I started a side hustle in my bedroom – I now make thousands a month and style quirky Love Island star
A FASHION fanatic who started a side hustle in her bedroom now rakes in thousands a month – and is a Love Island star’s go-to stylist.
Imogen Evans, 24, launched her own fashion label at the end of 2020 after leaving her job as a live-in nanny.
Imi Studios now releases up to four small, online capsule collections a year, each more bold and bright than the last.
The sustainable brand has a following of more than 65,000 people on TikTok and various big-name celebrities have worn her pieces.
Imogen, who lives in London, custom-made nine looks for her pal Mal Nicol to wear on this year’s Love Island.
The Edinburgh-born pair filmed a YouTube video where they styled her iconic villa looks together.
Imogen told The Scottish Sun: “Mal’s usual style is quite smart and preppy. She always jokes about how the Mal ‘starter pack’ is loafers, a crotch blazer and a matching skirt.
“She’s had publicity for her style before, she went viral on The Female Formula TikTok page. They stopped her in the street and asked about her outfit and it got about two million views.
“She definitely dresses really well but she came to me because she didn’t think blazers and loafers were the Love Island vibe.
“She rang me before I went in and I dropped everything I had on that week to make her a bunch of stuff from my brand.
“She wanted to push the boat out with her style and not wear what everyone would expect her to wear.
“Her personality is quite quirky and eccentric so it makes sense for her wardrobe to match that.”
Mal’s daring fashion sense has attracted both positive and negative feedback from fans of the hit ITV2 show.
But pal Imogen says the Scots stunner takes it all on the chin.
She added: “Love Islanders do get hate comments but Mal doesn’t take herself seriously at all. She takes everything with a pinch of salt and doesn’t take things to heart.
“Nothing anyone says could bring her down.”
Mal was even wearing one of Imogen’s styled looks when she was brutally dumped from the villa in a shock exit this week.
During her time on the show, Mal was coupled up with Sammy Root but said she refused to cry over leaving him after her exit.
Imogen’s life has changed massively since launching her brand from her bedroom floor during the pandemic – but it hasn’t been without difficulties.
She said: “The journey has been a rollercoaster.
“The first year, it was pretty slow. They say overnight success takes 10 years and there’s a reason why they say that.
“A lot of people think you can just instantly blow up but that’s really not the case.
“The second year was when it started to pick up pace. I was still handmaking everything myself.
“Last summer, I was doing 17-hour days, seven days a week for about three months. I got really ill because I was getting all these orders but I didn’t have the means to manage it all, I was a one-woman band.
“At the same time, I really needed the cash if I wanted to take my business to the next level.”
Imogen highlighted the power of social media and insists anyone can grow their business if they post consistently.
She added: “I started working with a manufacturing company in Croatia, it’s a small batch, all-women facility.
“That has given me more time to strategies and work on cool projects like the one I just did with Mal.
“The whole journey has highlighted the power of social media. Anybody with a phone can post a video for free and it has the potential to be viewed by millions of people.
“It’s crazy that I started from my bedroom and now my pieces have been on the Brits red carpet and worn by celebrities.
“It just shows that if you post consistently and put in the work you can actually build up a following.
“Starting is the hardest thing but if you put in that time, it will pay off.”