How a blogger has become one of the most influential figures in the fashion business Born in Canada to a family of ethnic Indians he studied commerce at McGill University and done an MBA at Harvard. After several years working in banking he got bored, retired, went to meditate and come up with an interesting idea. He started wondering whether to become business partners with some of the promising designers after attending few fashion shows in London. That’s when he starts blogging. On his page with a catchy address uberkid.typepad.com Mr. Amed started writing about what he has decided to find out about more – the business of fashion. At the same time he was engaged in consulting startups of young designers, however that project was closed after a few months. Although the amount of blog readers was relatively small, it was the right audience. For example, once Amed received an invitation to the show of Oscar de la Renta. He was late to the show but then met Alex Bolen - the director of the brand - who told him that sent the invitation personally and wanted to sit with Imran in the front row as a grateful reader of his blog. The audience gradually grew and what was once a small blog began to acquire the contours of today’s businessoffashion.com. Amed then walked away from all the other jobs he had (consulting and a social network Luxury Society) and decided to concentrate on his own little business. In 2013 he drew two and a half million dollars in investments and entered the office in London's Soho, created a team and turned the site into a valuable source of professional information. The whole industry began to wake up to his newsletter: top news, analitics and links to the most important fresh articles. In addition there were plenty of thoughtful video interviews, annual rankings of influential people, a whole section devoted to digital technology and the best profile recruitment resource. The project became popular with very first people in the industry and now to see and read his articles and interviews came those whose stories of success he studied at Harvard. Soon Mr. Amed firmly entrenched on the the front row at the most important shows giving interviews, led a column in British GQ and was spotted whispering with Karl Lagerfeld and helping Suzy Menkes to deal with a smartphone. You have changed the situation in the world of fashion media coming up with a much-needed professional business resource. Was that your original plan? At first I did not have any ambition and was only interested in fashion and ideas when I began to write. It helped me to crystallize and determine exactly what I need to do. That's how it all began. Fashion was one of my major interests since childhood, but not more than the music, theater and cinema. Let's just say I have not read Vogue. How did you learn to write so that other journalists learn from your example? I wrote just awfully. I even sometimes cringe when I read my earlier articles. But the situation has improved in the first place when I found your angle: fashion as a business. And secondly I tried to write as much as I possibly could. The more you write the better you write. Where does the Business of Fashion revenue come from? All that we do is beneficial fashion community. That is what all our undertakings repel from. We focus on selling annual subscriptions to our products. For example, our recruiting resource BoF Careers has about 75 client companies, including LVMH, Conde Nast International, Michael Kors, Tory Burch, Swarovski that pay for a subscription that guarantees them access to our ever-growing global base of talent. Sometimes we attract sponsors and advertisers of our products, but they have no influence on the content - we value our independence. If there is an advertising material it is clearly indicated. What you need to know how to get to your job? There are 17 people working in our London office. We are looking for structural thinkers, people who are prone to analysis and narrative, professional, responsible and fun. Who is the best in writing about fashion in your opinion? I love to read Tim Blanks (Style.com) and Cathy Horyn (The Cut). They are excellent, well-informed journalists, who are not afraid to express their opinions. Fashion needs more people like them. Do you have any favourite designers? I'm a huge fan of Dries Van Noten and Sacai. They both have an excellent taste for beautiful materials and both appreciate fabulous colors and prints. Could you predict what will happen to fashion in ten years? It is impossible because the world is changing incredibly fast. But we can say for sure that in ten years we will still need clothes and fashion will still be a part of our lives regardless of the new and even the latest technology. Photographs: Getty Images, Business of Fashion, Vogue
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As you're transitioning your wardrobe from winter boots, don't forget that your footwear game deserves a switch up as well. It's time to take a break from architectural heels, intricate designs and rich decor. This season the shoes have become plain, minimalistic and easy to wear. No matter how opposed the supporters of the classic heels are, fashion finally got its natural continuation. Convenient to the disgrace sandals and flat shoes were presented by almost all the designers during Spring/Summer 2015 fashion weeks in September last year.
Take a look at our selection of shoes that would be perfect for the spring 2015 and let us know what you think and which ones would you pick as your favourite? :) The fifth season of the long-awaited "Game of Thrones" is finally filmed: a premiere of the first episode was held in the Tower of London. This is the first time in the history of the show, when the world premiere takes place outside the United States. The creators of the popular series had a deal with Sky Atlantic - organisation that is responsible for filming seasons in Western Europe. At the premiere in the Tower of London we saw the creators themselves, actors and fans of the series. The ancient castle helped to emphasise gloom and doom that are present in all the books by George RR Martin. The fifth season (so do the previous four) consists of ten episodes, the first of which will be shown to the public on the 12th of April on HBO. Even before all the talks about the upcoming premiere of the "Song of Ice and Fire" - novels on which the series was created - admitted that the new season "killed" so many characters and even those that have survived in the book. "Even readers will be unhappy" - stated one of the creators. Whether Lannisters give their debts, and if there will still be a dragon - all that and much more we will find out soon. Photographs: WalesOnline
The autumn/winter collections are centred around key concepts and signature pieces that go hand-in-hand with the season and its weather. We see the staple wardrobe items - dresses, blouses and tailoring all speckled with elements of layering, great outerwear and the cosiest of knits. Today BackstageTales team has decided to take a closer look at the accessories and prepared a selection of shoes from A/W 2015 fashion shows in New York, London, Milan and Paris. Which ones do you like the most? Let us know in the comment section below :) Photographs: Vogue UK
Sometimes the models don't only enhance the show — they make it. Famous blogger Alyssa from Fashionista is a real model fanatic. Today she tells us the story about her favorite ladies that hit the runway during A/W 215 fashion season throughout New York, London, Milan and Paris. She believes that casting the right women can really make (or break) a fashion spread or show has remained. Among the A/W 2015 shows, a handful of designers really blew us away with their casting choices. Whether it was enlisting top models from the '90s who have been absent from Fashion Month for some time, or a highly diverse lineup of relative unknowns, the below labels proved that sometimes, models not only enhance the show, but they can also take it to the next level when it comes to memorability. GILES Key faces: Andreja Pejic, Aymeline Valade, Jessica Stam, Jacquetta Wheeler, Erin O'Connor, Kendall Jenner Why we loved it: Giles Deacon put on a spooky, dramatic show in London that featured some great Victorian-gothic fashion and an even greater lineup of models, cast by Anita Bitton of The Establishment. Not only did it include Andreja Pejic's first fashion week appearance since her sexual reassignment surgery, but blue-chip ladies like Aymeline Valade, Jessica Stam and Lily Donaldson — along with industry greats like Erin O'Connor and Jacquetta Wheeler — also twirled and posed their way down the runway. EMILIO PUCCI Key faces: Eva Herzigova, Anja Rubik, Natasha Poly, Hilary Rhoda, Izabel Goulart, Lily Donaldson Why we loved it: It was all but confirmed that autumn 2015 marked Peter Dundas's last collection for the Italian house, and if the rumors left us unconvinced, the models who showed their support by walking in the show served as even further evidence. Cast by Piergiorgio Del Moro, superstars like Eva Herzigova, Izabel Goulart and Joan Smalls all made appearances on the runway, as did Natasha Poly and Anja Rubik, both of whom have especially personal ties to Dundas: He designed both of their wedding dresses in 2011. PRABAL GURUNG Key faces: Frankie Rayder, Kirsty Hume, Christina Kruse, Tasha Tilberg, Caroline Trentini, Hilary Rhoda Why we loved it: The Prabal Gurung woman is strong, confident and often challenges the standards of conventional beauty. With this in mind, the designer and casting director Piergiorgio Del Moro chose top models from the past two decades — Kirsty Hume, Christina Kruse, Frankie Rayder and Tasha Tilberg, specifically — who are in their 30s and 40s, proving that you can have children and full careers and still look unreal in a silk slip dress. BALMAIN Key faces: Adriana Lima, Alessandra Ambrosio, Constance Jablonski, Jourdan Dunn, Magdalena Frackowiak, Kati Nescher Why we loved it: The Olivier Rousteing/Victoria's Secret model lovefest first became apparent when the designer moonlighted as a guest correspondent backstage at the lingerie giant's annual fashion show in the fall. He also cast Adriana Lima and Joan Smalls in Balmain's spring 2015 ad campaign. (Plus, no one looks quite as good in a Balmain minidress as a supermodel known for looking great in lingerie.) The French label's runway was a who's who of the industry's top bombshells — and one of the more diverse lineups of the season — making for one hell of a smoke show. SONIA RYKIEL Key faces: Lottie Moss, Josephine Le Tutour (with brother Jules Le Tutour), Ophelie Guillermand (with brother Corentin Guillermand), Ella Richards, Georgia May Jagger, Elizabeth Jagger Why we loved it: Who doesn't love a family affair? Besides offering Kate Moss's younger half-sister, Lottie, the chance to make her runway debut, the Sonia Rykiel team cast top models Josephine Le Tutour and Ophelie Guillermand alongside their (equally attractive) brothers. The Jagger sisters — who are also the label's faces for spring 2015 — shared the spotlight, as well. A bit gimmicky, yes, but it made for a sweet, memorable lineup. TOM FORD Key faces: Daphne Groeneveld, Daria Strokous, Gigi Hadid, Bella Hadid, Lindsey Wixson Why we loved it: There is only one man who could literally hold a fashion week of his own in Los Angeles (to correspond with the Academy Awards) and get the industry's biggest names to actually attend, despite it coinciding with London Fashion Week — and that man is Tom Ford. Those editors and buyers were in for a casting treat: his show marked the first time that sisters Gigi and Bella Hadid shared the runway. CHANEL Key faces: Cara Delevingne, Sasha Pivovarova, Kendall Jenner, Charlotte Free, Joan Smalls, Cat McNeil, Caroline Brasch Nielsen Why we loved it: Karl Lagerfeld's girls are loyal for life, it seems, which is why models like Cara Delevingne, Sasha Pivovarova and Cat McNeil chose the Chanel show to make their lone Fashion Month runway appearances. LOUIS VUITTON Key faces: Freja Beha Erichsen, Liya Kebede, Fernanda Hin Lin Ly Why we loved it: Honestly, this one would rank for the Freja appearance alone, but Nicolas Ghesquière has a real knack for finding and featuring under-the-radar (yet seriously cool) faces who eventually become his muses. Keep an eye out for newcomer Fernanda Hin Lin Ly — who stole the show with her bubble gum pink hair — since we have a feeling her star is about to rapidly ascend. DOLCE AND GABBANA Key faces: Bianca Balti, Ashleigh Good (with her daughter, Emily), Gigi Hadid, Karlie Kloss, Anna Ewers, Blanca Padilla Why we loved it: A beaming Bianca Balti walking while 6 months pregnant was nearly enough to make the Internet explode, but when you add in models coming down the runway with their babies (the show's theme was mothers) in tow, and Victoria's Secret-level stunners like Yumi Lambert, Blanca Padilla and Taylor Hill, you truly get a show to remember. H&M Key faces: Caroline de Maigret, Karmen Pedaru, Liu Wen, Tilda Lindstam, Edie Campbell, Saskia de Brauw Why we loved it: Not only did casting director John Pfeiffer (the man behind the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show lineups) round up some of the coolest girls in the game for H&M's Paris show, but the models were alsosmiling the entire time! Now that's a rarity. KANYE WEST x ADIDAS ORIGINALS Key faces: Kylie Jenner, Lukas Abbat Why we loved it: Apart from his sister-in-law Kylie Jenner, West's presentation for Adidas Originals consisted of unknown models of all shapes and sizes who were cast off the street in an open call. We applaud him and his team for featuring such a diverse group, and we wish more designers would take his lead. MARK JACOBS Key faces: Jamie Bochert, Erin O'Connor, Anna Cleveland, Molly Bair, Vlada Roslyakova, Sarah Abney Why we loved it: The haunting Marc Jacobs show had a very distinctive vibe this season (read: scary and slightly unsettling), so we're thinking it was tough to cast a lineup of models who would successfully convey it. But unsurprisingly, Jacobs pulled it off with a combination of a severe beauty look and some very distinctive-looking women, like Anna Cleveland, Molly Bair and newcomer Sarah Abney, who closed the show. BALENCIAGA Key Faces: Aamito Stacie Lagum, Lineisy Montero, Isabella Emmack, Ajak Deng Why we loved it: Alexander Wang and Anita Bitton are a dream team (together, they discovered Anna Ewers), and the Balenciaga lineup this season was not only regal, but we're fairly confident in saying that was the most diverse and interesting of the entire season. Bravo. PRADA Key Faces: Willow Hand, Ala Sekula, Lineisy Montero, Molly Bair, Aya Jones Why we loved it: Miuccia Prada is a star maker — models who debut as exclusives on her runway often then rise to superstardom at an alarming rate (see: Lindsey Wixson, Amanda Murphy and the now-legendary Sasha Pivovarova). For the designer's super-sweet fall 2015 show (cast by Ashley Brokaw), all the models had an youthful, almost princess-like quality to them, especially newbie exclusives Willow Hand and Ala Sekula, who opened. Lineisy Montero also made her debut on the Prada runway, and her natural hair and otherwise striking beauty had all of the editors talking. Photographs: Imaxtree
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