Remember when you were a child and the ultimate status symbol was sharing one of those ‘best friend’ heart-shaped necklaces with your bestie? Well, the grown-up version is finally here, courtesy of accessories brand Pop&Suki, whose pastel-hued camera bags have proven a hit with the likes of Emily Ratajwoksi, Jessica Alba and Lena Dunham.
Co-founded by real-life BFFs Suki Waterhouse and Poppy Jamie, their latest collection is a collaboration with the dating app Bumble, whose BFF feature connects like-minded girls looking for new friends – whether you have recently moved to a different city or just want to meet interesting people. The small yellow cross-body bags come in a pair – with one saying ‘Bumble’ on the bottom and the other saying ‘BFF’. Pretty sweet, right?
We caught up with the duo on the Bumble BFF shoot in Los Angeles to find out what makes the perfect BFF, what they’d steal from each other’s wardrobes and whether or not they’d ever put guys before their girlfriends…
Grazia: How did the collaboration between Bumble BFF and Pop&Suki come about?
Poppy Jamie: We love female-founded companies and we are such a fan of Whitney’s (Wolfe, the CEO of Bumble), she’s a real inspiration to us. We love everything that Bumble BFF stands for – that is connecting girls, especially because we both met in LA when we were pretty lonely, so we totally understand what it’s like to be in a new city and not have any girlfriends, so to work with a platform that allows friendship to blossom is pretty amazing.
**Grazia: **Why do you think it’s a good fit for Pop&Suki?
Poppy: I think it goes hand-in-hand because our brand celebrates female friendship, girls working with girls, best friends doing it for each other – Pop&Suki has given me more friendship than anything else ever. And we hope that the girls that are able to find each other on Bumble BFF will be able to enjoy some of the perks that come with finding an epic girl in the world.
Grazia: What do you think makes a good BFF?
Suki Waterhouse: Being able to feel your friend out and having that almost otherworldly sense of what’s going on with them that day. Especially with us working together, sometimes I’m probably annoying but Poppy knows what to do. Like if I hate my hair, she’ll just grab a hairbrush and attack it, she’s taking initiative to deal with the problem!
Poppy: I feel like listening honestly is the best.
Suki: Yeah, like being there to pick up the phone. I get stressed if I can’t pick up her phone calls and I know she does too.
Poppy: Yes definitely, I think something’s wrong if I see a missed call. I need to know what’s going on!
Grazia: What are your favourite things about each other?
Poppy: I could go on and on about my favourite things about Suki. She’s so much fun, but she’ll also fight for me. If anyone is ever mean to me she’s like ‘that’s unacceptable! I’m going to tell them!’ to have a warrior fighting your corner is so nice.
Suki: Poppy is just the kindest person I’ve ever met with such a good soul. Not a bad bone in her body, pretty rare to come across.
Poppy: People say great marriages or relationships are when you are a team, and I feel like I get that from Suki.
Suki: We also support each other’s ventures as well.
Grazia: What’s your favourite thing about each other’s style?
Poppy: I’ve never known somebody that pulls off causal so well. Suki looks so good in jeans, a t-shirt, trainers, pyjamas… whereas I feel like I have to do everything to get the best out of myself.
Suki: Poppy does a good gym kit with some fluffy plimsolls.
Grazia: If you had to borrow one item out of each other’s wardrobe what would it be?
Poppy: I would want to borrow Suki’s amazing Stella McCartney jumper but I think she’s lost it…
Suki: Didn’t you borrow that?
Poppy: Haha. I also love her Jimmy Choo trainers…
Suki: In fact, I think I’ve lost both things you like – I’ve lost those trainers too… I just went upstairs to Poppy’s room and I know there are loads of my clothes around there too. I’ve got such beady eyes. I did a quick scan and saw some leggings actually. My scanning radar is so good.
Grazia: What are your tips for keeping in touch with people that live in different cities?
Poppy: I think always call someone. It doesn’t matter what time they’re on, they might be awake.
Suki: I really enjoy a group chat. I have a sibling’s one, a family WhatsApp.
Grazia: How do you make new friends when you’ve moved to a different place?
Suki: Get up, go out and say yes all the time. I actually love going to stuff on my own, I’ve done it a lot. I’ve done that a lot where I’ve gone out to meet someone I’ve met once or a friend of a friend. I actually did it the other day in New Orleans on Mardi Gras, went out without my phone and $20, made loads of friends.
Poppy: I think it’s so easy to get social anxiety in these situations but you need to make yourself do it. Ask friends to put you in contact with people that they know.
Grazia: Poppy, you’ve got an initiative called ‘Happy, not Perfect’. How do you think that mantra feeds into friendship?
Poppy: I think if you’re not kind to yourself it can be very difficult to be a good friend. I think you can easily exhaust friendships, when actually you need to be nurturing yourself too. Everyone has ups and downs and struggles and you need to be aware of the struggles your friends might be going through too. Little things make such a difference, like waking up and thinking about what’s going on in your friend’s life and sending them a message about it – wishing your friend luck in an interview or an audition.
Suki: Someone said to me the other day about the people that predicted the world would end in 2012 and the friends that stood by them when they were proven wrong. That’s a really good friend – someone that stands next to you after you’ve had a bit of a battering.
Poppy: A good friend sticks by you through thick and thin.
Grazia: Do you think friends should come before boys?
Poppy: You know what, no! If my friend wants to go on a date and wants to cancel on me, cancel babe. I’m not like that. I am your cheerleader.
Suki: One thing I don’t like is when friends get annoyed with you about cancelling if something else pops up.
Poppy: I hate when friends make you feel guilty.
Suki: I do think in terms of men, I’d rather download my day with my friend than with a boyfriend.
Poppy: Your girls never leave you – you never break up with a good girlfriend.
Grazia: Who’s the Pop&Suki girl?
Suki: At our recent pop up we met our customers, which was great. We had mothers come in with their children, teenagers, it’s a real mix of ages because it’s really a very simple bag.
Poppy: Minimal and versatile. I’d love to think of her as a character, a girl who likes to have fun, who likes to go on adventures – the bag lends itself to that.
Grazia: What’s your proudest achievement to date?
Suki: Our first party. We did it in a diner with Ellen von Unwerth taking photos.
Poppy: We walked in and their were Pop&Suki milkshakes, Pop&Suki French fries.
Suki: It’s when we’ve all come together as a team and we see everything finally happen.
Poppy: Our first office was amazing too – this beautiful pastel pink office.
Suki: Oh yeah, that totally blew me away.
You and your best friend can win the Bumble BFF bags by Pop&Suki by entering the competition on our Instagram page. Just keep an eye out for our post and tag your bestie to win. Good luck!