Interviewed by Amiee Wu
eye of the blogger

Blog: http://finalfashion.ca/
Photographer: Jason To

1. Initially, you started final fashion to document your senior thesis. How do you think it has evolved and grown?

The blog has evolved and grown along with me, and through the process I have learned things and made mistakes. I’d like to think that I’m a little bit less ignorant than I use to be. I was a know-it-all fashion student and now I’m a lot more aware of what I don’t know.

Like a lot of people with hobby blogs, I was at a point where I wanted to help the blog support itself, so I brought in sponsorship this year. It’s been an interesting process, trying to turn something that was really personal into something that was a little more professional. However, at the same time it’s more informal, not necessarily boiler-plate, cover-letter sort of professional. People still want to see that there is a real person behind the URL, so it’s interesting to figure out what the fine balance is between being professional and being candid and real.

2. What do you think role of fashion blogs has evolved in the fashion industry? And how much influence does it have?

I think no matter what there is going to be more blurring of what a fashion blog is versus what mainstream media is. I think the delivery mode of media has become less important in the past. Individual influence has more to do with reputation – built on consistency and hard work – than it does with whether someone is a blogger, a TV personality, a magazine editor or a newspaper journalist.

3. What is difference between Toronto and New York fashion week? What’s your view on Toronto fashion industry and how do you think the industry has grown?

New York fashion week is in a fashion capital and is an international affair. Press from everywhere comes to check it out. Whereas, Toronto’s fashion week is much more of a local affair, and so they have vastly different characters. When you are going to New York Fashion Week you feel like you are the center of fashion universe. When you are going to Toronto Fashion Week you feel like you are the center of Toronto, and to some extent, Canadian fashion.

When you are in New York it’s apparent that there is a lot much more real business going on. There are a lot more deals, more show room events, and a lot more people talking about sales. There are a lot more celebrities and a lot more of everything which is obvious, because it is New York.

4. After completing your fashion design degree in Ryerson what influenced your decision in going into illustration? And is the role of a fashion illustrator in a Canadian fashion industry?

I went to school for Fashion design but I wasn’t totally enthralled about being a designer. Although I love a lot of aspects about creating things. I love technical things and learning new techniques, but I never really felt this dramatic desire to see my name in labels. And also, I found that the work opportunities for fashion design graduates weren’t really appealing to what I want to do for the rest of my working life. After a certain period of time it became apparent that people were interested in my illustration work, and I started to get more freelance jobs, so I went with that.

There are all kinds of fashion illustration and every illustrator has different skills and style. I’m very lucky that I have a fashion design education that I understand the language of designers and how clothing is made, so I am able to do a lot of work for a fashion designers which is more technical in nature. As I am sort of growing my business and getting into more things, I find that I have more opportunities to do stuff that is more artistic and more creative. Rather than taking all my cues from my clients, I’m beginning to actually come up with concepts and do projects that I want to do, and sort of make a small business ventures just out of my own ideas which is something I didn’t really have the confidence to do before.

5. Your blog is very Toronto-focused, what do you love about Toronto and the Toronto fashion industry? What are some of your views on the industry?

I love Toronto because for the first time I was able to create a group of friends that were my own. I love Toronto because it is a very cosmopolitan and liberal city. It is a place that is easy to find opportunity and it’s also not too far away from my family. However, the fact is that my blog became more Toronto focused was not a deliberate decision. It is because I love meeting new people and writing about the events that I go to. It’s really cool to have the opportunity to be very involved in a community. Toronto also has a lot of amazing people that are doing amazing projects.

6. How do you start your day?

I’m an early riser. I tend to get my best work done in the morning. I usually get up at 6:30 to 7 AM and check my email and all the things as a blogger you compulsively want to check.

In the afternoon, I try to focus on stuff that is not so mentally tasking, like taking photos, finding material to blog post, run errands, and making phone calls. In the evening, if there is an event to go to, I’ll go to that. If not I will usually hang out and continue to work, read, listen to music, watch movies, and hang out with my cats.

7. What are some advice you would give aspiring bloggers and fashion illustrators?  How did you get into the business?

It is better to just start doing it than to agonize over all the details that are involved with it. Get yourself a blog and keep it simple. Once you have it pretty much the way you want it, stop fooling around and start building content. Commit to doing it on a regular basis. Lots of blogs start but people just give up on them. It’s highly unlikely that you will be a super star blogger within just the few months or even the first couple of years.

It is absolutely critical that if you are committing to the idea of being a blogger or promoting your business as a blogger, you don’t give up and persist, even if it seems like nobody is really noticing what you are doing. You have to get comfortable with the idea that not everything that you do is not going to be perfect, or even validated. You just have to throw it out there and you’ll learn from the things that are not so great, and also the things that turn out well. You will be surprised by the things that end up becoming popular sometimes. There is no secret to it, hard work and persistence are the qualities that define success.

8. Where do you see your career headed in the next few years? And what do you hope to accomplish?

I’m already pretty content with the progress I’m making. I try not to be too content with it because there are always things you want to do and dream clients that you’d love to work with. There are ideas that you haven’t put into action yet. There are always things that you want to do. I have committed in my own mind to go on the path for 10 years. I’m in a privileged position to be able to do what I want almost all the time, and I think in terms of goals I’m the sort of person where process appeals more than end goals. The fact that I’m living the life that I want and doing the things I enjoy very frequently, feels like I have already won.

9. How would you describe your personal style? Or the style of your illustrations? Where do you get some of your inspirations?

Naturally I am inspired by fashion, and of course am indebted to all the great fashion illustrators who came before me.  I learned as a kid by drawing by imitating Betty and Veronica comics, and I can’t seem to really shake that early influence no matter how hard I try. Somehow your style just evolves naturally, just from the type of material you use and the things you like to consume. It just seems to come out of you.

For my own personal style, I would call myself a fashion blue-stocking. I am not a person who particularly relishes the idea of styling myself or dressing up. I don’t like having my picture taken very much and I’m not a socialite. I love great jeans and basically, wearing things I don’t have to think about. I’m more interested about what other people are wearing than what I am wearing. I sort of see myself as behind the scenes then more being part of the show. Since I am a freelancer, I don’t really have a disposable income for shopping and I get a lot of joy from shopping. I’m just not that kind of fashion person.

10. What do you do in your spare time?

I spend time with the people that I love. As for hobbies, I enjoy cooking and trying new recipes and things like that. I adore watching comedy TV shows.

I love reading books and I’m a huge mediaphile. I watch The National, and follow Canadian politics and international news. Like I said, I don’t have great sense of work-life separation when it comes down to it, so a lot of things I do for fun could very easily be classified as work.