Suede Brooks

It all began in 2013, with the inception of Suede Brooks' YouTube channel, dedicated to fashion and make-up tips. There is an interesting back story here. In middle-school, Suede was constantly bullied by her peers that at a certain point, her parents had to resort to legal measures to ensure their daughter's safety. Depressed, she quit cheerleading and took to online schooling - a shift that unexpectedly opened up new avenues for the teenager. After surfing countless dedicated fashion channels on YouTube, Brooks discovered that she had a flair for fashion and soon started a channel of her own.

Within a matter of months, the channel, which focused mainly on fashion tips and make-up tutorials, became a sensation. Suede Brooks was quick to realise the potential of this new-found popularity, and in a bid to turn her passion into her profession, she reached out to STX, an entertainment company that specialises in talent management. Since then, there has been no looking back for the youngster.

Though her rise from being a popular vlogger to a promising model is a relatively new development, Suede Brooks is no stranger to the world of glitz and glamour. In fact, she did her first ad campaign when she was just eight, for the renowned clothing-retail company, H&M. While most of her peers were into sports or cheerleading, Brooks was always fascinated by the fashion world. And while most people (are forced to) give up on their childhood dreams, Brooks had the good luck to have the courage of her convictions and ample opportunities to justify them.

"I have always wanted to create my clothing line. I’m hoping to call it 'Suede'," she confides. Given the way her modelling career is shaping up, it's certainly not a far-fetched dream. She defines her unique sense of style as edgy, chic and girly. Any guesses as to what the one item in her wardrobe is that she cannot live without?

"A jean jacket!" she confesses with a smile.

Thanks to her Tumblr blog and YouTube channel, most of Suede Brooks' fans (and detractors, by the way) are familiar with her vivacious if not a little bawdy personality. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that her personal life has been a subject of intense and constant speculation. Rumour mills were set abuzz in March 2016, when Brooks was spotted with 1D's Niall Horan in LA. Needless to say, quite a few 1D fans were upset by the news, and they took to social media to vent their displeasure on Horan's "alleged girlfriend".

Finding herself at the receiving end of yet another spate of bullying, Brooks wasn't amused. She took to twitter to express her exasperation at the baseless speculations surrounding her personal life, and quickly dispelled the myth that she was seeing Horan. Though the hullabaloo has died down, it's a scourge she will have to learn dealing with (or better still, turning a deaf ear to) in her journey forward - as the clichéd but true words go, fame comes at a price.