Today's interview is with Kaliam, whose distinct style caught our eye. Large photos are the main attraction in her sets with miniature images of clothing and accessories as the embellishments.
We were impressed at how beautifully each of her sets tell a story and how everything meshes together.
Here are some of her sets:
Tell us about yourself.I'm a 23-year old girl who lives in Italy near Milan, where I'm studying building engineering/architecture. The fashion world has always fascinated me, in particular the way in which architects are borrowing the techniques of pleating,stapling, cutting and draping from traditional tailoring to design buildings that are flexible and interactive. They observe the construction of the clothes and how the fabric goes together to make volumetric forms. I like the relationship between fashion and architecture, love when they fuse together using different materials and shapes like cotton, molded fiberglass, leather, resin with fiber-optics, nylon and so on. This was the theme of my degree thesis at the end of my first three years. After my studies, I would like to move to the USA. I'm substantially a simple person, I feel like a director rather than an actor, preferring to stay behind the scenes. I love reading architectural books, magazines, listening to music, watching TV, going out with friends and eating gummy candies :D
Describe your sense of style/fashion.I'm not a huge fan of fluorescent colors, glitter, dots and floral prints on myself, but I love seeing them on other people. I like whatever is comfy or whatever looks good on my body. We should be comfortable in every situation, place and occasion. My style is pretty casual, and colors have to match perfectly. I've completely fallen in love with accessories (they can really change an outfit): necklaces, hair clips, brooches, bracelets, everything with butterflies and maxi bags. But I hate gloves, so my hands are constantly frozen in winter!
Are there any particular fashion trends that you've been seeing peoplewear in Milan lately?Well, in Milan you can see everything! The 80's are back and designers render it in a modern and contemporary way, very feminine and chic. You can see everywhere studded bags by
Miu Miu,
Cavalli,
Louis Vuitton, but my favorite is the
Versace Vanitas bag. Thigh high boots are undoubtedly the hottest shoe trend for women in this season. One of the most fabulous shops in Milan is called Vergelio, you can find the most amazing shoes by top designers. On the Quadrilatero, the high-fashion shopping district with the famous Montenapoleone street, you can see women always elegant with impeccable coats and capes (the shop-windows are full of amazing capes). Torino Street is heaven for the youngsters: leggings, checkered dresses and leather jackets from Bershka and Paul & Bear are everywhere.
How did you discover Polyvore?July 2008, Milan, 9:00 a.m. :D When I came out of the subway a man gave me a free daily newspaper and in a corner of the last pages there was a small article about Polyvore. I remember that there was a page with advice for people who can't spend much money on fashion. There were amazing ideas about dress-sharing as a business and not only as an usual ritual between girls. With a monthly subscription, stores and web sites can offer dresses, bags, shoes for rent with good prices. And for all the dreamers there was Polyvore, a place in which you can create your own style without money. "Mmmm...," I thought. "Let's see this website." And well, you know what happened, I'm here and totally addicted.
Tell us a little about what you use Polyvore for and why. What do you like about Polyvore?I use Polyvore because it allows to express myself and my feelings. As you can see, my sets are not totally focused on the outfit, the pictures are very important, too. I try to find the perfect mix between photos and outfits. Polyvore is a beautiful place to discover new designers, new products, fantastic blogs too (speaking of this, I'm thinking of starting one soon.) And it's not like other social networks where people share only information about themselves and gossip, we can let the imagination run wild. Fantasy and creativity are the key words. This is really a great community of fashionistas!!!
Describe your set creation process. Where do you get inspiration for yoursets? How do you pick a theme? How do you find your items?It could takes one or several hours. Sometimes I can't finish a set because one little detail isn't perfect. I'm very very very obsessed with details. Sometimes the set is almost finished but if everything doesn't match perfectly, I won't publish it but I'll start another one immediately. You can't image how many drafts I have: more than 600! I always start choosing pictures or photos, then decoration and clothes that have to match with colors and style. I love when sets convey emotions and sensations. I don't have a particular theme. My sets reflect happiness, sadness, pain and joy I feel in my real life. But sometimes they're a dream, a desire, something I wish to be or live or I want to wear. Usually I clip pics from blogs or modeling portfolios (livejournal.com, fashionmodeldirectory.com, supermodels.nl are the best), or simply search on Polyvore.
What are your favorite online stores you like to clip products from?Eruca.jp,
maruione.jp,
net-a-porter.com,
mytheresa.com,
topshop.com are my favorites for clothes. It doesn't matter if is a brand expensive or cheap, well-known or not, I like anything that stuns me at first sight.
Easyart.com, furniturefromhome.com, homedecortoyourdoor.com,
jamaligarden.com for home decorations. I have to say that often there isn't a particular web site, I love finding new websites and stores by googling.
What are your 3 favorite sets of the ones you've made?It's so difficult :P
Got any feature requests for the Polyvore team?I'd like to use more than 50 items.