What was your first fashion moment? Naomi Campbell, Diane Von Furstenberg and more share theirs

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Whether you’ve loved fashion for a day or a decade, you’ll always remember your first experiences with style. For some, it may be as simple as a “dressing up in mother’s pearls” kind of thing, but for others (especially those working in the industry), there may be some great story just waiting to be told.

In a brilliant new series created by Moda Operandi, five fashion icons reflect on some of their first experiences working in fashion and the lasting impact those experiences had on their careers. “Fashion Firsts” profiles Naomi Campbell, Andre Leon Talley, Diane Von Furstenberg, Zac Posen and Carlyne Cerf De Dudzeele, who all tell stories as wild and fabulous as you’d image about their respective early days.

Von Furstenberg’s involves a meeting with legendary editor Diana Vreeland while Talley’s dates back to his mid-seventies friendship with Karl Lagerfeld, who would often give him the shirt off his back to attend fashion week events. Both Campbell and Posen get candid about their first-ever fashion shows while de Dudzeele details her work on Anna Wintour’s famous first Vogue cover.

Funnily enough, many of my own fashion firsts involve the subjects of these videos, from a mid-university pep talk from Posen back when I was just starting out, to a chance front row meeting with Talley, who vividly espoused the value of owning a Kimora Lee Simmons Barbie doll.

The etailer is encouraging everyone to tell their own Fashion Firsts using #ModaFirst on Instagram. As Von Furstenberg mentions in her video, it’s often easier to remember the early days. After all, there’s nothing quite like the first time.

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