Olandria Carthen was standing in front of a rack of clothes she had never seen before, frizzy hair and all, when the nerves finally hit. This was the fitting for her first Byrdie cover shoot, and stylists Matthew and Reggie, who she freely admits are ‘very extra,’ had assembled something that looked more like a runway runway than a magazine sitting. Fashion, the braids, the brands sending pieces from the runway, all of it coming together in a single set was the kind of day she had been building toward for years, and she knew it.
The rack that almost swallowed her whole
Matthew walked the room through three color worlds: green, blue, and a finishing run of burgundy and mauve wine. Each setup had a pre-select already pulled, and when Olandria finally laid eyes on the full rack, her first read was complicated. She loved the choices. She also had exactly one concern, as she put it bluntly: ‘Some of these clothes is big and I’m really little. So I’m like, you’re gonna swallow me.’ No notes were delivered. The girl approved everything.
One look in particular stopped her cold from across the room. Reggie caught her staring before she said a word. ‘I already know what you’re staring at,’ he told her. The shoes. D-squared had sent pieces directly for the shoot, pulled from the runway, and Olandria made a point of calling it out on the record, explaining that fashion remains a constant fight, that she still collects some nos from bigger brands, and that every yes feels earned. Fendi also sent shoes for the shoot. The day one supporters, Laquan, Brandon Blackwood, and Sergio, got their shout-out too, credited for holding her down when, in her own words, ‘chances were slim to none in the beginning.’
PR firm Align PR, specifically her contact Renee, got credited as the reason the Byrdie cover happened at all.
Blonde brows, wire braids, and a swan on her head
Glam ran parallel to the fashion conversation, and it was not a quiet process. Makeup artist Kamura went full editorial on the first look, adding blonde brows to a bare face. Olandria’s reaction was immediate and unambiguous. ‘I don’t want to go freaky,’ she announced. Kamura’s position was equally clear. The brows stayed. Hair stylist Aspisha built on the braid foundation with wire woven in and added a sculptural swan piece to give Matthew and Reggie the height and drama they had asked for. Meanwhile, nail and set artist Jinger, who had already finished the nail look, saw the wardrobe from across the room and immediately started building additional sets on the fly to match the outfits, working in jewel tones with duochrome accents.
Five looks moved through the day. Between look two and look three, Olandria sat down to two plates of ribs with extra sauce. Red Bull appeared shortly after. She described the arrangement without apology: ‘Am I in the middle of an editorial shoot? Yes. Am I eating a whole plate of ribs? Also, yes. It’s called balance.’
Reggie was officially fired from vlog camera duty somewhere around look four, following a pattern of prioritizing the monitor over the behind-the-scenes footage. He accepted the termination with characteristic calm: ‘I’d rather be in the camera.’
The earring that changed three times
For look one, a Laquan green build, the team cycled through two sets of earrings before landing on a final choice, partly because Olandria’s ear slit required a press-on approach. The spiky hair pieces that had been part of the original vision got tucked by the end. Practical, not precious.
By the final look, Reggie had stripped all jewelry from the frame entirely. No earrings, nothing. Olandria looked at the monitor, the team looked at the monitor, and someone said ‘that’s the shot’ once.
That was enough.
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