NICO at Home with Rachelle and Harriet

 

Lis: Ladies, thank you for having me in your home. It's been really very delightful. I think the premise of this shoot and what we've talked about even before we started was that this space has been a home for you guys, but it's been so much more than that. And now that period of time's coming to an end and you guys are shortly moving out. How did you find the shoot from that perspective?

Rachelle: When I was braiding Harriet's hair on the bed, I just felt really lucky that we are going to have some photos to remind us about who we are and what this house has been for us. It felt kind of emotional for me.

Harriet: Yeah.

Rachelle: We're just very lucky to have our friendship. And lucky doesn't even cut it, really. I feel like in many ways it’s reformed the foundation of who I am, and who I know myself to be in the world and what I can do. I'm so much braver because, we are, and this house with it's plush carpet and solidness, there's a lot of parallels for me in our friendship and in the house. It's such a safe place to bring all the mess that life is.

Lis: What a special, valuable thing. I don't think many people ever get that from a house, right? I think I mentioned during the shoot that throughout the time that I've spent here that I just keep discovering all these aspects of your relationship. From the beginning when I arrived, I was amazed at the strength of your friendship, particularly having lived together - that’s such a challenge for any friendship! The way you guys have navigated owning a house together is very special.

Rachelle: Yeah.

Harriet: We're very lucky.

Rachelle: We do know that, it’s very treasured.

Lis: Did you expect that when you moved in?

Harriet: I think it was always an extension of our relationship anyway because we had traveled together and navigated some tough times, and we've navigated end of relationships and re-finding ourselves together. We became friends just before major relationship breakdowns. So, moving into the house didn't actually feel scary. Buying the house was scary, Rachelle was white!

Rachelle: I was totally scared. I completely lost it!

Harriet: But being here has been wonderful and it was nice today also playing with your range together, because we often borrow each other's clothes. We’ve always been very comfortable with nudity and being around each other - it just felt really natural. We know each other.

Lis: I loved it as well. You know, I think you said it throughout the shoot that you guys feel like sisters and that's definitely the vibe that I got as well, that you're so comfortable with each other.

It was really lovely to see because for NICO that's very much what we're all about is comfort, so it felt like such a natural, real experience for me as well. It was really great.

Okay, do we want to talk about moving out, or should we just not go there?!

Harriet: I don't specifically not want to talk about it, but I feel like maybe what there is to say is that it's going to be a different chapter of our friendship and it's going to be challenging. For me, it's going to be challenging not having Ray in close proximity.

We have busy lives, it's not like we see each every day. Well, we don't see each other every day, but it’s still going to be tough for me. We always talk about choosing to be friends at different times where we've not been having a great time, not together, but just in our own lives, or there's been anxiety about, "Oh, is she mad at me?" or something like that that. We've always said that we will always be friends if we both are choosing to be friends.

Rachelle: And that's what it boils down to.

Harriet: We've had that conversation so many times.

Rachelle: That's such a reassuring message to come back to even when life's happening. The friendship, we would only ever lose it if we stopped choosing it. And that's the bottom line.

Harriet: Yeah.

Rachelle: No matter what turns up, we continue to choose it and that's something that we want to do, to have a friendship.

Lis: And I suppose probably after all this time living together, it's so integrated. Do you still feel like it's a choice or it's just actually like you are sisters?

Rachelle: It's hard to imagine life without Harry as my best friend, but I do still feel like it is a choice and it's a choice not to blame and it's a choice to think during tough times. When we were traveling recently, it was really hard in some aspects, but when we're behaving badly to one another, when we're sulking or we're ignoring someone or withholding information from the other, it's a choice to say, "She must be hurting. There's no other reason that she would be pulling back." And then, all that's left is to just feel care and love. And I think that's a choice.

Harriet: Yeah, like you can't choose your family, but if you could, I'd still choose you.

Rachelle: Yeah.

Lis: I think that’s testament to the strength of you relationship as well. For so many friends, those are the challenges that we're like, "Okay, see you later." I really admire that you guys get through it all and are still so strong.

Rachelle: Thank you.

Lis: It really was such a lovely morning in your beautiful home. I'm sad that you're leaving this house. I want to come and hang out!

Rachelle: You're so welcome!

Harriet: You'd be so welcome to hang with us!

Rachelle: I had thoughts many times. I was like, "Lis would love this at night with the porch, the fairy lights on the porch."

Lis: I'll come back tonight!

Rachelle: It's a really beautiful place. When you first asked that question, a quote came to mind that I've been thinking about a lot lately and it's in thinking about leaving and arriving, and it says, "Leave with love and arrive on purpose."

Lis: That's really very fitting. I like that a lot.

Rachelle: More than anything, I'm just seeing how much this has offered, and will continue to offer. And I just feel very fortunate.

Lis: Yeah, and that's life isn't it? All chapters have to come to an end, but to end it on such a lovely positive note is great.

Harriet: And today was also so lovely to spend time together, doing the things that we loved doing in the house. I really enjoyed that the shoot kind of celebrated our bodies, and getting to do that together was really lovely.

Lis: I loved that it never felt, for me anyway, it never felt awkward. You guys just looked amazing and I think it was because you have such a supportive, beautiful relationship. Sometimes, when we do these shoots there can be that level of self-consciousness. Maybe you guys felt that, but if you did, you hid it very well because it just felt very natural! I knew you looked beautiful, I hope that you guys know that you looked beautiful!

Harriet: Aw, thank you.

Rachelle: I felt beautiful.

Lis: That was really nice.

Rachelle: So comfortable!

Harriet: I like how comfortable the garments are in terms of it didn't feel like it was trying to make you anything that you weren't. It was just, "These are our bodies and this is comfortable," and it wasn't about some kind of forced shape or sexuality or anything like that. I feel like it was really celebratory of our bodies.

Lis: I’m very happy to hear you say that - that’s exactly what we’re aiming for!

Harriet: It was a real pleasure. I felt really lucky to have been able to do this today.

 Lis: Me too. Thank you guys.

*hugs all round*


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