In Conversation with Caleb Nicolas
Welcome to All Change Please. The second episode in new monthly series highlighting individuals (from students to C-suite) who are reshaping their industries and communities by going against the grain, or carving out alternative paths to meaningful change.
I’m really excited to continue this series with the incredible Caleb Nicolas.
Caleb is a Berlin-based Art Director and DEI Practitioner focused on storytelling in fashion and genuine representation to forge a greater collective empathy. I’ve been so fortunate to work with Caleb during our shared time at Zalando, workshopping content stories to be more inclusive and well…human. As so much progress of the last five years has been rolled back in a matter of weeks, it continues to be crucial that we discuss navigating the ups, downs and all arounds of enacting positive change.
Caleb, having seen you guide senior leadership rounds through image analysis, semiotics and ethics, I consider you an authority on advocating for inclusion in visual communications. What sparked this specialisation and journey for you? How did you get started and what prompted you to take that path?
Truth be told, my start in fashion wasn’t very original.
During my Bachelor’s, I was an unpaid intern in New York, then Paris on study-abroad. These experiences exposed my very young and impressionable self to a deeply misogynistic and racist industry. Looking back, I can see how these systems of oppression are upheld so easily - the interns are either brainwashed by the power dynamic of not being paid properly or they come from such privilege they already firmly believe in them.
I began writing about these experiences and was accepted to do my Master’s in Fashion Studies at Stockholm University. It was here that I was able to explore this commodification of oppression within the fashion industry. Basically asking, how do the clothes and images we produce for mass consumption either uphold or dismantle racism, sexism, fatphobia, queerphobia, etc?
Eventually, I moved on from being a fashion stylist in Scandinavia to a DEI practitioner for the H&M Group and then Zalando in Berlin, which is where we had the lovely opportunity to collaborate on topics of diversity, equity and inclusion in Zalando’s global campaigns.
Let’s get practical! For someone looking to change their industry from within, what are the first three concrete steps you would suggest they consider?
Know your craft. Billy Porter has a great quote… “Anybody who wants to do anything knows exactly what the work is.” As practitioners of anything, we need to read, watch, and digest as much as we can about our craft so it becomes second nature. And always know what others are up to (that includes opposition, competition, etc).
Express yourself. Whether its design, art or writing, expressing yourself is the only way to put your narrative out there. In a hugely over-saturated media landscape, it is our own responsibility to put ourselves out there. We can't wait for someone to give us space, even if that means creating our own space (social media, podcast, Substack). No matter how small your voice feels, it has a place.
Practice, practice, practice. I firmly believe in the power of your narrative. Your narrative is a part of your craft, so that means practicing self-expression wherever and whenever you can. This includes trying different mediums and platforms until you find your niche. Your niche will solidify your uniqueness and therefore your place in your industry.
Change can be slow. How do you maintain your motivation and momentum while pushing for systemic change?
Change comes in waves and sometimes it's deep and sometimes it's shallow.
Sadly, with so much of the progress over the last five years being pushed back, it feels like a drought right now. When the tides are not in your favour, this is the most opportune time to practice, practice, practice, so that you can perform and shine when positive change is back on the horizon.
How has your approach to creating change evolved over the years? Have there been any significant influences or collaborators that shaped your journey?
No one can do it alone. Whether it is creative work or social justice, collaboration is key. For creative work, outside input is necessary to challenge your inner-barriers. For social change, collaboration ensures a shift in the status quo that is positive for the communities you want to include or impact.
I have been blessed to find allies and partners in the places I have worked. I have had a handful of bosses (all women) that believed in me and made space for me in the workplace. What I learned from these women was the importance of strategy. Just because I want to do something with my career doesn’t mean I can expect my boss or organisation to make it happen. I have to marry my own aspirations with an identifiable goal or opportunity in the business.
As a stylist, I witnessed so many conversations around skin color and hair texture and body size that were extremely problematic. My initial reaction was to continuously speak out, thinking that this would change people’s behaviors. Eventually, I realised my best weapon to advocate for change was to strategically convince brands of the potential damage and loss.
It is not enough to know something is wrong and point it out, you also have to be a part of solving the problem - dismantling and creating a new system.
This is where my career pivoted into enabling creatives on more inclusive practices, whether it be fashion design, casting directions, retouching, or storytelling. I couldn’t have done it without the brands and creatives willing and ready to learn.
Have there been any significant challenges or hurdles in your journey, and what did you learn from them that others might benefit from?
Take care of yourself. When it comes to any passion in life, your motivation can consume you. However, you are only as productive as you are healthy. Coming from the United States, I had no idea what burnout was until working in Europe. At some points in my career, my body completely gave up and I couldn't take care of myself anymore- it was quite literally an out of body experience knowing my mind had caused my body to stop working properly.
After the third round of it, I knew I had to change my pace and become more selective with projects. Sometimes, saying no isn’t an option and keeping a healthy distance is the best we can do. In these situations my best advice is to be very diligent about timekeeping, as not to over devote ourselves to a project that is not feeding our soul (aka it's just a paycheck).
It is 100% okay to be picky on what you work on and to say no to protect yourself.
What advice would you give to someone who sees flaws in the way things are, but feels the social pressure to conform or is giving up on feeling that they can?
It took me years to realise that acts of revolution can be fought small and big.
For some people, simply being present can be an act of resistance and for others it requires more. What is key to understanding your privilege in any given situation, is to leverage it for other people’s safety and inclusion. In certain circles, expressing my gender and sexuality in a non-conforming way has been a form of protest. On the corporate side of the industry, creating solutions for dismantling phobias is how I choose to contribute to change.
There is no shame in beginning small - being yourself is the best place to start.
I hope you enjoyed this as much as I have! Change is a constant and a theme I’m really passionate about - enabling any and all to be a driver for positive change.
At a time when we readily accept "this is just how things are done," or feel overwhelmed by the amount of disruption and that impact is impossible, or actively want to create a better future but just don’t know where to start, these stories seek to demonstrate that there are always ways forward - whether that's finding new solutions to old problems or questioning commonly accepted "truths" about how things must be done.