30 is the new black

24-year-old Spanish model/designer/stylist/blogger Gala Gonzalez breathes fashion on and off the runway.

Now living in London, she’s heading down to our part of the world in August to blog about Australian fashion, attend fashion events and see the sights – probably in that order. Gonzalez’ personal style is a fusion of high-end fashion, chain store finds and vintage chic. She posts her looks and photo shoots on her blog – www.am-lul.blogspot.com.

The popularity of Gonzalez’ blog can be attributed in part to her much-lusted-over ability to effortlessly throw together a Chanel look on a Supre budget. Gonzalez has inspired girl crushes world-wide and quickly risen to online fame with her high/low aesthetic, grunge glam and rock-chic look.

She has a community of loyal followers who hang on her every tweet, try and emulate her unique style and can identify with her more than a faceless editorial spread in Vogue or advertisement in Harper’s Bazaar magazine.

Gonzalez is one of a select group of fashion bloggers growing in importance among the fashion Twitterati. Other cyber ‘it’ girls include Tavi Gevinson, Susanna Lau, Rumi Neely, Jane Aldridge, Karla Deras, Lulu Chang and Garance Dore who is dating Scott Schuman. He was named by Time magazine in 2007 as one of the top 100 design influences.

Fashion designers trying to cash in on their fame and credibility are inviting young influential style commentators to blog or vlog live at international runway shows and take front-row position alongside media icons like editor-in-chief US Vogue Anna Wintour and International Herald Tribune fashion editor Suzy Menkes.

They are sent free clothes and accessories and asked to collaborate with designers. Marc Jacobs even named a handbag after notorious blogger Bryanboy. However, not all of the industry is happily buying into the fashion blogger phenomenon.

In an article published in The Australian earlier this year, Vogue Australia’s online editor Damien Woolnough called fashion bloggers ‘digital dictators’, and implied they were only interested in seeking fame and did not belong with the ‘real fashion journalists’. Ouch!

So have bloggers lost their unique fashion voice and become fashion pimps? In a video about fashion blogs, Menkes who has wholeheartedly embraced the Web 2.0 movement was understandably worried that young naive bloggers may accept free gifts in return for coverage but not fully understand the implication of Louboutins for comment.

Despite its detractors, blogging is a sound launch pad for a career in fashion – whether you harbouring a secret desire to be a fashion designer (Jane Aldridge), stylist (Laetitia Wajnapel), fashion online editor (Susanna Lau), photographer (Garance Dore) or even model (Rumi Neely).

And the best thing? Anyone with a computer, Internet connection, digital camera and creativity can be a fashion blogger and become part of this fashion revolution.

You can create your own blog on sites like Blogger, which hosts Gonzalez’s work, Gevinson site, The Sartorialist’s blog and even his sometimes catty fellow blogger The Catoralist. Sites like Chictopia, MyStyleDiary, and Polyvore also allow you to create your own lookbook and showcase your fashion finds and personal style to the world.

So what are you waiting for? Put down that fashion magazine – start creating your fashion reality and building your own brand. Take it to the streets, start blogging and walk in the four-inch heels of Gonzalez – or ballet slippers as in the case of teen Gevinson.

It could be just a fun hobby or may even lead to a new international fashion career that you never dreamed could be possible. With the Internet, the world is your fashion oyster.

Originally published on the Supre blog on the 10 July 2010. Copyright Gillian Nalletamby 2011. 

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