboration is sought after for cross-pollination, social clout, and not necessarily for creative insight and innovation.

Collaboration, in the truest sense of the word, is more than just a cameo; it’s about the experiences. By creating content that goes against the grain, we attempt to challenge this hierarchy and revisit what it means to truly create work in collaboration with someone else. The social reach that ‘cross-pollination’ attempts to achieve — likes, shares, and statistics — comes organically. This also applies to tackling sponsored content; in collaborating with people with ideas you believe in, sponsored content doesn’t seem contrived or forced. Instead it is an added element — another dimension of collaboration — that occurs naturally when different perspectives come into play.

In partnership with Parsel.me, we paired up with the Ten Spot and To The 9s to create two videos, all with the intention of showing how important collaboration and inclusion are in the digital sphere (seriously, two (or more) heads are better than one!). The project, which focuses on creative collaboration manifesting in unconventional places, encourages audiences to rethink YouTube, a space not typically susceptible to co-collaboration, as a progressive outlet where fashion “personalities” can work together to create bold and innovative content. So, in the spirit of true collaboration and going against typical YouTube video formats, this short film stars Cassie and Ricci of Vancouver-based fashion channel To The 9s as they prepare for a summer of well-manicured nails courtesy of The Ten Spot.