The other night the Yahoo Style team had the very good fortune of partying with a certain Miss Danielle Peazer at the Grazia X Tia Maria Christmas bash.
Danielle, who shot to fame with the rise of One Direction for being Liam Payne’s long-term girlfriend, has since established some great ventures of her own. Earlier this year, for example, she was the face of Boohoo’s fitness campaign. She’s also launched her own fashion and lifestyle blog Idle Lane and partnered with some really great brands.
[Image: Getty]
Just before the evening’s festivities – which took place at Cressida Bonas’s half-bro’s club Tape London – kicked off, we sat down with Danielle to chat about fashion and all the things she does to try and be a great role model for her younger fans.
[Image: Danielle and Style Editor Natasha Bird at the Grazia X Tia Maria bash]
Yahoo Style: Your lifestyle blog Idle Lane has really taken off, who have you enjoyed working with?
Danielle: Yeah, after about six to eight months of setting it up some of the brands that I thought of really highly started contacting me and it’s just snowballed.
I’ve worked with Topshop, Jimmy Choo, Nars, Urban Outfitters. I’ve been to Milan, London and New York Fashion Weeks all because of my blog. I haven’t done Paris yet, but it’s definitely on the list!
I do actually love working with some of the slightly smaller brands though, the ones that people don’t know so much yet. There’s one that I recently discovered called Genevieve Sweeney who creates really good, premium knitwear.
And then a few jewellery brands too. There is one called Silver Service which does little lockets and things.
Yahoo Style: You’ve got an enormous, and enormously loyal, young fan-base. What effort do you make to connect with them and speak to them on a level?
Danielle: I think it’s very overwhelming that so many people have an interest in me and support me. In just kind of what I want to get on and do. And the fact that people like that is nice.
I try and interact with people as much as possible. I try to reply to a lot of comments on Instagram, for example.
A lot of people make edits of photos of me which is really lovely. I’ll put a photo up and they’ll create an edit of it. And I kind of feel like ‘wow, you could get a job in this!’ I almost want to send them photos before and say can you make an edit of this and then I’ll post it.
I follow some of the dedicated accounts to me as well. I think when I was maybe their age, what it would have been like to have that kind of communication with someone I looked up to. When I was younger, we didn’t really have that. It doesn’t really take a lot out of my day.
Yahoo Style: If you had one really important message that you’d like to impart to your younger fans, what would it be?
Danielle: To be comfortable in what you do. When I was growing up, coming from a school that was a very good grammar school and wanting to become a dancer – the two didn’t really go hand in hand.
My friends used to say, ‘but what’s your real job going to be?’ and I would say, ‘no I want to be a dancer.’ So knowing what it’s like to not really have people understand what you’re about, but knowing you want to do it anyway. If I were to give out a message, it would be to be confident in what you want to do.
Growing up you worry so much about what people think and it’s only when you get past it that you think, actually, I don’t care what people think of me, I’m going to do what I want to do. I try and be very realistic with people. I am not a perfect being who glides through life. I have bad days as well, but that’s alright.
It’s important if you are in an influential position, it’s important to influence people in the right way.
[Image: Danielle Peazer / Instagram]
“You might be going through a rough time, or you might be just growing up in general which can be quite tough… just keep going and doing your thing.”
Yahoo Style: What about the current emphasis on women supporting other women and #GirlSquads?
Danielle: Yeah! I am ALL for women supporting other women. There is a common misconception, especially in the dance industry, because you see all the dance films and all the girls are really bitchy and can be really catty and, actually, it doesn’t have to be. I’ve got some of my dancing friends coming down tonight to support me!
I feel like we kind of need to show guys how it’s done sometimes.
Yahoo Style: What’s the one beauty item you couldn’t leave the house without?
Danielle: Powder. I tend to get a bit of a shine on when I’ve been cutting some shapes on the floor! I use MAC studio fix powder.
Yahoo Style: If you could swap places with anyone in the world who would it be?
Danielle: I am going to say Kendall jenner. I mean, she just did Victoria’s Secret, so she’s just won at life. I like the fact that she kind of keeps herself to her self a little bit and lets her work do the talking for her. I know she’s on a reality TV show, but I think in comparison to some of her siblings she seems like the most reserved.
Yahoo Style: Who is your style icon?
Danielle: I love the style of Olivia Palermo. She always gets it right.
I also love the boldness of Rihanna. I wouldn’t necessarily wear all the things that she wears, but I love that she is like ‘I don’t care what people think of me, this is what I want to wear.’ I love that mentality.
[Image: Olivia Palermo / Instagram]
I think women worry way too much when we get dressed: ‘oh is this going to look alright?’, ‘Is this going to be accepted?’ If you feel good in it, you should wear it.
Yahoo Style: Who is the woman you most admire, just for being herself?
Danielle: My mum. I’m just really proud of her. I’d like to think that she’s raised me and my sister quite well. She just goes above and beyond for the people that she cares about and is one of those people that is always like ‘Oh no, don’t worry about me! Don’t worry about me!’
Yahoo Style: And a word on your new Tia Maria collab?
Danielle: It’s just always kind of embdoeid girls night out, cocktail nights, fun, to me. It’s always been a glamorous, but socially fun drink. Nothing that is too boujis. You don’t feel like you have to be a certain person to drink it. It’s just a fun drink and a fun brand and it, to me, says glamour, sophistication, sexy, chic.
What do you think about our chat with Danielle? Let us know on Twitter @YahooStyleUK!
Danielle is working with Tia Maria and Grazia to celebrate their limited edition bottle, which is priced at £15 (70cl) and available from Asda, Tesco, Morrisons, Waitrose & Sainsbury’s