TYW: You don’t have a “brand” in the traditional sense but your voice is so distinct. What inspired you to start your substack, Private Parts? What was the original intention behind it?
Osman: Well, I’ve always been a writer by trade, but whereas writing for magazines can feel a bit like “dressing for dinner”, to quote Tina Brown, I wanted to share a bit more about my private world. I’m fascinated by so many things — art, style, culture, shopping, beauty, spirituality — so it all sort of comes together in life and work. I suppose I’m writing about everything as I’m figuring it out.
TYW: Does writing on your own platform feel more instinctive, or more exposing?
Osman: If posting on Instagram is like exposure therapy for body dysmorphia, then I guess Substack is a bit like exposure therapy for the mind. I try not to overthink it.
TYW: Was writing always your primary lens into fashion, or did that develop over time?
Osman: Not really. My mum made a lot of our clothes growing up and I was always more fascinated with design and imagery. But I’ve always been an avid reader, and one day during my time as an assistant, someone just turned around and told me to string a couple of sentences together, and the rest sort of happened. I didn’t study literature or writing in traditional sense, but I always loved magazines and newspapers and I learned early on that fashion is only relevant to people when it’s viewed as a lens of the wider world.
TYW: What makes something feel worth buying to you now?
Osman: I take shopping very seriously. I think when you work with designers and are privy to the reality of how much things cost to make, it really shifts how you spend your money. I see so many things end up in sample sales or on the resale market, so now I only spend on one-of-a-kind items, or things that I can’t ever find elsewhere. I’m from that generation of fashion people who would buy Prada and go hungry for a month, and now everything I buy has to enrich my life.
TYW: What are the key foundations to your wardrobe?
Osman: A great skirt. Blue jeans. Jewellery from around the world. A pair of stilettos or knee-high boots. Vintage military and T-shirts. A fabulous fur. And ideally, a great blow-dry.
TYW: Do you prefer shopping in person or online?
Osman: In person!!!!! Even with groceries, I get so much joy of going to a supermarket. I often think about how markets are the backbones of a city or a place, a living tapestry of civilisation and trade, and my God, it makes shopping even more fun.
TYW: Do you form emotional attachments to certain pieces, and how does that shape what you keep?
Osman: I’ve been merciless with what I’ve sold or given away over the years, because your attachments to things change. But there are pieces that I cherish because of the memories I have in them, or how I bought them.
TYW: What does beauty mean to you?
osman: A guiding principle of how to live life and treat people.
TYW: What advice would you give to someone building a voice or platform today without a traditional “brand”?
Osman: Well, firstly I’d say that even the most successful and intelligent people I know can doubt themselves and feel incredibly inadequate. Change is the only constant in life, and the more you lean into that, the more you will grow. I found my voice at the age of 30, and that came from asking questions about what I love and why, which is always so much more interesting than describing what I dislike because there’s a lot of negativity out there already.
Ultimately, what I find so beautiful — if not confusing at times — is that now there really are no ‘rules’, compared to when I first started. But a great idea is nothing if you don’t do anything with it. So just take a risk and do it. You’ll learn on the go.
