Take three women of different ages and backgrounds. The one thing they have in common is that they each have their own strongly defined sense of style.
ALICE DELLAL , 23, is a model and the drummer in a band called Thrush Metal. She lives in west London. Her Brazilian mother, Andrea Dellal, and her shoe-designer sister Charlotte (with her brand Charlotte Olympia) are famously glamorous, but Dellal's style is an equally defined punk-rock look complete with undercut hairstyle. Her holy trinity of style is black, heavy metal and ballet, and her unswerving daily uniform is black jeans, Grinder boots, a T-shirt and a black Nike hoodie. Her style icons are Wendy O Williams, the lead singer for the American punk band the Plasmatics, also known as 'the queen of shock rock', and Drew Barrymore as Poison Ivy. Dellal confesses that she loves clothes and has a lot (mostly handed down from her mother or presents from designers) but doesn't have a head for designers' names. 'I wish I was more into clothes. I don't know the current designers. It surprises people but I'm really retarded when it comes to fashion. My mum inspires me because she experiments with her clothes so I do too, just in a different way. She's more glamorous.' Her favourite item of clothing is a tight black Azzedine Alaïa dress that her mother gave her when she was 12. 'I still wear it to this day. I love it. It's the best, most simple thing.' She loves Dolce & Gabbana, which she wore to her sister's wedding, and her fashion weakness is for very high heels, mainly from her sister's label, or Alexander McQueen. Jewellery must be Dominic Jones. Dellal isn't tempted to try trends. 'Why would anyone want to follow a trend. How can anyone get inspired if everyone's doing the same thing?' Her defined sense of style has evolved over the years. She was a tomboy child then went through a 'weird low-rise jeans phase' before discovering the leather jacket, and hasn't looked back. As for the future, she says, 'My style used to be a tame version of me and it's getting more and more drastic, and is probably going to get really really weird towards the end. Be afraid.'
VICTORIA FERNÀNDEZ is a socialite and event organiser with a strong sense of her own identity. Born in Colombia, she moved to London in 1979, where she still lives. Her style is unique, confident and always immaculate. She doesn't follow fashion; she creates fashion. 'Clothes and dressing up are part of my day-to-day life. I don't believe in dressing up for a party because for me every day is a party.' She wears only black, doesn't own a pair of jeans, wears nothing but high heels, apart from sandals in the summer, and her only handbag is an Hermès Kelly bag, which she has had since she was 21. For jewellery - always big and bold - her friend Vicki Beamon insists that she uses her shop Erickson Beamon as her jewellery box. Fernàndez believes that style is not about clothes but about the attitude you give to the clothes. 'My style is something I have always had. When I was a little girl in Colombia my grandmother used to make couture clothes for me and I loved wearing them. I have always had the confidence to dress up.' Until three years ago Fernàndez wore only eccentric and dramatic couture, designer and bespoke clothing Chloe sunglasses, and Stephen Jones hats, changing up to five times a day for every meal, appointment or outing. She had a vast collection of clothing catalogued and beautifully stored in tissue paper in her attic, but one day she woke up and decided to sell the lot at Christie's. 'I wanted to give them a new life. I was sleeping with this weight over me and I said, "It's time to let go of all of this." I don't have any regrets. Vogue called it the sale of the century.' Now Fernàndez enjoys being more practical about fashion, travelling with one suitcase rather than eight trunks and hat boxes. Her favourite designers are Felder Felder, Anne Laure (a little known New York-based designer), a Colombian designer called Maria Luisa Ortiz, and Tom Ford, who invited Fernàndez to be one of his 25 inspiring women for his spring/summer 2011 collection. 'What I love about Tom's show was that he made us feel like individuals, all 25 of us. He is incredibly gifted. He created an individual look for each of us according to our personality, and mine was a beautiful tuxedo. It's my favourite piece in my wardrobe.'
SARA FERRERO , 41, is the Italian CEO of the Joseph Group. She lives between London and Milan. Her style is minimal and feminine. Her sartorial philosophy is 'less is more'. It is important to Ferrero to feel dressed-up and special but still comfortable. Practicality plays a big part in Fererro's wardrobe, as she leaves the house at 7am and is sometimes not back until midnight. A typical working day involves meetings, presentations and managing staff as well as entertaining and attending parties. Her favourite designers vary from season to season, but eternal loves are Prada and Miu Miu, Céline, Givenchy and, for the evening, Lanvin. 'I have grown up with fashion. Being Italian, fashion is so much a part of my culture, and the way that you dress is one of the ways that you express yourself. When I was a child I wanted to have everything matching.' She modelled in her teens but in 1994 she became a banker and fashion took a back seat until May 2008 when she was employed by Joseph. Working seasons in advance and constantly bombarded by new trends, Ferrero says that she knows instinctively what she likes and doesn't like. 'I never deliberate about whether to buy things or not. I see it, I love it, I buy it. I don't even look at the price. I often don't even try it on,' she admits. But clothes are not just for one season. She still wears pieces that she bought more than 10 years ago and continues to add to her collection. For spring/summer, Ferrero has bought a Céline jumpsuit, a Givenchy white tail coat, a perfect silk white shirt and black sporty silk track pants from Joseph, a pair of exorbitantly high YSL heels and a pair of Alexander Wang shoes with tassels. Her style has evolved without changing too much. 'Perhaps I try new colours or shapes but the way I combine pieces has always been consistent. I would never overdo it by mixing leopard with leather or leopard with red. But not everything is conservative. For example, I would wear leather leggings but combined with a white school shirt and a little red top so the look is still chic.'
This article is from, http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/news-features/TMG8381013/Striking-out-women-with-their-own-sense-of-style.html
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