Technology: A New Way to Navigate Fashion with Amanda Bakes

First up was a talk from the founder and creator of Fashion Skint, a fashion app that allows you borrow and lend clothes. Typically aimed at students for the moment, I have to say it was a brilliant idea and I downloaded it there and then to see what it was about.

Despite having a wardrobe full of clothes, some I hardly ever wear, I'm constantly going shopping before a night out or asking friends to borrow things as I like to wear something new. My guilty pleasure I know, and being a student strapped for cash I'm always looking for bargains. I'm sure most of you students can relate to this! The Fashion Skint app allows you to connect with people nearby through university, and see what they've got in their wardrobe. You can post pictures of things you want to swap or share and get a new outfit for nothing! The concept is incredible and I can predict it being huge - I know me and all my friends would use it!

Bakes is looking to develop the app further into an online swap shop in the future. She explained that she is thinking of introducing tokens, so you take your clothes to a certain place and exchange them for tokens which you can use on the site to buy new things. You essentially can get a new outfit for something as little as 50p! Crazy!

Bakes is also looking to start touring around universities and market the app to budding young students eager to get a bargain. Keep a look out as Fashion Skint may be coming to your university soon!

Social and Creative careers with Abisola Omole, Founder of The Apartment

Abisola Omole is the founder of The Apartment, a creative blog launched in 2008 that is a culmination of all things fashion, photography, music and art inspired. She spoke with writer and founder of the hugely successful blog Park and Cube, Shini Park, and founding Editor-in-Chief of Suitcase Magazine, Serena Guen, about their social and creative careers.

Shini Park lives and breathes creativity. She started her blog as a platform to show her work and it quickly spiralled into professional job. With avid followers all over the world and collaborations with huge designer brands under her belt, it's no wonder this woman is in demand. She explained to Omole that it was her photography that got her noticed, and her blog is much more than just about fashion. She explains she would much rather hire someone without a degree in fashion but with an interest in it, so as to push creative content through a variety of outlets. Food, lifestyle and secret London hideaways are just some categories that feature heavily in her blog, all documented by beautiful photography. A typical day in the life of Shini Park is answering emails and responding to high-end designer clients in the morning, before heading out in the afternoon to make content. I think we're all a little jealous now...

Serena Guen is a creative machine, founding the ever fabulous Suitcase magazine when she was still in her third year of university in New York City. With two degree's under her belt, she's a strong minded and focused individual with a love for all things travel and fashion related. Suitcase magazine is an accessible and innovative magazine aimed at women who, like Serena, travel quite a lot. I wish I could say I travel to New York a lot but unfortunately this isn't true, however it doesn't stop me reading Suitcase magazine and that proves its aimed at anyone with an interest in its quirky concept. Suitcase magazine is officially the world’s first travel and fashion magazine, and its brilliant. If you're looking for something interesting to read with a creative flair, look no further. A typical day in the life of an Editor of Suitcase magazine? Guen could be in New York one minute, Paris the next, interviewing anyone from Krystle Kemp to visiting the best nightclubs to review and eating in the most phenomenal restaurants. She sends those that work for her on holiday to review destinations too.. I bet you're all scrambling for a job at Suitcase now!

Becoming a Fashion Stylist with Grace Woodward

Grace Woodward is a Fashion Stylist and Presenter, famous for her judging role on Britain and Irelands Next Top Model. She was Fashion Director for the 2010 X Factor series and is well known for her outspoken and bubbly personality and individual take on fashion. Talking with Antonia O'Brien in the Vodafone Live Lounge gave us a real insight into Woodward and how she got to where she is today. "It took me ten years to break it" she explains, and through all those ten years she has hardly any money. She elaborates that after the initial hard stint, people realised she was "a stayer" and she couldn't be happier with her job. A hoarder at heart, (she has two rooms in her house full of vintage clothes), Woodward is a character. She would much rather style a shoot with meaning and use clothes to tell a story than just to look good. That is perhaps why a career highlight of hers was styling an up and coming singer that didn't use her body to sell her music. "It was really refreshing" Woodward explains. My ears pricked up when she mentioned Joel & Sons, a haberdashery shop in London that sells couture fabrics left over from the designers amongst many other sewing treasures. As many of you may or may not know, I make my own bags with remnant fabric and love to sew. This shop is my idea of heaven and I love nothing more than browsing through a pile of gorgeous fabrics for a bargain. As Woodward explained, the shop isn't cheap and she often finds herself "drooling" over the fabrics, but it's definitely worth a cheeky visit. The shop is where Woodward purchased the fabric make her famous Boudicca jacket, as seen in the David Bowie Exhibition at the V&A - another career highlight.

By: Jessica Duke
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