The first breath of Cutthroat Sweetheart was taken in my childhood bedroom on Tumblr. As could be expected from an angsty teenager, it quickly became a reprieve that evolved into its own identity throughout my university career. Eventually I started blogging under the same alias - a return to sharing my writing that I had taken a break from since high school. It became a portfolio, a diary, a collage of memories, but ultimately a space where I forged my personal philosophy and brand. My initial tagline carried over from Tumblr. was "The bittersweet moments that we call life." - a very early and rudimentary ode to the nuance of human existence that I found myself constantly and ever-frequently being confronted by.
After moving from South Africa to Taiwan, Cutthroat Sweetheart transformed from a digital corner of my late-night musings into something more intentional. I became more deliberate in my exploration of art, poetry and experience. I began curating not just my words, but the visual language surrounding them to the point where I often felt overwhelmed by the expanse of my own vision and creative goals leading to a very inconsistent and certainly nonlinear journey to where I am today. While I still certainly get caught up in the amazing chaos of my life, I carry a lot less shame around my creative process and output nowadays which has made decision paralysis and creative fatigue much less frequent visitors. The fact that you're reading this here is evidence of that - this is the continuation of countless baby steps taken, mistakes made and lessons learned.
The name itself carries weight. "Cutthroat" speaks to ambition, to the sharp edges of wanting something badly enough to pursue it relentlessly. "Sweetheart" softens that edge with tenderness, vulnerability, and warmth. Together, they capture the duality I've always felt drawn to: the tension between softness and strength, between dreaming and doing, between the polarities and extremes we feel so easily pulled to yet are not best explained by.
Today, Cutthroat Sweetheart exists as a brand, a collection, and a philosophy all at once. But at its core, it remains what it's always been: a reflection of the bittersweet moments that make us human. A space where contradiction is not just accepted but celebrated. Where you can be both fierce and gentle, ambitious and introspective, polished and raw.
Thank you for being here. For reading these words, for engaging with what I create, and for understanding that beauty exists in the spaces between extremes.