It’s a very Cherry world…
Pip Artus embodies the definition of a creative: she’s a dancer, singer, artist, model and more recently, eyewear designer. As an extension of her creativity, Mount Maunganui-based Pip launched Cherry Eyewear in 2019 with the label being born out of her love for eyewear and fashion. Using social media to promote her brand and draw inspiration, Pip has forged her own path as a creative in many different endeavours and uses Instagram in particular to portray her authentic sense of style and self. As one of the faces of Miss FQ’s ‘Love Fearlessly’ campaign with Converse, we caught up with Pip to find out more about her style and how she has navigates the world of using social media for both business and personal growth…
Can you talk us through your personal style and how you use this to portray your sense of self to the world?
I feel like my personal style is not really restricted to anything. If I see something that I like, I will just run with it. I like to be a little bit different and have my own flair, without restricting myself to one trend or style – I feel like it’s something I have always done since I was younger.
The journey to self-love is ever-changing and growing; can you talk us through your journey so far?
My self-love journey has been a very long and hard one and I think I am still growing. But as I have gotten older, I have learned to love certain things about myself especially in terms of my looks. If anything, I fixated a lot on my body and at the moment the body positivity movement has really changed [my thinking] a lot. Learning to love yourself and your body is so important.
What’s your self-talk like?
I am still learning how to have positive self-talk, which is hard to say. One of the main things is that I just remind myself that this is who I am and that I am trying my best.
When it comes to your career and the creative work with Cherry Eyewear, how do you stay true to yourself?
For my career and creative side it has been easier to stay true to myself because I had such a clear vision with the brand starting out. I knew that if I stayed true to creating something I love and am really excited about then maybe people will receive it in the same way and they have, which has been really amazing. It is definitely easier to hide behind the brand, which in itself has definitely given me a confidence boost.
How do you navigate using social media as part of your business?
Social media is the main platform I use for Cherry Eyewear and it has allowed me to create a story and portray this cool and confident persona for the brand. It’s been such a great tool and such a great platform for small businesses and really has allowed me to understand the way that people interact with a brand and want to be part of it.
Do you feel the same sort of freedom and confidence using social media personally?
I think when it’s your own social media platform, people are a lot quicker to judge and it is easy to take it too seriously. But as I have gotten older and now feel like I am definitely a lot less concerned with portraying a perfect image. The validation of social media is something I feel like I am a bit more free of now.
How do you think having confidence in yourself and your creative abilities has impacted the way you support other women and their work?
I think social media has really contributed a lot to the empowerment of creative women and women running small businesses and the idea of creative girl gangs gets talked about a lot. I love being able to use my platform to talk about my friends and what they are doing on social media – it’s great being able to support their creative endeavours but also tell your friends that you’re proud of what they do.
Pip wears two-toned Chuck Taylor All Star High Tops from the ‘Love Fearlessly’ collection.
