Charley Dean Sayers in Conversation with Her Mum - “I’ve Been Collecting Kylie Minogue Merch My Whole Life.”

Photographer: Lewis Vorn | Stylist: Katy Cutbirth | Makeup: Irina Cajvaneanu | Hair: Michela Olivieri

This article features in The Bed Issue. Get yours here.

charley dean sayers kylie minogue bed issue polyester — It would be easy to assume that Charley Dean Sayers – the 24-year-old artist and model who, along with her mother, is a Kylie Minogue mega fan and curator of what could possibly be the biggest collection of Minogue merchandise in the northern hemisphere – is simply following in her mum Sue’s footsteps. But really, the opposite is true. It was only after Charley found herself obsessed with Kylie as a kid that the pair began what has been an almost lifelong obsession with the “Can’t Get You Out Of My Head” singer.
Charley is the author of the photobook *November 17th*, and recently invited us to her home in London’s Palmers Green to photograph her and “approximately one third” of the Kylie Minogue merch that the pair have been accumulating for over twenty years. Poring though everything from unopened, scented Kylie Minogue drawer liners to over tour lanyards, as well as a portion of their impressive two hundred and fifty strong collection of Kylie t-shirts, we were transported into a world of passion that can only come from a place of genuine connection, love and admiration.

Dress: Katya Zelentsova | Socks: SSENSE x Swedish Stockings | Bra: Fruity Booty | Earrings: Stylist’s own

In the below conversation between Sue and Charley, it became clear that their devotion stems from two places: the first being the obvious fact that Kylie is a class act, plus the second and most important: a beautiful bond between mother and daughter.

CHARLEY: When did you first notice that I was insanely obsessed with Kylie?

SUE: When she brought out “Can't Get You Out of My Head’ – you gravitated towards the TV like it was a magnet. You were maybe two-and-a-half or three-years-old and you were really transfixed with her.

And the first concert we went to was a little later – that was The Showgirl Tour when I was five. I remember going in a little suit and a shirt. It was the best night ever, I'd never been to a concert before. I remember when she first came out, I had this mixed feeling of being overwhelmed and wanting to run out because it was so loud, but just being transfixed because it was Kylie.

And then after that, I think it was just kind of assumed that we were going to see her again. Because after that show was when we met Caroline. Basically, we were told about Caroline Barnes, Kylie’s makeup artist at the time, and she had kids that went to the same school that I went to. So on Halloween, my mum and I, we came up with this very genius plan as we knew that we had to get in contact with Kylie, because obviously we'd seen her in concert. I had already had such special feelings and love for her.

So we spent one evening before Halloween writing up a letter that I would give to Kylie. And we thought it would be the most genius idea to knock on Caroline's door trick or treating, to give her this letter for Kylie.

And you didn't even want one sweet off her.

No, I did not care about the sweets at all.

You immediately said, ‘Are you Kylie's makeup artist?’

That was the first thing I said to Caroline and I remember it took her by surprise a bit.

She took the letter and that was all around the time that Kylie was recovering from breast cancer and planning The Showgirl: Homecoming Tour. After that Caroline would approach me at drop off time at the school, and she’d give me things like CDs that I hadn't even asked to be signed for you. And they were all signed with the nickname that Kylie had given you, Charley from Clapham - it was just lovely. She also got us prime tickets for the Showgirl: Homecoming London dates.

The seats were front row - it was ridiculously close actually, how close we were to the stage, we were just in absolute disbelief.

We burst into tears because it was very overwhelming. We felt so lucky to be at the front and you even had a dance with Danni.

Because Danni came out that night as well – it was Kylie’s last night that she was performing in London for that tour. And during “Kids,” she brought Danni out to sing a duet with her. And because we were in the friends and family section of the audience, Danni was there before she was due to go on stage. Sue practically pushed me out into the aisle and was like “Danni! Go dance with her!” I remember I was about belly button height to her and I just hugged her as tight as I could until she was like, “I've got to go on stage now.”

After that show in 2007, my dad passed away, and it made my connection to Kylie even more special. Everything that Kylie had been through, that she had battled cancer and she'd been through so much at that point – as a young child, I'd seen her fighting that battle, which made me feel strong enough to go through whatever I was going through. I mean, as corny as it sounds, but it really felt like Kylie did help with my grief.

I think you just saw that she was vulnerable as well, and even grown ups go through hard times.

We met her during that period, or I guess just before. It was a perfume meet and greet in Harrods and mum pulled me out of school to go, and when I was face to face with her, I just couldn’t speak. But now, we’ve been to how many is it? 20 concerts? Tonight is going to be our 21st concert at the O2. We've been to every single tour, at least one night, since 2005. And we've seen her at festivals – we've seen her in Finland, Scotland, Brighton pride. That was brilliant. We have the Vegas merch, we have the New York merch, we have the Abu Dhabi t-shirt. Sue is the one that has the most t-shirts, and she is the sole caretaker of all of the merch. I keep telling her that it needs to be insured.

Combined, we've definitely got around 250 t-shirts. You've got over 100, I've got over 150 not including the kind of small t-shirts, kids t-shirts…

We have confetti from every single tour. We have every single Kylie book that's ever been released. We have most of the Kylie calendars. We have the Kylie Minogue Barbies in and out of the box. Kylie follows us around too, doesn't she? I feel like in every single shop that I go into, there she is playing, or, you know, I turn around and there's a picture of her in a magazine. She just follows me everywhere.

God, we've just done so much. Even down to little things like the street party where Caroline was the face painter – instead of you wanting to be a lion or a tiger or a flower or a butterfly or any other thing that all the kids were asking of Caroline, you wanted to be Kylie. We took a picture after the face paint was completed and we sent it to Caroline. Caroline showed Kylie, and Kylie said, “Well, that's got to be my screen saver on my laptop”. Yeah, because she thought it was just the cutest thing in the world.

Having all of these things – like after school, after my dad had passed away, just coming home, and having my Sue be like, “I spoke to Caroline, and Kylie says that you're the most amazing child in the world,” meant so much.

It was quite a dark time, so to see you happy with me telling you things that Caroline had told me, is what made me love Kylie. I saw you happy in those little moments and from my point of view, that's what made me feel really sentimental. Kylie was making you happy in those little moments – that's why I just really love her.

Charley Dean Sayers in Conversation with Her Mum - “I’ve Been Collecting Kylie Minogue Merch My Whole Life.”

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