Friends of AUBIN

Recolo App

SAM WEBB & FREDDIE DUNLOP

Sam Webb is an internationally renowned model, entrepreneur and a good friend of Aubin. He's best known as one of the prestigious 'Faces Of' for Dolce & Gabbana and has appeared in many campaigns for this iconic Italian fashion house. We met up for a coffee and a catch up at the Pavilion Club in Knightsbridge, West London, where he and his business partner freddie Dunlop are working on an exciting new Fintech App. An entrepreneurial project inspired by Sam's 17-year's experience as a model, combined with Freddie's career in emerging market and hedge fund finance. Recolo brings long over-due financial clarity and visibility to any freelancer and agency, enabling them to see when they are paid and allowing instant access to their hard-earned cash, we want to hear all about it!

Sam was born and raised in Birmingham where he was scouted in 2006 by the top model agency Select. He was catapulted onto the modelling scene when he was booked to walk in a number of Milan fashion shows. It was here that the celebrated fashion photographer Stephen Klein spotted Sam and went on to shoot him for a Dolce & Gabbana campaign. Taking the dream trajectory of the modelling industry, he went on to win bookings for Vogue Italia, Vogue Hommes, GQ to name a few; the most highly regarded fashion publications, working with the cream of the crop photographers including Bruce Weber and the Morelli brothers. It must have felt like an absolute whirlwind, the definition of 'living the dream' to an outsider looking in. He'd been handed an access-all-areas pass to the mythical world that is the fashion industry. But despite this metaphorical whirlwind spanning the last two decades, Sam's down to earth, relaxed character would suggest that his Brummie roots are holding strong and that the next chapter, his business venture with Freddie, will be just as exciting.

Freddie worked a long way from the creative and entertainment industries in the traditional finance world, specialising in emerging markets. As a sovereign political analyst researching everywhere from Venezuela and Argentina to Ukraine and Nigeria, he then spent five years on the sales desk covering Hedge Funds, many of these clients are now investors.

So, what is the inspiration behind their new venture, combining the worlds of fashion and finance? As many fashion creatives and "talent" will know there is somewhat ruthless, wide-spread attitude when it comes to working amongst the elusive fashionista. A school of thought whereby if you are lucky enough to be offered access to the club you better do everything you can to hold on to it, whatever the cost, because if you don't someone else is waiting in the wings. A world where a person can quickly and easily become a commodity, And all to often, to be exploited.

"freelancers have no visibility on when they will get paid".

Supermodel Linda Evangelista once famously said in an interview with Vogue "I don't get out of bed for less than $10,000 a day". Has this given us the wrong impression of a life as a model, someone who demands a huge wage to even bother lifting a finger. The reality for most models, especially when starting out, is in stark contrast; long days often working into the night, being dressed and undressed, prodded and preened....the true story in fact can be far from glamorous. But a hard day's graft would all be worth it in the end because a model gets paid well, right? Not always so, thanks to a deep-rooted cultural acceptance that a model, photographer, stylist, journalist shouldn't be suprised not to see a penny for up to six months after a booking, making this one of the longest 'payment terms' of any profession.

Sam tells us - " Finance is such a taboo subject, you don't talk about the money it's all about the job, all about the creative side, about booking the job, doing the job and then the money is always the secondary thing".

If this is how it's always been how on earth do you go about turning the tide? Introducing Recolo, Sam and Freddie's innovative Fintech app which they started working on during covid 2020. Recolo allows models, content creators and other freelancers to have complete visibility on what they are owed and what they are paid. Essentially providing a digital payslip, detailing often unknown payment terms, with a very user-friendly interface that even the most un-technical person would find easy to navigate.

"We have built a win-win for agencies and their freelancers. With technology we save agencies time and offer freelancers the option to be paid when they choose".

The app even allows freelancers to draw down money before it hits the agents account if they should need to do so. Recolo's safe and secure infrastructure provides instant access to earnings, supporting the agencies who are caught in the middle chasing to be paid and trying to pay the talent. They are connected to the UK Faster Payments Network to enable this seamless service.

There's always been a complete disconnect between models and their finance, they have never known when they will be paid or had any visibililty of their earnings. Often scared to ask for what they're owed for fear of being seen as 'trouble' or 'ungrateful'. instead, it's always about getting the next booking, going the extra mile, being amenable despite what personal financial mayhem may be going on behind the scenes. models often find themselves taking out bridging loans or going into their overdraft rather than ask to be paid, Sam has had personal experience of this very stressful dilemma.

"I know the creative side and how the process works, I know what the talent and agencies would need to see, so it's been how to translate that into the tech side making the process as slick as possible for the customer, which is essentially me". Sam explains. Sam has built a strong community over the last seventeen years with stylists, photographers, hair and makeup and it's this community which is at the heart of Recolo. This was evident when they did their own Friends of Recolo series, which includes Sharon Stone, Ollie Cheshire, David Gandy, Jim Chapman and Pixie Lott. A big part of this community are of course the agencies and Alexander Werz, CEO of Karla Otto has joined as a valued advisor.

The perfect partnership, with a community behind them, offering a simple concept, "a really useful tool". They have taken time to develop and perfect the functionality of the software, honing the customer journey, speaking to agencies, models and influencers to get it right. So far the feedback has been "like a breath of fresh air", because whether you are the agent or the talent Recolo is there to take away the taboo, take away the stress, the constant chasing and to bring clarity. Essentially they are providing a long-overdue re-addressing of the antiquated systems and culture, putting the freelancer back in control, making them the client at last. Incidentally Recolo is Latin for cultivate, Sam and Freddie's hope is to cultivate more balance within the creative industries - "Why wait" indeed.

Recolo launches March 2023, to follow their progress you can go to their website and sign up - https://intro.recologroup.com or email info@recologroup.com.