Being a fan of One Direction goes far beyond the music – there’s almost a subculture that exists in which fans of Harry, Louis, Niall, and Liam and the boys themselves have found a sense of home and belonging in one another.
One of the best parts of being part of this subculture is the creativity and passion of the fans that One Direction have inspired. There are incredible works of fanfiction, songs/poems/stories written to and about the boys, and amazing works of art that aim to let them know just how much they mean to their fans.
If you’ve been on social media at all lately, you’ve definitely seen edits of Liam, Niall, Louis, and Harry going around that show younger versions of themselves combined with how they are now – they are circulating everywhere and pulling at all of our heartstrings.
These edits are intricate, from the way the boy’s hair falls, to the perfect placement of their tattoos, and finding fan favorite outfits that make us all smile – they are truly works of art!
The girl behind these edits’ is named Kris Goins and on Twitter, you’ll find her as HazStylesTrash. If you’re just discovering who she is now, be prepared to give up some of your day because you’ll be enchanted by her work!
From the hair series (we’re swooning, hard), time swaps, and even the lads in Harry Potter and Disney Stories – Kris has an edit for every single One Direction fan out there – and she puts her all into each one!
We asked Kris to tell us a little bit about herself so we could know the brains behind the lovely edits that are being passed around social media and see what inspired her to make them!
“Well, when I was young around 11 or so, I spent all of my time on the computer because I didn’t have any friends honestly. I was constantly picked on and I was looking for something to distract myself. I was obsessed with Harry Potter and so I spent a lot of time on the Harry Potter forums where I made some connections and ended up being part of the staff for Daniel Radcliffe’s main website. I kept seeing these images in people’s signatures on the forums and I wanted to badly to learn how to do it myself, so I convinced my parents to buy me my first photo editing software. Of course, I was terrible (lol) I was so young and had no idea what I was doing, I just kind of winged it and attempted to teach myself. Over the years, I eventually got the hang of what I was doing and virtually mastered Photoshop on my own with no outside help or direction. My parents were very supportive of my passion and my dad pushed me to apply for a full ride scholarship for the fine and performing arts college at ETSU, and I got it! I have an honors degree in Digital Media and was mostly meddling in fandom art (this time Glee).”
Kris went on to explain that she found herself married young, to a man who didn’t support her and unfortunately, was abusive during their time together. She found the strength to leave him and around the same time, her father died unexpectedly – this is when she found One Direction and they gave her a reason to smile again.
“They saved me” Kris stated, “Really that’s why they’ve been my main source of inspiration. I first got discovered when my Harry with short hair concept edits were stolen and spread across the internet with my watermark cropped off and I was devastated. I didn’t think anyone would ever be able to find me and I was having to watch huge accounts post my work with no credit. But I just kept making edits and trying to get people to listen and before I knew it, I ended up with 30k followers on Instagram and Tumblr, and over 8k on Twitter. I’m very thankful for One Direction and the fact that I never gave up on one of the only things I’ve ever felt like I’m really good at. I’ve worked so hard to get where I am!”
Kris’ motivation to not only self-teach the skills necessary to make the edits she does (and they’re absolutely flawless) but to also follow her heart and chase her own happiness is inspiring!
She says some of her favorite edits are the time swap edits, and we have to agree! There’s something special about seeing the boys as they are now reflected on who they were when they got their start – when their fans first fell in love with them.
Are you crying a little bit, because we totally are too.
The Star Wars edits got a lot of recognition too – and most recently she’s done some vampire edits of the lads that have us all wishing we were immortal right alongside them.
So not only is Kris incredibly talented, she’s inspiring for more reasons than just her art – the One Direction fanbase is lucky to have her.
If you want to check out more of her work, she has her pieces featured on Tumblr, an online store, and her Twitter and Instagram accounts!
Tweet us at @CelebMix and @CelebMix1D and let us know what your favorite edits are, we’re excited to see which ones catch your eye too.