“Everybody come to the tour!” pitches Little Mix’s Leigh-Anne Pinnock excitedly down the phone. With their first ever New Zealand show upcoming this July, Pinnock wants all of their kiwi Mixers to know that the UK girl-group are “SO excited to come to New Zealand” and that it’s “gonna be amazing!”

And if you’ve already got your tickets but are pondering what to wear to this momentous occasion? Pinnock’s got your back: “Wear anything you feel comfortable in, but if you really wanna come in the theme you can dress in pastels because that’s a kind of ‘Glory Days’ thing!”

Coup De Main caught up with Little Mix’s Leigh-Anne Pinnock at the end of last year to discuss the importance of “girls sticking together”, her favourite lyrics she’s written, and the complicated weirdness of love…

“…you definitely have to go through all the thorns to find your rose, definitely, because even though you might think you’ve found your soulmate, sometimes they’re still not the one – it’s really strange. Love is such a weird and complicated thing, I don’t think there is any right or wrong thing about it, it is what it is. But I don’t think you should ever give up. If you get hurt, there definitely is always someone out there for you, 100%…”

CDM: You’ve been telling me in interviews since 2012 that you really want to come to New Zealand… and now you finally are! How are you feeling about your upcoming NZ tour?
LITTLE MIX – LEIGH-ANNE PINNOCK: We cannot wait! We’re SO excited to come to New Zealand! My godfather actually lives there, so he’s gonna be able to come and watch, and I can’t wait! It’s gonna be amazing!

CDM: That’s so cute you and Perrie both have NZ connections, her with her past best friend and you with your godfather.
LEIGH-ANNE: Yeah! I know!! It’s gonna be amazing.

CDM: Is there anything in particular you’d like to do in New Zealand if you have any time off?
LEIGH-ANNE: Well I don’t actually know a lot about it, but I’m really excited to be able to explore. Do you have nice beaches? I’m sure you do. I love beaches, so that’d be nice to go to a beach over there.

CDM: Do you know yet what will be on ‘The Glory Days Tour’ setlist?
LEIGH-ANNE: We don’t actually know yet, but we’re hoping to do a lot of songs from the new album. I don’t mean to blow my own trumpet but we’ve got a lot of hits now, so it’s gonna be hard to pick and choose which ones we want, but I think we love the new album so we want to get as much of the new album on it as possible.

CDM: The new album is so sassy, I can’t wait to see songs like ‘Power’ and ‘You Gotta Not’ live.
LEIGH-ANNE: Awww thank you! Definitely! It’s gonna be wicked.

CDM: You’ve been working with a songwriter called Maegan Cottone since ‘Salute’ and ‘Move’, but on ‘Glory Days’ she contributed as a vocal producer for most of the songs on your new album. I love that not only is the album lyrically so empowering, but you also worked with a female producer to create it. Do you think it’s important for women to band together and help each other out in the music industry?
LEIGH-ANNE: 100%, I think it’s just in general and not just the industry. Girls sticking together I think is so important, and that’s what we like to represent through our music and as friends, we all have each other’s backs and I think that is such an important message to show everybody and woman around the entire world!

CDM: Your friendship with each other in Little Mix is one of the bestest and truest things that exists in this whole wide world. It just makes me so happy that you all love each other so much, like when you distract paparazzi from hassling individual members of the band. Was there any particular moment in your friendship when you first were like, ‘Yes! We are all going to be best friends forever and ever’?
LEIGH-ANNE: I think the moment that we looked each other in the face on-stage when they formed us, we just knew that it was gonna work 100%.

CDM: One of my favourite things about Little Mix is that it’s always been important to you girls to be involved in co-writing your albums. What are your favourite lyrics that you wrote for the new album?
LEIGH-ANNE: I love in ‘Down & Dirty’ when I say, “I ain’t ’bout pretending, them haters be hating, my fashion be trending.” And then there’s a line, “I started out making your pizzas,” because I used to work in Pizza Hut – “Now I’m a believer, check out the stamps on my VISA, we international divas, but I started out making your pizzas.” I love that line, because we have done so amazing, we know where we have all come from and we’ve worked so hard to get where we are!

CDM: You girls are definitely one of the hardest working acts in pop music right now!
LEIGH-ANNE: Awww thank you! Yeah you’ve got to put the hard work in to reap the benefits.

READ MORE: coupdemainmagazine.com

Little Mix’s Leigh-Anne Pinnock about her style, her lifestyle blog and Jamaica.

Little Mix are a band that need no introduction. As the most popular girl group of the decade, they’ve had sold-out headlines shows across the globe, clocked up a handful of top 10 singles and amassed a fan-base of thousands of loyal guys and girls who would quite literally worship the ground upon which they perform their perfectly synchronised dance routines. With accolades and awards lining their shelves and their position at the forefront of pop music, Little Mix are a force to be reckoned with. Don’t forget that they’ve also made their mark as Wonderland cover stars.

With a wardrobe that includes perfect pink Moschino tees or beautiful Balmain ensembles, it’s no wonder that Leigh-Anne Pinnock is Little Mix’s go-to girl for style advice. With that in mind, we sat down with Leigh-Anne to talk about the thought process behind her styling, the importance of body confidence, her lifestyle blog and her recent trip to her home-from-home, Jamaica.

Firstly, how would you describe your style?
I love wearing whatever I feel comfortable in, I love trying new things, I don’t really like to label it! I would say I love to follow trends but I also like to try and create my own trends and try things that I wouldn’t normally see myself in.

So you love to experiment with your style?
Yeah, 100%! I don’t really like to follow the crowd.

Have you always been interested in style and fashion?
I have actually always been into it, ever since I was younger. I’ve definitely always been interested in it, and as I’ve got older the passion has just got bigger and now I really want to focus on it!

Who are your favourite brands and designers and why?
One of my favourite designers would be Louis Vuitton. I’ve basically got everything! I love Chanel, Chanel bags are just absolutely everything. I’d say I’m really into Acne. Who else am I into? Balmain! That’s like one of my favourites! I’ve got the most amazing stylists and we always work together to create our own sort of looks and trends – they’re amazing.

I can imagine it’s important to work with stylists that share your vision & desired aesthetic.
100%. I think these are probably the best stylists that we’ve ever worked with. Not just me but as a group as well, each and every one of us. It’s good to work with people that have that same passion and want to create things.

Obviously, we think that Little Mix look amazing on stage, but sometimes critics have said your outfits are too provocative, I was just wondering what your opinions were on this and how you deal with style criticism?
I think with us, we love to just wear what we want to wear. When we feel comfortable on stage, we’re not really interested in the negative comments that people are saying about them being provocative. I don’t even think they’re that provocative if I’m honest! Beyonce and Lady Gaga were all wearing a leotards on-stage and if I’m honest, it’s actually quite easy to move in so that’s probably why we choose them, because we do so much dancing and choreography! We are all so body confident now and that has taken a lot of time to build and the fact that we are, I think that’s an amazing thing and we want to encourage our fans and everyone to be exactly the same way – wear what you want and be comfortable in it and sod what everyone else thinks!

Definitely! I think that’s the best attitude to have really! We saw that you recently went to Jamaica. Tell us about that trip!
Jamaica is like my second home, it’s probably the only place in the world where I feel like I’m at home other than England and my grandad and most of my family live there. I’ve been going there since I was three years old, so like 20 years I’ve been going! It’s one of my favourite places ever. The food I absolutely love! Caribbean food is one of my favourite cuisines. I love the music, just everything. It’s got the best vibe, Jamaica! Have you ever been?

Sadly not, should we add it onto our travel list?
You have to go! It’s just absolutely amazing. Maybe I’m biased because I am quarter Jamaican but I absolutely love it! I think one of the best things on the trip that we did, Negril is like the longest beach in Jamaica and it’s got this place called Rick’s Cafe and it’s like a cliff where you jump off. The highest peak of it is really high and people do backflips off it and handstands off it, it’s insane! Last time I went I didn’t get to do it, at the last minute I chickened out so I was like I’m going to do it! I got there to the top and I was like sod this! I couldn’t do it! Too high! But I did the baby one!

You run your own blog – Leigh Loves – tell us a bit about why you wanted to set this up and what you’re hoping to achieve?
I think with my blog I just wanted have something where I could show all my fans what I’m really interested in and sort of who I am because obviously I’m so into fashion. It’s not even just fashion, it’s like a lifestyle blog, I talk about travelling because I love travelling. I wanted to do something that I could do on my own. It’s fun! It’s really hard though, it takes a lot of work!

How do you sort of manage to find the time to do it alongside your work with Little Mix?
It is really hard. I don’t really stop, I just kind of keep going! The girls are like ‘what are you doing, aren’t you tired?’ but I’m like ‘I need to do this kind of thing’ so I just have to try a fit it in.

In terms of outfits that you’ve worn as part of Little Mix, which has been your favourite?
There’s so many! I would probably say our performance looks have been amazing. We did a performance for The LOS Music Awards in Spain and it was like a yellow and black look. What I love is when it’s colour co-ordinated and we choose like a really bold colour! So yeah, I love our performance looks! In terms of my individual look, recently I did a really cool look on a night out with a Moschino pink t-shirt and these really cool metallic thigh-highs.

Finally, if you could give your fans one piece of style advice what would it be?
I would say, wear what you feel comfortable in and don’t follow the crowd, be who you want to be in your fashion and don’t listen to anyone else and any other negative comments. I think just do you and rock it with confidence because if you don’t have any confidence it’s not going to work!

Perfect life advice as well!

Source: Wonderland Magazine

Leigh-Anne for Wonderland Magazine

Often referred to as this generation’s Spice Girls, Little Mix are just on the cusp of releasing their latest album Glory Days. The girls are no newcomers to the FAULT scene, having previously been featured in issue 17– back when Salute was only just being released. It has been a while since and the foursome has surely done some growing up in the meanwhile. We caught up with Little Mix ahead of their album release and here’s their take on the past 5 years of their careers.

You’ve gone a long way since people first saw you on the X Factor. You’ve rocketed to the top, broken records and vanished the jinx of the X-Factor winner. How does it feel to prove everyone wrong?
Perrie: It feels really good. Every little bit of success we get, we feel massively grateful and humbled for it. I don’t think I’ve ever expected to have the success that we have now. But I’m glad we broke that curse for X Factor. We’re very proud of ourselves.

It’s been five years now. What do you think is the most important lesson that you’ve learned over the past five years?
Perrie Just to try and stay grounded with all your family and friends. Hold your loved ones really close. And try to keep your own little circle of friends. It’s hard to trust people in this industry. So yeah, keep all your family close.
Jade To appreciate what we have. I think it’s very easy in this job to think negatively and think low of yourself after working such long hours. We’re always tired, but we have to remember that we’re in a much better position than many other girls. And also – to never underestimate our success.

So straight out of the X Factor – what were the biggest issues that you encountered in the industry?
Leigh-Anne We didn’t have a clue what to expect. When you’re in a show like that, you’re kind of thrown into it in a way that you don’t really have any time to adjust to it. I think we were just really lucky to have each other. Doing that on your own – must be so much pressure. I’m just really happy that I got to have these girls as my comfort blanket.

Was there a specific moment in your careers when you realized that you’re becoming role models for young girls and therefore had a responsibility towards them?
Perrie I think being named role models kind of happened just naturally, we never really asked for it. Which is lovely, I love the fact that girls look up to us and we empower people and inspire them. But obviously, we’re young girls and we’re going to do silly things sometimes that can kind of put pressure on us, but we’re just being ourselves. And if that means that we’re being role models by just being ourselves, then that’s incredible. It’s a massive compliment.

And as so, do you have any particular life stories that you’d like to share with your young audience for them to learn from?
Leigh-Anne Well, both Jade and me had bad skin when we were young. And we used to get teased. And at the time – you think it’s the worst thing in the world. What I would say to anyone that is suffering from it is the fact that it will go away and it’s not the end of the world.

As women in the public eye working in an industry that constantly scrutinizes people – women first and foremost – have you ever felt you had a responsibility to act against it?
Perrie Well, now that we’ve got a bit of influence – which is amazing – we try our best to make something positive out of it. We don’t think it’s fair that women get scrutinized more than men. Everything is harder for a woman in every kind of aspect and that’s why we try to empower women with our music, our image and everything we stand for. If we can help a little bit, then we’re doing okay.

How did you all find your individualities under the given circumstances?
Perrie We kind of stayed the same I think. From the beginning, we all knew who we were individually, what our style was and what we liked and disliked. Nothing changed, it just evolved. We like to be individuals because more people can relate to us. People relate to Leigh-Anne differently than they relate to me and so on. We’re all tight knit, but we embrace our individualities too.

Have you always had this mindset?
Perrie Yeah, we’ve had the same beliefs pretty much from the beginning. We’ve always wanted to be girl-power; we’ve always wanted to inspire people.

How do you usually cope with the pressure of that omnipresent eye of the media?
Perrie At first, it was really horrible. We were really young; I was 17 when I got put into Little Mix. I felt like a baby, I didn’t know how to fend for myself. Moving to London was terrifying – to not be with my family. I think, at first, we found it hard reading things about ourselves that weren’t true. Like rumours or seeing a bad picture right on the front of a magazine or whatever it was. But now, we literally couldn’t care less.
Leigh-Anne It doesn’t matter. We’ve learned how to deal with it all of it now. Everybody gets it. Adele, Beyoncé, everyone gets scrutinized. And it’s usually from people who don’t have a life.

What’s next for Little Mix?
Perrie Hopefully a lot more success. But we’re very happy with this album. It’s a lot more mature, it’s very honest and it’s different to what we’ve done before. We just hope it does really well.

What’s your FAULT?
Perrie I can be stubborn.
Leigh-Anne When I gen drunk, I take things really seriously.
Jade Mine is overthinking. I’m too much of a perfectionist.

Fault Magazine

Source: fault-magazine.com

SPENDING a morning with Little Mix is like being in the eye of a hair extension, bronzer and fake eyelash tornado – with the occasional twerk thrown in for good measure.

It’s the first time the girls have seen each other after getting a rare four weeks off before going back into promo for new single Shout Out To My Ex.

It’s the fifth time we’ve interviewed the foursome – and they’re sassier than ever before.

Do you want people to read into the lyrics for your new single Shout Out To My Ex?
Jesy We’re not going to shy away from situations that have happened. We’ve all been through heartbreak and love, so we’ve written a song that girls can relate to. It’s kind of an “up yours!”. I love that they will think: “Oh, f**k you,” when they hear it. That’s why I feel so lucky that we can express ourselves through our music.
It’s very feisty…
Leigh-Anne We are not holding back on this album – we’re giving it everything.
Perrie [Puts on an American accent] No more nice Little Mix… No more nice girls!

What would you shout out to an ex?
P I’m all the way up and I’m never coming down.
L-A In my opinion, they always come back and this could be a way of saying: “Do you know what? Too late. I didn’t like you anyway!”

There’s a lyric in SOTME about faking it in bed. Have you ever done that?
P I think every girl has done that.
L-A Sometimes you feel bad and don’t want them to feel awkward, so you just do it.
P You’re so funny!
Jade We’ve all been there.
L-A Or if you’re getting bored of it.
Jade And you want it to be over and you’re just like: “Come on…!”
P It’s what every girl thinks and what every girl’s been through. We’re just saying it in a song.
L-A Also, if your ex has been a bit of an a***hole, then it’s nice to belittle them!

How body-confident are you?
Jesy As we’ve got older, we genuinely don’t give a s**t any more. [The constant scrutiny] is hard to take when you’re young, but now we’re more confident. We’re happy to be how we are, and don’t care if we put on a couple of pounds. I feel like curves are really in at the moment – I love that they’re celebrated.
L-A They should always be in. I went to London Fashion Week in September and some models were really skinny.
Jesy You should celebrate any size. If you can rock your body with confidence, and you’re happy in your own skin, there’s nothing sexier. I feel like we’re all in a really good place with how we feel about ourselves.

Do you ever let online comments about your appearance affect you?
Jesy We never read comments any more. I think if people want to comment about you, what does it say about them? It just shows you they’ve got no life.
P People are always going to be negative. When we started out, it was like when you’re in a playground and the whole school was talking about you: “Oh my god, did you see what Perrie did?” It was that, but on a world scale and it was weird. But now, I couldn’t give a f**k.

Are diets a dirty word?
Jesy We love to eat healthy, but then we’ll have days when what we eat is unforgivable. I had the biggest Domino’s yesterday, but don’t care because it f**king made me happy. Then I’ll eat healthy for the rest of the week and have another cheat day.
P Nothing makes me happier than food.
Jesy We’re all such foodies. It’s not good to eat s**t all the time, but we’re normal and like to eat s**t!

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Fabulous Magazine

Little Mix behind the scenes of Fabulous Magazine:

Little Mix are on the cover of Fabulous Magazine (out November 13th)! You can see cover below: