Fashion – IRMA LALIASHVILI

The Phenomenon Of Denver Fashion Bloggers

How Blogging has changed the Way We Search for Fashion Inspiration

For the past five years, a fashion blogging phenomenon has been taking Denver’s growing fashion community by surprise. Fashion and personal style bloggers, such as Alena Gidenko from ModaPrints.com and Karissa Marie from KarrisaMarieBlog.com are becoming the next local fashion sensations. Over the past decade, influential international fashion bloggers such as Bryan Grey Yambao, also known as Bryanboy from Bryanboy.com and Chiara Ferragni, Italian personal style blogger from TheBlondeSalad.com, have been changing the way we seek fashion inspirations for our daily wardrobe.

With 23,000 followers and growing on Instagram, Alena Gidenko from ModaPrints.com is becoming a well-known self-made brand in local fashion scene. With her contagious quirky personality and colorful unique style, Gidenko is on her way to a promising career in fashion.

People no longer look for style inspirations in Vogue or Harper’s Bazaar. They seek online for original individuals with a unique taste in fashion. The blogging community has allowed an easy access to get noticed on the internet for fashion hopefuls who want to succeed in this highly competitive industry. It’s easy to start a fashion blog on Blogger or WordPress, the two popular blogger platforms. All you need is a computer, smartphone, social media accounts such as Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and Instagram, and a decent quality digital camera and a photographer by your side to take those perfect shots.

Brands love collaborating with bloggers and some even send free samples for bloggers to review and promote on their blog posts. This way the blogger not only gains exposure in the world of blogosphere but also, the brand, which becomes win-win collaboration for both the brand and for the blogger.

The well known and loved photography app, Instagram, also plays a major role in a fashion bloggers success. Perhaps, the winner of the biggest Instagram following is Italian fashion blogger Chiara Ferragni from The Blonde Salad. With 6 million followers and counting, Ferragni is Instagram’s most stylish “it” girl.

Karissa Marie is a Denver based personal style blogger, who is originally from New Mexico, now living in Colorado. Being just 5 feet 1 inch tall, Marie’s bigger than life personality and an exquisite eye for style, makes her an ideal fashion icon in Denver’s growing fashion community. Marie’s blog KarissaMarieBlog.com has 1,742 loyal readers. She has 13,000 plus followers on Instagram, which includes content ranging from look of the day, lifestyle and food photography.

To start a blog, you have to have a unique point of view, a unique personality. You have to have your own thing. There are so many bloggers out there. They’re all doing similar things. You have to find something in you that’s different from what everybody else is doing. What can you give to your readers? Can you make them smile? Can you make them laugh? That’s what’s important.

Recent rising trend in the fashion industry shows that blogging has influenced plus-size fashion enthusiasts to run their style blogs by posting daily outfit photos and points of view on the latest fashion trends on their blogs. It’s a new and inspiring approach for plus-size women who are looking for outfit inspirations online.

As fashion blogosphere grows even more in Colorado, local media are already beginning to feel its influence. Whether you are a petite-size blogger or a plus-size blogger, there are many new voices out there ready to be heard. It is just a matter of time before the Denver fashion industry starts to recognize these young stylish individuals who are waiting to get their foot in the door with their personal and unique approach to style.

Cover Image Credit: ModaPrints

Piece originally published in The Odyssey, theodysseyonline.com

The Premier Fashion Event of the Year

DENVER – Four years of Colorado Fashion Week and it only gets better. Denver hails CFW as the Primer Fashion Event of the Year.

On Saturday, Oct. 4, 2014 Colorado Fashion Week presented the collections of the most promising emerging and established fashion designers and brands as part of the international fashion business calendar.

CFW 2014 Runway Show Night 1, sponsored by Shane Co., took place at The Four Seasons Denver Hotel. Among the designers and retailers were Arturo Rios, Lotti by Amy Cabrera, Stitch Boutique, Sarah Ake, Sully & Co., KatyBelle and Hillary MacMilan.

Colorado Fashion Week runs Oct. 3-7 at various locations in Denver. [Photo by Irma Laliashvili]

In its four-year history, CFW has been self-funded by Justice Kwesi Kwarteng as well as through relationships built with generous strategic partners; the event has showcased top local, national and international designers and earned a dedicated day on the State of Colorado calendar.

“The vision and purpose of Colorado Fashion Week is to build Colorado’s international fashion industry presence,” said CFW Founder, Justice Kwesi Kwarteng. “Colorado Fashion Week was created to elevate Denver’s brand as a City, on both the local and national level.”

Colorado Fashion Week is dedicated to building an economically sustainable and highly respected professional fashion industry in Colorado.

According to Tom Shane, the owner and the headlining designer of Shane Co., there were approximately 300 hundred people at the event.

“It was an outstanding show,” said Charistina Armbruster, a Denver model who walked the 1st runway presentation of Los Angeles designer Arturo Rios. “Our fashion industry professionals have what it takes for making Denver the next New York, Paris, or Milan.”

In 2012, Governor John Hickenlooper officially declared Oct. 1 – 7 as Colorado Fashion Week, each year.

For more details and ticket information for all CFW events visit coloradofashionweek.co

Piece originally published in Metro-Post Telepgraph, post-telegraph.com

5 Ways To Creating Your Own Personal Style

Fashion advice: Confidence is the key

Growing up, my mother used to dress me up in bright blazers. Blazers with skirts, shorts, jeans and dresses. She has a very unique taste when it comes to fashion and interior design. When I was 4 years old, she bought me my very first blazer–I remember it very clearly, as though it was yesterday. The blazer was bright pink, the inside fabric color was white with tiny pink dots. I fell in love with it from the moment I saw it. That’s when I knew that my passion for fashion had just begun. My mom used to dress me up very chic for every occasion and even for the “everyday looks.” Trust me, if you’d ever met my mother, you’d right away think she works in the fashion industry. My mother is my style icon!

Throughout the years, I wore different types of blazers, from bright colors to uniquely shaped textures. You can dress up any look with blazers and accessories, such as bracelets, cocktail rings, long necklaces and scarves. I love wearing blazers with scarves. Short scarves, long scarves–it doesn’t really matter.

I would describe my style as casual chic with a bit of rock n’ roll twist to it. Music is my number one inspiration when it comes to styling. I can pretty much listen to a song and pick an outfit based on the music and lyrics I’m listening to. What can I say, I am an artist, and we are all creatively weird sometimes.

Finding your own unique, personal style is a long road to be traveled. It does not happen just after a good night’s sleep and dream about beautiful clothes, but is an adventure that takes several years. “Fashion is what you’re offered four times a year. Style is what you pick out of that fashion. It’s a matter of finding the right pieces and putting them together to create a perfect ensemble that you look and feel stylish and comfortable in,” says Denver personal style consultant, Sarah Waddell.

I’m not a style guru, no Anna Wintour, and certainly no Kate Moss, but I have lots of different phases in my early 20s where I was always totally convinced that I had found my style.

And now, a few years on, the time has come that I carefully dare to say that I have found my own taste indeed. It took a lot of embarrassing moments but my personality is best reflected in the most basic, minimalist outfits without too much fuss, but always with a little twist, like a bright blazer. Clothing is a way to express yourself every day. But how can you find your own personal style, you may ask?

1. Find inspiration

If you have no idea what to put on, and you are clueless every day for your closet, it’s a good idea to look for inspiration. Scour the Internet in search of styles that you like, street-style images that immediately bring to mind you and outfits that you can see yourself in. Then dive into your wardrobe and combine it!

2. Do not be afraid to experiment

Without trying things out, you never know what you like and do not like, and especially what is and is not beautiful at you. Try all sorts of looks, play with colors and layers, and also just go to the streets. It might be a crazy feeling, but you’ll quickly know what outfits suit you and what you do not feel comfortable in.

3. Find your signature piece

Search for a particular item, such as a leather jacket, a blazer, or a good bag that falls anywhere to combine a 100% reflection of you. This way you give every outfit your own twist and create a more personal look.

4. Shape

Know what shapes and styles of clothing do not fit well with your body and buy clothes in the right size. Too small clothes make you look bigger than you are, and loose clothing can make you disappear. If you stand facing the mirror and see exactly what features you like about yourself and what you want to show to everyone, you can much more easily put together an outfit and make choices during a shopping spree.

5. Mix and match

Fashion is and remains a party, without rules and with a lot of freedom. Do not be embarrassed to try new things, playing with trends and occasionally stepping out of your comfort zone. Remember girls: You don’t have to buy expensive clothes to look fabulous. Just mix and match. I personally love shopping at H&M and Bebe. If something looks great on me and it costs $5, no doubt I’ll buy and wear it.

Conclusively, it’s all about having a good eye and taste in fashion. And most importantly, it’s all about confidence. To me, fashion is art. My idea of fashion is not only what is seen in the fashion shows and magazines. Fashion is about what people around the world are wearing. It’s about original style and taste. Fashion is all around us.

This article originally appeared on theodysseyonline

And re-appeared on medium

“Grace” A Memoir by Grace Coddington

“Grace” A Memoir by Grace Coddington

From the very first page, I completely enjoyed reading “Grace” A Memoir by Grace Coddington. Like most fashionista’s out there, I’ve had a mega-crush on the red-head fashion icon that is American Vogue’s Creative Director, ever since I first saw The September Issue the day that documentary came out in 2009. Before watching the documentary, I did not know much about her. Coddington was the unexpected star of the film. She was very warm and funny, unlike the Editor-an-Chief of the American Vogue, Anna Wintour, who was shown cold and intimidating. Since the documentary’s release, interest in Coddington and her career in fashion have been off the charts. And I feel as if though this memoir is her response to that documentary.

Like every other fashionista out there, once Grace Coddington’s memoir came out back in 2012, I ran straight to Barnes and Nobles to purchase a copy and carefully put it on my bookshelf, and haven’t had the time to actually sit down and read it, until last month, when we as a class were assigned to work on this memoir paper/presentation assignment. I was exposed to Vogue ever since I was 12 years old. And since I was 18 years old, I have been dedicated to this Conde Nast publication so much that I kept back issues from a decade ago until recently.

“It always arrived rather late in the month, and there were usually only one or two in stock. Presumably, Harper’s Bazaar was around then, too, but for me it was always Vogue,” (Grace – A Memoir by Grace Coddington, p30), Coddington describes how she anxiously awaited the arrival of a current issue of Vogue, which was at least three months outdated because she needed to order it on “rush-copy.”

After watching The September Issue, my admiration for Grace continued to grow. Although her memoir starts off rather slow and changes gears quite quickly, as Grace tells how she moved to central London as a young teenager to pursue modelling in the 60’s. I had absolutely no clue she had such a high profile modelling career and was basically the Karen Elson of her time. Being a top model, Coddington writes about how she was exposed to certain perks in the fashion industry, like traveling the world, wearing haute couture fashions (even as “model off-duty” wear), relationships with famous men within the scene; like Michael Chow of Mr. Chow restaurant fame and being friends with world known photographers like Bruce Weber, Norman Parkinson, Patrick Demarchelier, Helmut Newton and Annie Leibovitz.

I did not know that Coddington was so skilled with a pen and sketchbook. She has already published a book of her sketches proving her obsession of cats titled, The Catwalk Cats, she shows her age and shamelessly but confidently admits that rather than taking notes or photos while sitting front row during fashion shows, she prefers to sketch each look by hand as they come down the runway. The old school way. As well as, two photography books of her work titled, Grace: Thirty Years of Fashion at Vogue, and her recent photography book titled. Grace: The American Vogue Years.

In 1986, Coddington also worked as a Creative Director at Calvin Klein for a short period of time after leaving British Vogue for New York City. In my opinion, the most charming parts of the book has to be her adorable sketches at the beginning of each chapter and the amazingly fun cartoon sketch in the inside cover of legendary Vogue editors and contributors.

I thought Coddington’s memoir is a captivating recount of her upbringing, her fashionable modelling years and life at British Vogue and American Vogue. Her words are accompanied by unique scribbly drawings throughout the book, the same style in which she would draw every outfit at runway shows as they walked her way in the front row. The book puts Coddington’s transition into perspective, from the naive, young girl in Wales to experienced, confident creative director at Vogue magazine.

I thought the book is very simply written. She stays consistent within each chapter. It doesn’t really jump around from one to text to another. The book is 333 pages. It has big text and is easy to follow along. It is definitely an easy read and you can finish reading the book in two day. It took me about two weeks to finish it, because I didn’t have time and was reading one chapter each night before bed.

I admire Coddington’s highly recognized position at Vogue, her love of cats and her undeniably intelligent, classy and down-to-earth personality, which immediately placed her in the top women I look up to. She looks like a crazy gypsy red-head and is the only person who can tell Anna Wintour that she’s wrong. If you’ve seen the documentary “The September Issue” it’s hard not to be taken with her.

I will genuinely “steal” the effortlessly simply text, which Coddington communicates through her writing, and the consistency of each chapter. I love the way she relives times in her life, and is able to laugh at herself and share her honest reflections and opinions on the industry that she was destined to thrive and be successful in.

Grace Coddington will always inspire me to pursue a career in fashion.

This review was written in November 2017 for a memoir writing workshop at MSU Denver.

Feature | The Premier Fashion Event of the Year

DENVER – Four years of Colorado Fashion Week and it only gets better. Denver hails CFW as the Primer Fashion Event of the Year.

Colorado Fashion Week runs Oct. 3-7 at various locations in Denver. [Photo by Irma Laliashvili]

Colorado Fashion Week is dedicated to building an economically sustainable and highly respected professional fashion industry in Colorado.

According to Tom Shane, the owner and the headlining designer of Shane Co., there were approximately 300 hundred people at the event.

Colorado Fashion Week is dedicated to building an economically sustainable and highly respected professional fashion industry in Colorado. [Photo by Irma Laliashvili]

In 2012, Governor John Hickenlooper officially declared Oct. 1 – 7 as Colorado Fashion Week, each year.

For more details and ticket information for all CFW events visit coloradofashionweek.co

Piece originally published in Metro-Post Telepgraph, post-telegraph.com

5 Ways To Creating Your Own Personal Style

Fashion advice: Confidence is the key

I’m not a style guru, no Anna Wintour, and certainly no Kate Moss, but I have lots of different phases in my early 20s where I was always totally convinced that I had found my style.

1. Find inspiration

2. Do not be afraid to experiment

3. Find your signature piece

4. Shape

5. Mix and match

This article originally appeared on theodysseyonline

And re-appeared on medium

Feature | The Phenomenon Of Denver Fashion Bloggers

How Blogging has changed the Way We Search for Fashion Inspiration

Image credit: ModaPrints Facebook

Image credit: KarissaMarie Facebook

Piece originally published in The Odyssey, theodysseyonline.com

Interview | For The Love Of Fashion: Brandi Shigley’s Motivation to Success

Dreamer and doer Brandi Shigley has been motivating and transforming the Denver fashion community since 2004, when she founded Fashion Denver, a local organization that supports aspiring designers to grow their businesses. Shigley is a strong believer in “Do What You Love, Love What You Do,” which has been her number one motto throughout her creative life.

Adopted from the Philippines, Shigley grew up in Colorado in an entrepreneurial family. After graduating from Metropolitan State University of Denver with a degree in communications, she started her first business at the age 23, designing custom handbags under her label “b.shigley design,” which led to her success both locally and internationally. Shigley has been featured in 5280 Magazine, HERLIFE Magazine, Denver Business Journal, CNN Money and Lucky Magazine.

“I think my biggest aspiration is to be a light in dark places,” – Brandi Shigley. [Photo by Irma Laliashvili]

Irma Laliashvili: You are the founder of Fashion Denver – a local fashion community that helps young designers to pursue their dreams. Could you tell me more about what services you offer at your company?

Brandi Shigley: I feel like Fashion Denver’s role over the past 11 years that I’ve been in business has really been about connecting designers and giving them a platform to shine. As a semi-retired handbag designer, I really understand the importance of the ins and outs of being an independent designer and I want to be able to provide those services to local designers. Those services include one on one business consulting and connecting them with resources within our community to help them grow their businesses. I also do a lot of business development as well like: logo, brand development, web development, public relations and marketing. But really, Fashion Denver is about connecting and providing that platform for designers to shine.

IL: What motivated you to start Fashion Denver?

BS: I was motivated to start Fashion Denver after I moved back here from Southern California. In California I was going up to LA and San Francisco, doing different fashion markets. I didn’t see anything like that here in Denver, and this was back in 2004. There was fashion industry happening, but I wanted to bring it together even more to take those experiences from LA and San Francisco and apply them here in Denver. That’s really what motivated me to create Fashion Denver.

IL: Fashion wise, would you say Denver is the next New York, Milan or Paris?

BS: I would like to say that Denver is not the next New York, Milan or Paris. Denver is Denver. For me, being from Denver, I think it’s important that we keep our culture, and don’t try to be something that we’re not. As far as the fashion industry in New York and Milan, those places are growing. Yes, we are growing, but I want Denver to stay Denver.

IL: In 2012 you gave a TED Talk about starting your first business of designing custom handbags under the label “b. shigley designs” right out of college, which led to your success both locally and internationally. At what point did you realize you wanted to be a businesswoman?

BS: I’ve never labeled myself a businesswoman. I grew up in an entrepreneurial family. At a very early age, all I knew was entrepreneurship. I only knew family owned and operated businesses. I think it’s just been instilled in me on how to be a business person. I never really was like, “I want to be a businesswoman!” It was more about doing what I needed to do, which from an outside prospective, it is a business woman, but from the inside prospective, I’m just doing what needs to be done.

IL: What is the most challenging thing about your job?

BS: I think the most challenging can be balancing life with business, because so much of what I do is who I am. For example, this year has been kind of a crazy year for me. I traveled back to my birth country. I visited the orphanage where I came from. That was pretty heavy. I’ve just reconnected with my foster sister, who met her biological sister this weekend. A friend that I traveled to the Philippines with died of a tragic motor cycle accident last month.

I think that because I’m an entrepreneur, I create my own hours. If I don’t feel like working, because I’m depressed and sad, I don’t work, which is often not a good thing, because I need to keep income coming in. I think that that’s the hardest part, making sure that I’m working enough and that I am living life enough. Oftentimes those two things cross over and sometimes it’s hard to balance that.

IL: When you went back to the Philippines, how did that experience inspire you?

BS: That experience inspired me to really understand where I come from. I grew up American. My parents are white. I’m a total white girl in a Filipino body. When I went back to the Philippines, specifically when we flew into the island of Tacloban, which is where 10,000 people were killed in a typhoon a couple of years ago – as soon as I landed and got off the airplane, I physically and soulfully felt very connected. I was like “I’m home! This is where I’m from.” That experience has really led me to want to get in touch more with my roots. Now I’m kind of on a journey to find my biological parents. With my foster sister meeting her biological sister this weekend here in Denver, and seeing those two connect, there was nothing like it. That’s one thing. As an adoptee, it might be hard for other people to understand. But I want to physically belong to somebody. I want to know “Wow! This is my blood. We share the same chromosomes.” I don’t have that. It used to not bother me, I used to be like, “Oh, you know, it’s okay, I’m my own chromosome. I’m creating my roots.” But now I want to find my chromosomes. I want to connect with my biological family. That’s been a huge life changing thing for me. Huge. I just need to make sure I stay connected to my roots and keep remembering and thinking about it and putting energy into finding them.

IL: What is your greatest aspiration?

BS: I’ve been teaching my workshop, “Do What You Love, Love What You Do,” for years. But after going back to the Philippines and going back to these villages that have nothing but seeing how rich they are in family and culture and in so many other things that we aren’t as rich, I’ve realized now that life is about doing what you love and loving what you do. Even more so, it’s about understanding what your gift is and giving it back into the world. I think my aspiration in life is in the bigger scheme of things, to be able to affect more people in a positive way to spread their light. Whether that’s through Fashion Denver, teaching “Do What You Love, Love What You Do workshop,” or traveling and volunteering. I just want to be able to keep spreading hope, encouragement and happiness.

Last Tuesday my band, I have band, called “Piper Club” and we played a concert for the homeless community and it was amazing. Just seeing, you don’t have to travel the world and go on these big missions to be able to spread your light. We can do it just through having compassion with people we pass every day. I think that often times, we as a society look away and we don’t engage, because we’re like “Ugh!” “What do you think when you see a homeless person?” “What do you think when you see something that doesn’t feel good?” “Do you have compassion or do you just turn away?” I’m really learning how not to turn away and how to have more compassion and have conversation. I think my biggest aspiration is to be a light in dark places. In whatever way that is, if it’s just striking up a conversation with a homeless person and telling him “Life is good. There is good out there,” then that’s good.

IL: What piece of advice would you give to someone considering a career in the fashion industry?

BS: I would say to find people that are doing what you love. Talking to them and interviewing them and seeing what the ins and outs are of their business. Volunteering is a huge way to get involved and to see if the industry that you want to be part of is something that you really do want to be a part of. Also, think locally. You don’t have to fly away to LA or New York. We have fashion going on here. I’m a big proponent of “If you don’t see something happening, make something happen.” I’m very big on the idea of don’t wait for an opportunity, create the opportunity. I would say, for the most part, Denver is very supportive and we have an amazing fashion community. I love talking to people when I can. I love being able to inspire people to just see like, yeah, we have fashion here, “Stay here! Let’s build it here!” Also, researching all the different parts of the fashion industry. There are many different things, from actual design to fashion show production, to marketing, to business, to journalism and really just getting involved.

This article originally appeared on theodysseyonline

And re-appeared on medium

For more information on Brandi Shigley’s work, visit http://brandishigley.com, http://fashiondenver.com and http://dowhatyoulove.us.

Featured photo by brandishigley.com