Alexa Chung-SF Shop Girl's "IT" Girl of 2012!

I thought it would be apropos to end the year, with a feature on my personal fashion inspiration and the Style Award winner at the British Fashion Awards for 2012, Alexa Chung.  I started blogging in 2010, mainly because I was so enamored with Alexa's effortless style, incomparable beauty, and 'I don't give a f**k', attitude towards fashion.  Let the haters hate.  She's parlayed her status as an "icon" into lucrative partnership deals with such notable brands as: Acne, Maje and Madewell, as well as a coveted contributing editor position at British Vogue.  She's incredibly savvy, seeing herself as a marketable brand, and not jeopardizing that by getting into trouble or being seen out with the "wrong" people.   I celebrate her celebrity, because she's influential without being pretentious and is self-depricating, authentic and isn't a slave to trends.  Let's face it...I wish I were her!  All kidding aside...SHE ROCKS!

Elin Kling- Scandinavian Fashion Queen

Elin Kling is a Swedish fashion rockstar whose beauty and sense of style are discernible.    Having initiated her career as a blogger, she has been able to leverage considerable popularity as a voice of the industry, into, a collaboration with H&M, numerable modeling gigs, founding wildly successful, Style By, a digital fashion magazine, and co-founding Fashion Networks.  Elin's aesthetic is minimalistic yet edgy and her silhouette is enviously flawless. This savvy 29 year old is strategically monopolizing the industry and I reverence her ability to turn her creative interests into viable business enterprises.  

Natalie Joos-Play on Patterns Perfection!

Natalie Joos's ingenious play on patterns and mix of vintage and couture makes her, in my book, one of the most enviable stylists in the industry.  Coming to NY, by way of Belgium, she has perspicacity into the business,  having been a model, journalist and now, casting director.  She also recently revived her blog, Tales of Endearment, imparting her loyal followers with personal stories about friends, love, life, style and vintage finds. She exudes self-possession and doesn't accommodate trends or ageist ideals that are palpable in the industry. She's never been one to blend in and neither have I...that's why I can relate to her quirky interpretation of fashion!

"Holy Chic"-Q&A With Street Style Muse, Peony Lim

Peony Lim is a bonafide street style icon and muse for photographers alike.  She is elegant, poised, beautiful, and enviously stylish.  Peony started her fashion + lifestyle blog in 2010 after being continuously photographed by street style documentarians outside of her university in London, England.  She has infiltrated the street style scene in a matter of two short years and has been profiled in the likes of: Vogue Russia, Elle Russia, ASOS Magazine, Haute Muse, and featured in The Sunday Times Style, Grazia, Tatler, The Evening Standard, Lucky, Glamour USA and The LFW Daily.  Photographs of her cultivated style can also be found on: Harpers Bazaar, Grazia IT, Vogue USA, UK, France, Italia, Japan and China, Style.com, New York Magazine, The Telegraph and many more.  With her background in Fashion Promotion, it's easy to see how Peony has leveraged blogging to catapult her career as a stylist and street style stalker.

Peony was gracious enough to lend her time for a brief Q&A.  Check it out!

Fierce Fashion Feline-Julia Sarr-Jamois

Julia Sarr-Jamois is the talented London-based Fashion Editor for Wonderland Magazine and an emerging style icon.  Julia's aesthetic is almost as obscure as her heritage.  She is of  Senegalese and French descent.  That wild afro, and her unapologetic bold style have transformed Julia into a monopolizing style icon.  Her love of sportswear, including hip sweatshirts paired with tennis shoes exemplify how she so effortlessly makes comfort look cool.  I'm sure we will be hearing a lot more about Julia in the coming years as she's only 23 years old.  With youth on her side and a distinctive style, this stunning beauty's impact on the industry will only luxuriate with time.

Fashion Power Player-Eleonora Carisi

Eleonora Carisi is Milan's fashion "It" girl and is heavily touted in Italy's premiere fashion and lifestyle publication, Grazia.  Hailing from Turin, Eleonora conceived JouJouVilleroy in 2004, one of the most trafficked blogs in Italy, and opened You You, a concept store featuring independent artists's work in 2006.  She is known for her daring style, drawing criticism last year for wearing a sheer polka dot tulle top deemed too risque by some.  She takes risks and doesn't apologize for pushing the envelope. Eleonora is a personal style inspiration and an emerging international icon.