A Thread about fashion’s favourite healer
How Vickie Biggs went from being immersed in the fashion industry, to treating it
This week I want to introduce you to my friend Vickie Biggs, a London healer who gives the most incredible reiki massages whilst padding around her studio in a pair of Alaïa shoes (more on those later).
Her roster of clients reads like the guest list for a fashion event - probably because she spent so many years in the industry before finding her true purpose as a practitioner.
Vickie is someone who constantly inspires me - a strong, independent woman who’s built her own business with no bank of mum and dad; just intention, intuition and grit. I also love that she’s gone through so many periods of transformation - both inside and out, and how she blends all these facets of her style into who she is today.
I hope you enjoy this conversation, and maybe take a few useful nuggets of wisdom for the New Year.
Can you walk me through your career trajectory?
I moved to London to study graphic design at Chelsea College of Art, and ended up working for Acne Studios alongside studying. I worked in their store and also assisted the head of special relations and PR.
When I graduated, I left Acne and was involved in the art book publishing world. I used to host erotic photography book nights at Claire de Rouen with Lucy Kumara Moore. I also lived with the legendary Lyndell Mansfield in my early 20s for many years and she took me under her wing, and to every fashion party she went to (which was a lot…)
What was the thing that you really loved about working at Acne?
My manager hired the most incredible people - it was one of the only brands that really invested in the people to create their environment; the vibes were a big part of how Acne curated their staff. We also had so many amazing customers who were doing things outside of the box, really artistic. Acne Paper [Acne’s magazine] was still really big; it was a really inspiring place to be.
And then you worked with Ben Ditto in publishing?
Ben had just opened his photo studio and had a gallery and I came on board to help him run that, and also worked closely with him on projects. He later changed the direction of his business to go more into art directing and creative direction - I still did some consultancy for him, but I moved back to Acne.
During that period of my life I was also quite unwell. I had a big health scare which meant I had to stop drinking. I didn’t realise I had a problem with drinking, but when I stopped it came out in all of these different areas of my life. I became completely addicted to working - which can be really great because you get rewarded for this devotion to something, but it was actually incredibly damaging.
During that period I got fully sober and my life totally changed. Well, my internal life did, but my external life didn’t.
I basically had a reconstruction period where I was just at Acne and I was figuring out how to be a sober woman. It probably looked from the outside like I’d taken quite a few steps back, but it allowed me the space to figure out who I was.
Then I got offered a job as a retail manager for a sustainable womenswear brand. During that time, I realized that I didn’t want to work in a retail space. My friend suggested I see a psychic and I was like, “Well, I’ll go if he’s reasonably priced!” And he was.
We had a really pivotal session, where he told me I had healing hands and that I needed to be a healer. He gave me this permission slip to go and explore what I could do. I did an aromatherapy course and I loved it. I was like, “Fuck it, I’m just going to quit my job and like do another aromatherapy course and work in the corner shop”.
I wrote my resignation, I paid for my course, and the morning that I was about to hand my notice in, I got a message from Yasmin Sewell at Vyrao. We’d met six months previously. She was basically like, “Hey, I don’t know what you’re doing, but I really want you on board to work with me full time.” I told her I was studying to be an aromatherapist and she loved it because she’s really into all of that [Vyrao is an energy-based fragrance brand].
So I left and started working with Yas, and we launched the brand. I was with her for almost two years, and alongside working with her I was retraining. But also in that period one of my closest friends passed away. She was about to turn 50. It was kind of a wake-up call. She lived every day like as she had wanted to, and she did everything that she could possibly have done in her life. I just thought, I can’t live this duality of coming to work and sitting at desk when actually my heart’s screaming to be doing something else.
I probably would have ended up working with Yas forever, because I absolutely love her. But she could tell I wasn’t happy. We had this really beautiful walk where she was like, “do you just want to be a practitioner?” And I said yes. We were both crying.
I realised that if I put even 75% of the effort I’ve put into all of the other jobs I’ve worked into my own thing, then I’d be OK. So I started doing treatments from my home, and then I got my own little studio space, and I built from there.
For so long, it felt like I was just hitting a brick wall in my head and didn’t know where to go. It just felt so hard. I think if it feels like you’re fighting the whole universe to make something happen, it’s a sign that it’s not working. I think culturally we have this view that success should be really difficult, but in so many other cultures that’s not the case.
Going back to style, I think that what we wear and how we express ourselves on the outside can reflect so much of what we’re going through inside. What was your style like at this time, and how did you notice it changing?
I think working for a brand for so many years where you’re given free clothes and you’re also so broke, you just adopt the style of the brand. It took me a while to find my own personal style.
I think my style has definitely changed a lot from doing this job, because it has to be very practical and comfortable. At the beginning, I found it really difficult to know how to express myself, because I was basically just wearing pyjamas. And I got really upset because I’d been used to wearing suits and dresses.
You tend to see people who do body work wearing black a lot, and it’s because you just get oil over literally everything!
When I lived with Lyndell [my hairstylist friend], she like had such a distaste for designer clothes even though she worked in fashion, because she was like, “It’s a fucking waste of money! You can go to the charity shops and find something amazing that no one else has.” She used to get so mad at me for spending all my money on these expensive items.
She used to take me to all of these charity shops and secondhand shops with her, and I’d watch in awe of how cool she was. She was a full punk, and looked amazing all the time with her crazy pink hair. I remember she took me to Atsuko Kudo and made me buy my first ever latex piece. I used to wear latex and looked like a bit of a goth!
I love how with vintage shopping, you just have to relinquish control. If it doesn’t fit you, it’s not meant for you. It almost feels like this element of fate. I find that really magical.
And how would you describe your uniform in the studio? You always look very elegant and you have these winks to your past life in what you wear.
Yeah, I try to have a nod. When I was studying you’d have to wear these hideous nurse outfits, and a specific shoe for the exams. I got the shoes for the exam and then returned them on the way home!
Do you have a favourite item of clothing at the moment?
I’m really into puffy sleeves, they make me very happy. When you’re doing massage you have to have all of your arms free. My Alaïa shoes were my greatest ever vintage find.
Can you tell me how you got them?
Basically, I went to a flea market, and this guy was selling them and didn’t know what they were, and I got them for £25.
No, stop!
I saw them in the corner of my eye, and they were my size. I paid for them, and I was like, we have to leave because he’s going to realise what he’s done! I took out the stuffing when we were on the bus, and I was like, “these are real!”
Wow.
I’m really good at manifesting vintage!
A lot of your clients are in fashion. Do you think that it’s because the fashion industry creates a need for your type of work?
I think that the fashion industry is really stressful. I also think people are more open than they’ve ever been to trying things which are a bit more like out there, like Reiki or cacao.
Is there a treatment that you find your fashion clients gravitate towards?
Reiki massage is probably the most popular because we store energy in our body. I think [fashion] can also be a very sad place for people, especially when they’re exploring spiritual avenues and feeling really conflicted about being in an industry that acts so against their moral and ethical code.
But also it’s also magical to be in that space where you’re creating imagery and stories and it’s such a playground for people to be in. The most amazing artists get to showcase what they do. Often those people are drawn to energy work or holistic things because they’re open and creative.
What elements of your experience in fashion, beauty, branding and art direction have you transposed into building your own business?
I think the world-building is what I loved the most being a brand manager. Also working closely with people, making people feel better, that human contact like when you’re working in a shop.
Have you listened to the Threads of Conversation podcast? You can find it on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube. You can also follow Threads of Conversation on Instagram and TikTok. Subscribe below for more podcasts, essays and interviews.
 | A guest post by
|
We love Vickie 🤍