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is all you
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Words alexandra stevens
Photography sarah kjelleren
fashion editor renessta olds
Dress Son Jung Wan
Jewelry Nina Jewels for Nina Shoes
Dress Rachel Allan
Jewelry Nina Jewels for Nina Shoes
on left: Blouse Cluny
Pants Andrew Marc
Shoes Keyshia cole for Steve Madden
Earrings Nina Jewels for Nina Shoes
on right: Dress Rubin & Chapelle
Jewelry Nina Jewels for Nina shoes
Suiting Rubin & Chapelle
Shoes Keyshia Cole for Steve Madden
Jewelry stylist own
L
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exclusive ally love interview
A
Love spreads and campaigns with iconic
brands like Victoria’s Secret, Nike, Elle, and
Target. People were seeing her - now it was
her turn to be heard, too.
“I’m a dancer, but I also have a
strong voice. It’s not just that I’m opinionated and wanted to talk - I knew I had an edge,”
Love explained. “After modeling for so many
years, I knew I’ve got my face out there, I obviously got my dance moves out there, but I
never really got my voice out there.” She created an organization called SpreadSomLove
(SsL) that provides support and planning
for charities and nonprofits, helping raise
hundreds of thousands of dollars to aid children. She then decided to turn to on-camera
work, taking classes and pursing commercial
opportunities. Love quickly realized that
scripted gigs didn’t allow for enough personal
expression, so she turned to hosting, hoping
to bring her vivacity to the TV screen.
“I wanted to be able to speak freely,
I want to say what I think and ask people
questions,” said Love. “I’m very social - I’ve
got the gift of gab. I was like, how can I utilize this and allow it to take me to the next
level?”
Soon Love had had a reel, and
she sent it to everyone she knew, knowing
it would eventually reach the right person.
And it did. The Brooklyn Nets were bringing basketball to New York’s most populous
borough with the newly reformed team and a
billion-dollar arena, looking to fill a spot for
an in-arena MC and on-camera host. Love
snagged the position, and the Barclay’s Center was her new stage.
“I’m the girl in the heels on court,”
she said. “You might not see her face, or know
her name, but you hear her voice: that’s me!”
Seemingly overnight, she had gone from a
visual performer to a commanding voice in a
stadium packed with 20,000 people.
Lifestyle
Leather Jacket Andrew Marc
Pants Andrew Marc
Shoes Keyshia Cole for Steve Madden
“You’re doing my job,” Ally Love tells me
with a laugh. “What are you gonna ask me
now?” she challenges teasingly. I’m leaning
against a fold-out table, scattered end to end
in makeup and brushes, iPhone in hand on
record. She sits across from me on a faded
stool in a tank top and frayed cut offs, flooded
in heavy afternoon sunlight. We’re taking a
break between looks for our cover shoot, and
Love is in limbo. Her face and hair are undoubtedly camera ready, but her outfit her
own, casual and easy. Her skin glows in the
sort of ethereal way that makes you question
whether or not you’re really standing in the
same room, in the same stifling June heat.
But Love tells me she loves to sweat - she is
from Miami. She also proves to be equally as
dynamic on the receiving end of questions as
she is from her usual position of interviewer.
Of course, being a career performer probably
makes that a little easier.
Love came to New York almost
ten years ago, pursing a dance career. After
graduating from Fordham University with a
Bachelor of Fine Arts and a minor in Theology, Love danced with contemporary ballet
companies throughout the country. She then
auditioned to be a Knicks City Dancer, landing both and spot and eventual performances
with globally recognized artists like Pitbull,
Wyclef Jean, and even an MTV VMA performance with Beyoncé. Dancing was taking
Love all over country, and her success in stadiums and on stage only felt like the beginning.
“Everyone always wants more, more, more in
New York City,” said Love. “Nobody is ever
fulfilled. It’s always about the next level.” So
she put together a portfolio and submitted
her materials to Wilhelmina, one of New
York’s top modeling agencies, and was picked
up on her first interview. In the six years since
then, support from Wilhelmina has landed
lly
NU-MODE´ THE NEW YORK EDITION 2014 .149
exclusive ally love interview
“You realize that someone might be dreaming a little
bigger than you, and it inspires your dream to grow.”
lifestyle
D
“[The Brooklyn Nets] entertainment department took a chance on me; they thought I
was good, they thought I could do the part,
and they were right,” she said. “Sometimes a
career is created when someone sees a talent
that you possess and says ‘this will be right
for you,’ and you don’t even know if it will or
not.” Love has since appeared at every home
game, making herself an integral part of what
has quickly become a prized Brooklyn hallmark.
“Sports unify a lot of people,” she
said of the effect the city’s teams have on its
inhabitants. “It’s one commonality that everyone has, no matter who you are, or where
you come from. If you support that team, you
guys have something in common and at that
point you’re friends. It unifies a city, it unifies a borough, a town, a community, a block,
a street.” Love has been a self-proclaimed
Uptown girl since moving to New York, but
just recently moved across the water to Jersey
City.
“We like to call it ‘Beautiful Jersey
City’ - BJC,” said Love with a laugh. “It’s one
of my hashtags on Instagram!” Despite an
unyielding love for work and play in the inner
boroughs, a decade of the Manhattan rush
can wear down most energetic multi-taskers.
Jersey jokes aside, Love is one of many who
find the short commute a worthwhile reprieve from the grind of city life. A far cry
from the Miami girl who once wore orange
and bright yellow, Love has now adopted the
NYC all (or mostly) black uniform, and can
rattle off her favorite spots with hardly any
hesitation.
“Cafe Fiorello,” she said, naming
an Italian spot in the Upper West Side, “I’ve
been going there since I moved here. And
NU-MODE´ the new york edition 2014 .150
Sugar Cane in Brooklyn. It’s a Trinidadian
restaurant on Flatbush, right off the Bergen
stop on the 2 train. It’s really small - that’s
my after-the-game go-to spot. It’s amazing,
the best food.” She also professes her love
for Barry’s Bootcamp and SLT; For those
more couch/bar/pizza inclined, SLT is another work out class offered in New York that
stands for “Strengthen Lengthen Tone.” But
between five mile runs and charity dinners,
Love still has her indulgences, one of which
she conspiratorially reveals.
“I like to sneak Chinese food into
the movies,” Love admits with a cheeky
smile. “Don’t tell anybody that!” (Oops, sorry.) With so many different jobs and ambitions, it’s hard to believe that Love even has
time to eat sesame chicken in a movie theater.
“If I can do seven things in one day,
that’s a good day,” Love said. Finding seven
things to do on any given day in New York
can be surprising and varied, even if it’s not
all photo shoots and basketball.
“What New York has that you can’t
find anywhere else is that energy,” she explained. “It’s something you can’t articulate,
but you feel when you’re in the city. It’s an energy that cultivates artistry. You can feel it in
the air, you can feel it when you talk to people.
When you speak to people on the street, you
talk about what their dreams are, what your
dreams are. Then you realize that someone
might be dreaming a little bigger than you,
and it inspires your dream to grow. You say ‘I
wanna do this’ and they’re like ‘Well have you
ever thought about this?’ There are so many
people with ideas from so many different influences. You come in a small town girl with a
dream, and it’ll blow your mind when you realize what you were missing the entire time.”
ream
NU-MODE´ the new york edition 2014 .150
Photography Sarah Kjelleren
styling renessta olds
make up artist & hairstylist marina guidos
ally love at wilhelmina