As the Herworldplus Street Style Awards 2016 gets underway, we look at previous winners and see how scoring street-style cred has helped them in their careers. Could you be the next one in the spotlight? By Jennifer McGeever & Cheng Jee Yan.
When he won, Karin had blond and neon-pink hair modelled after the mane of his idol, K-pop star G-Dragon. Now, he sports a perfectly maintained, jet-black bowl cut and is an assistant stylist at Her World. He applied for the job with encouragement from Her World stylist Evon Chng, whom he assisted while working as a freelancer. Karin says the Herworldplus Street Style Awards allowed him to meet Singapore’s creative crowd. He joined the contest after having a “why not?” moment and thinking it would be fun. He’s most inspired by “people who have their own take on trends and don’t follow fashion blindly”. A typical work week for him? Hours of hunting for the right clothes and accessories forphoto shoots.
For Karin, style is about not allowing the garment to wear you. “When you find a piece that interests you, think about how it would work best for you or your best friend, or if it’d look better in the pages of a magazine,” he says. Karin reveals that when he signed up for the competition, he didn’t think he would win as there were other nominees with a bigger social-media following. But he’s proof that style and substance will get you to the top!
STYLE TIP: “Don’t be afraid to experiment. I like to look at womenswear collections for ideas.”
She’s blessed with a sweet smile and girl-next-door demeanour – and she bagged two coveted wins at the Street Style Awards last year.
Shortly after that, Amelyn went on to work as a creative assistant for one of Singapore’s top fashion bloggers, Andrea Chong. Her job consisted of creating media kits, documenting outfits and accompanying Andrea on her overseas trips for projects.
Thanks to that job, Amelyn had opportunities to attend fashion-week shows in Singapore and Bangkok, experiences she describes as eye-opening.
The competition has also given her the chance to work with fashion brands – as the winner of the Aldo Style Award, she’s currently the label’s social-media representative and even does Instagram takeovers on Aldo’s offi cial Instagram account.
She’s embarking on a personal project for 2016 – to travel to at least five cities and document her trips on social media.
STYLE TIP: “Find your own unique individuality and feel comfortable in it!”
Gwen Janelle stumbled upon the competition on Instagram (thanks to her friends’ hashtags) and won the hearts of the judges with a head-to-toe red outfit. Before she joined the contest, she was studying for an advanced diploma in photography.
Now, she’s working in Shanghai as a full-time stylist and photographer for multi-brand luxury company Attos, and as a part-time jazz singer at a bar! She tells us that she loves the seasonal weather in Shanghai, and her style has evolved from having multi-coloured hair to wearing sleek, minimalist work clothes.
She also says that the competition boosted her styling credentials, helping her to nab styling workshops and runway shows as well as a number of campaigns for fine-jewellery brand Rezilienz. Besides enjoying a career boost, Gwen tells us that she forged friendships through the competition too – she’s still in touch with many of the other contestants!
STYLE TIP: “Don’t think about being diff erent. Being yourself is all that matters.”
To find out more about the Street Style Awards 2016 and vote for your favourites, visit http://streetstyleawards.herworldplus.com. Two voters each stand to win $500 worth of prizes!
