FASHIONISTA- CHANEL IMAN

Chanel Iman Robinson was born on November 30, 1989 in Atl, Georgia (shoutout). She was born into a mixed family, her parents being African American and Korean. Although she was born on a whole other coast, she was raised in southern California where she went to Fairfax High School in L.A. When she was in her mid-teens she participated in Ford Model's Supermodel of the World competition in 2006 and won 3rd place (however, some places I read said 2nd-check it out for yourselves). After the competition Chanel Iman ended up signing with them and took her first walk down the runway that same year. The crazy thing is that this was only 3 years ago and she has become one of the top name-recognized models right now. In only THREE (yes 3!) years she has done fashion shows for some of the BIGGEST names in the industry including (deep breath, the list is long): Dolce&Gabbana, Issey Miyake, Marc Jacobs, Valentino, DSquared2, Hermes, Michael Kors, Vera Wang, Oscar De La Renta, Stella McCartney, Paul Galtier, Ralph Lauren, Jason Wu and *I've seen the runway photos where she modeled for*- Phi, Alexander McQueen and Yves Saint Laurent. In February of this year, Teen Vogue did an article on her in which she stated- "I wante to do different things in my life, not just modeling. I would love to design for a big fashion house, like Pharrell did for Louis Vuitton" (I was not aware that Pharrell had anything going wit LV, only Kanye..hummm...). And what top model out there does not have a signature move? Chanel Iman is no different with her wink at an audience member as she turns at the top of the runway.

Some may say that I am cheating to call her my fashionista because she is adorned in beautiful clothing for a living (and i KNOW she gets freebies!). But that is not the only reason. I have looked at pictures of her on and off the catwalk and she just exudes this style that is indescribable. I mean, of course she is going to be a fashionista when you have the biggest names in fashion dressing you, but it's like when she steps off the runway, there is a fashion sense she has that knows the difference between the catwalk and the streetwalk. By this I mean, she is constantly in these pricey gowns and outfits but she leaves all that at the runway. When she steps out to a launch party or to hang out, that fashion sense is still there but toned down to be appropriate for the occasion. She is never trying to be consistently high, fly and flashy but still knows that the fashion world is all about standing out. I love the fact that she can be that sort of chameleon and adapt to the ever-changing environments she is thrown in and that is why she is my fashionista.