I fell in love with the culture, community and creativity of the area
Me and my rescue pup Theo - who literally walked into my life by chance, in Peckham Rye Park!
Theo is usually employee of the month
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Who’s behind South East 15?
I’m Fifi, the content creator behind SouthEast15.com and illustrator behind our South East 15 online store.
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Around 7 years ago I moved in between Peckham + Nunhead in South East London and instantly fell in love with the culture, community and creativity of the area. It had a real buzz about it.
At the time I was in my mid-20’s and working crazy hours at a big Advertising agency in the city. Even though I studied fashion design at Uni and was working my way up in the ad world ladder, I had completely lost my creative side, believing I wasn’t a ‘creative’. Falsely believing you had to be given the title ‘creative’ in order to be it.
Over the last 7 years, I jumped ship from being an Account Director in the ad world to working as a Freelance Brand Consultant and growing SouthEast15 whilst also squeezing in a ‘creative sabbatical’… backpacking around Central and South America to re-align and refocus my outlook and goals.
Me in the SouthEast15 embroidered tiger tee
Moving to SE15 had opened my eyes to a whole new world of creativity, side hustle and entrepreneurial spirit. I loved the rawness of Peckham. The diversity, the mix of cultures, the imaginative ways people were reinventing forgotten spaces. To me, the area had a very distinct personality - it was original, bold and unapologetically real.
I started going to some really cool events and exhibitions in the area, visiting pop-ups, taking pictures of Rye Lane market. I felt inspired again.
My friends didn’t know much about what the area had to offer. So, I created a list of things happening in the area to get them to come and check it out (/ party with me in Canavan’s until the early hours). So, South East 15 came about quite organically.
I started SouthEast15 in 2017 sporadically covering local events, reviews and recommendations. It has since grown into a bigger platform - with the aim to inspire others to own their time and go be more creative.
In 2019 alongside working on SE15 content and freelancing, I rekindled my love for design, deciding I didn’t give a f*ck about what people regarded as ‘creative’ and just started something I was passionate about - which led me to create a new strand to SE15 - Our shop selling clothing and printed goods designed and illustrated by me.
I only design when I feel inspired as opposed to being dictated by fashion seasons! I wanted to create a concept-led slow fashion + lifestyle brand.