- Words Ismene Ormonde
- All clothes Cheap Monday
Meet Cheap Monday's newest ambassador, the meteorically rising singer-songwriter Nessa Barrett.
For Nessa Barrett, it’s all about finding your inner power.
Whether that’s through the clothes you wear, the art you make, the music you listen to, or the people you surround yourself with, she knows that there are many routes to self-empowerment. For this burgeoning pop star, style in particular has always provided a crucial creative outlet: “Fashion has been something super important to me as an artist because it’s an extension of my world and how I’m feeling,” she says. “As I began my artist career a few years ago, it’s become one of my favourite elements of my creative [output], expressing myself and the music through clothes.”
The face of the newly relaunched fashion brand Cheap Monday, Nessa is deeply inspired by these sentiments. The campaign itself sees Nessa on a trip through the depths of self, exploring the contradictions and moods which make up her inner life. “At its core, Cheap Monday is all about confidently expressing identities, and Nessa Barrett hits this broad spectrum of creativity. She’s salty and such a goddess at the same time; she’s just up for it, up for the real thing,” says Alice Shulman, Design Lead at Cheap Monday.
“My favourite part of the collection is how versatile it is,” Nessa tells us, “There are so many bold yet staple pieces that I’ve been obsessed with ever since the shoot in London. The Booty Bei jeans in Blue Spray is one of my favourite pieces, so cute and I love pairing it with the Angel Tight Printed mini tank with some black heels.” Versatility and creativity are key to the ideas behind the collection: “Cheap Monday felt like the perfect brand to collaborate with because we share the same purpose with our work – empowering people to express their truest selves.”
For Nessa, music is a byword for self-expression: her upcoming album, AFTERCARE, explores “all of the vulnerable and raw emotions that come with love, sex, and its aftermath”. The creation of the album was a journey in itself, Nessa says: “Sex is something that has always been taboo and uncomfortable for me, but making this album healed that. I hope it does the same for the listener.”
Like the music video for its lead single, ‘PASSENGER PRINCESS’, the album is focused on empowerment: Nessa’s aim, she says, is to help her listeners “feel comfortable with themselves and sex”. The dazzling, neon-lit music video, our first insight into the “world of AFTERCARE”, sees Nessa star alongside former Love Island USA‘s Rob Rausch as a pair of Bonnie & Clyde-style lovers. “It was so fun to just let loose and play the character of the empowered, confident woman I want to embody with this music,” she says. “It was the most free I’ve felt shooting a music video yet and I can’t wait to share all the other album visuals I’m working on very soon.”
Feeling free and empowered isn’t always easy as a young woman in the music industry, something Nessa has tackled previously on songs like ‘hell is a teenage girl’, which features the lyrics: “You’re barely a woman, and they call you a whore / Say that you’re ruined when you pass twenty-four.” Entering the industry as a teenager was “one of the best yet most difficult experiences I’ve been through,” she says now. “Being an artist and musician is all I’ve dreamed of my whole life, but starting so young definitely made it hard to navigate and stay grounded.”
Moving to LA at just seventeen, Nessa found herself having to “figure out a new city and a whole new industry I knew nothing about.” “It was so scary,” she says, but over the years she’s discovered ways to cope with the pressure. “I’ve found some really incredible people who love me and have helped me build and navigate everything that comes with this crazy industry.”
That resilience is something she sees in her own audience, mostly young women themselves. “One of the most special parts of my fanbase is how emotionally intelligent and strong they are,” Nessa says. “As I’ve been able to open up about the experiences I’ve had as a woman and human, it’s made my fans feel safe, empowered to be vulnerable, and feel understood in their struggles too.”
It’s Nessa Barrett’s hope that she can continue to create a safe space for her fans in this way: “What I want more than anything is for my album to reach and touch the people that it’s meant to, and to continue to make art that I truly love and am proud of.”
The Cheap Monday denim collection will be available at weekday.com, selected Weekday stores, and retailers.