Get to know Sister Party: The fashion, makeup, and film gurus of YouTube


By Lindelwa Masuku

Welcome to this week's edition of 'From The Expert'! Today we have the pleasure of featuring Sister Party, a creative sibling duo composed of Yaone and Olerato.

The sisters are the hosts of a YouTube show that features sewing DIYs, styling segments, editorial makeup tutorials, high fashion unboxings, short films, interviews, and occasional lifestyle content. 

Sister Party's core values are to highlight the many careers behind the scenes within the creative industry and champion Black, POC, queer, and femme bodies. With a quirky, cool, and comical edge, Sister Party is essentially ‘a haven for the creative girlies’. 

In this interview, we talk to Yaone and Olerato about their inspiration for creating Sister Party, how they navigate the creative space as siblings, and some of their notable collaborations. They also offer valuable insight into communication and compromising in a business partnership.

Sister Party, Yaone and Olerato Instagram Post

Can you tell us a little bit more about Sister Party?

Sister Party is a creative sibling duo comprising of two sisters who host a show on Youtube. The show showcases sewing diy’s and styling segments , editorial makeup tutorials, high fashion unboxings as well as short films, interviews and occasional lifestyle content. 

The show’s core values are to shed light and insight on the many careers behind the scenes  within the creative industry that many people may be unaware of. The show also aims to champion Black,poc, queer, femme bodies within the industry as well as provide a platform for them to showcase their fashion, makeup or film related talents. 

With a quirky, cool and comical edge, we believe Sister Party is essentially a haven for the creative girlies we wished we saw more of growing up.
 
2. What inspired you to create Sister Party, and how has it evolved since its inception?

During the 2020 lockdown Yaone was working in an unfulfilling PR job and Olerato had just graduated from UCT and the question “what’s next” was on both of our lips. 

Ole had found comfort and interest in editorial makeup looks and had used it as a pastime during the long quiet lockdown days and Yaone had always taken a liking to sewing and making clothes.

It was one day that we decided to join forces and create a youtube channel where we could both express and explore the bounds of our creativity in a unique way.

It has evolved tremendously; we are so proud of our baby. From the brands we’ve worked with to the access it has granted us within the industry. The great minds we’ve been able to work with and alongside, to the experiences and lessons we’ve learnt both personal and within the business.

The #SisterPartyCult that is so supportive and makes us feel seen and heard and makes all our efforts towards making each episode happen worthwhile. We’re just so grateful for this idea that was put in our hearts and for the resources to be able to carry it out to the best of our ability.

Sister Party, Yaone and Olerato Youtube Channel

3. How do you navigate the creative space as siblings, and how do you balance your individual visions with the overall vision for the platform?

It is such a safe, secure and reassuring feeling being able to work alongside your sibling and knowing someone always has your back. There’s a certain level of understanding that we have on things that we don’t take for granted and thus makes working together a lot easier. 

Because we work and live together we’ve had to really work on our communication skills. We have had to let our guards down and put our pride aside to let each other feel seen, heard and understood. We’ve also had to set and respect each other’s boundaries so our work life doesn’t affect our relationship as sisters and vice versa. 

Because we grew up together, consumed a lot of the same pop culture and shared a lot of the same experiences, our visions for the platform differing mostly boil down to our different personalities. 

We are always open to hearing each other’s ideas and try to healthily compromise where we both can depending on how passionate one may be about a certain idea
 
Sister Party, Yaone and Olerato Instagram Post

4. What are some notable collaborations that you have done, and what was the process like?

We have a healthy ongoing relationship with Levi’s Haus who dress us from time to time on the show. We’ve also been dressed by established local designers such as Connade by Shelly Mokoena, The Bam Collective and Happyville to name a few. 

We love supporting local creatives and you’d be surprised how many clothes one episode of Sister Party requires (haha). We have also worked on multiple projects with Sportscene which we were incredibly honoured to be a part of as well as Thebe Magugu for his 1969 Club Pompeii party. 

We approach each collaboration with the same zest and work ethic thus making the process quite similar. There’s a considerable amount of planning, brainstorming and liaising before the project starts and ensuring we bring our A-game on the day of shooting.
 
5. How do you decide which collaborators to work with, and what do you look for in a partner?

We aim to keep the core content of the channel centred around fashion, makeup and black/poc, queer/femme bodies in film as we’d like to one day be a reputable platform in the industry when it comes to those areas. Energy never lies so we also look for people who align with our brand which is colourful and upbeat. 

We want to champion the above mentioned people and their craft as there aren’t enough black queer femme POC individuals in the industry and we’d like to amplify their voices while hopefully giving young black people the information and inspiration to enter the creative industry. We vehemently believe that representation matters so we try to provide the lens for young  people like us.
 
6. What advice would you give to young creatives looking to get into the fashion and editorial space?

We live in an age of readily accessible information and we have the tools to showcase our talents on our own terms without needing massive amounts of capital with social media platforms. It’s imperative to use these platforms to our advantage. 

Artists often don’t treat their creativity as a business and the best advice we can give is to approach your craft as a business: think of ways to commodify your passion, implement a strategy and constantly do your research to improve.
 
7. How do you manage and prioritise your time, especially when balancing multiple projects?

Ole is really good at executing daily to-do lists. Yaone is really good at strategizing on a big picture scale thus between the two of us, we have all bases covered and can achieve more. We pick up where the other sister falls short and try to be gentle and understanding with each other to promote productivity and fulfilment with the work we do instead of feeling fearful and anxious about what needs to get done.

Sister Party, Yaone and Olerato Youtube channel
 
8. What are some of the tools or techniques you use to create high-quality content & editing
using only your smartphones?

We use apps such as Inshot and Canva for the bulk of our editing.  Some of our very talented producer friends make music specifically for the show. We edit everything on an Iphone and alternate filming content on the Iphone 14 or our recently acquired Canon G7X III. 

We are both storytellers and work to the strengths and full capabilities of our editing tools. Ole enjoys editing the bulk of the raw footage and Yaone enjoys perfecting the finer details. We also do final edits together to ensure our shared vision has been effectively portrayed.
 
9. How do you ensure that your platform promotes diversity and inclusivity in the industry, and what impact do you hope to make through promoting black, POC, queer, and femme
creatives.

One of our core beliefs is that representation matters. We believe that in order to inspire people to achieve, they need to see people that look like them in those positions. Having worked in the fashion industry for a couple of years, we often don’t feel represented in the spaces we occupy and aspire to work in. 

Sister Party is also a platform we devised for ourselves to seek out and interview more  Black, POC, queer and femme individuals working behind the scenes in our field. We figured that if we were inquisitive about these topics, there must be other young people seeking this information as well. 

We hope to open up the industry and give more marginalised individuals a space where they feel seen, recognised and celebrated.
 
10. What are your plans for the future of Sister Party, and where do you see the platform in five years?

We’d love to expand into the creative industry in Africa as well as marginalised creatives in the African diaspora. We have plans for Sister Party to be an undeniably reputable voice in the fashion, makeup and film industries. 

We’re making Sister Party more than a Youtube channel and would love to reach a point where our platform gives back to the community. We don’t want to divulge too much but watch this space because we’ve genuinely only just begun!

Sister Party, Yaone and Olerato Instagram Post

The sisters have evolved the platform since its inception, and they attribute its success to the great minds they've worked with and alongside, the experiences and lessons they've learned, and the #SisterPartyCult that supports them.

Their approach to collaboration is impressive, and they bring the same zest and work ethic to every project, ensuring they bring their A-game on the day of shooting. 

Sister Party's journey is a testament to the power of collaboration and the importance of creating a platform that champions diversity and inclusion in the creative industry.

Stay tuned for more insights and perspectives from young professionals and business professionals who are making waves in their respective fields on next week's edition of 'From The Expert'. 


Article Tags

Sister Party

Sister duo

Youtube creatives

Fashion

Makeup

Film gurus

POC

Queer

Femme

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