Thursday, 13 August 2015

BlackBerry Classic: Must-Have Accessory for Celebrity Fashion ... | Celeb Fashion Blog

BlackBerry Classic: Must-Have Accessory for <b>Celebrity Fashion</b> <b>...</b> | Celeb Fashion Blog

BlackBerry Classic: Must-Have Accessory for <b>Celebrity Fashion</b> <b>...</b>

Posted: 16 Jul 2015 09:42 AM PDT

fashion 1

fashion 1

A hectic work life can be a happy one if the job is rewarding. Just ask fashion blogger Jay Strut, who says he doesn't need spa days or breaks from work because he loves what he does.

Strut debuted on the Toronto fashion scene while still in his teens—by posing as a buyer for his mother's bridal shop in order to gain access to Fashion Week events.

That early moxie paid off. Strut, who doesn't disclose his real name or age, now is considered one of Toronto's top 10 fashion bloggers, with more than 25,000 Instagram followers,28,000 Twitter followers, and 755,000 Google+ followers.

You can catch Strut hosting parties after Toronto Fashion Week, hanging out with stars at Calvin Klein's invite-only 5th Annual Women In Film party, or working on projects with Chanel, Versace, and other big names.

Constantly on the move juggling product launches, fashion shows, and appearances, Strut needed a mobile device that not only could keep him on schedule, but let him blog all day, on the go. Strut chose the BlackBerry Classic.

(Read about other satisfied Classic users, from this commercial photographer and this serial tech founder, this financial TV guru and this digital marketing agency CEO, to this Toronto Maple Leafs executive, this high-tech CTO, this retailer/app developer, this club DJ and this fine arts photographer.)

Watts: How did Jay Strut come to be?

Strut: Jay Strut started back in my younger years when I needed a creative outlet. When I was 13 I would develop blogs, Myspace pages, and websites to have places where I could be myself. As you can see I love tight pants and tank tops and online was the best place for me to express my interest in fashion.

I was a blogger before blogging became a "thing" and was using my mom's bridal store as a tool to get in front of fashion designers. Once I got in the door, I used my artist name "Jay Strut" as my brand.

Watts: How important is technology and mobile devices to your brand?

Strut: It's my lifeline. A BlackBerry was one of the first things I bought for myself when I was younger, and I've been relying on mobile devices ever since.

I just got out of a meeting and I'm sitting in an Uber as we speak. Pretty soon I'll be walking into one event, then another, and another. Although I have three different laptops for all of my business endeavors, having a device that slips into my pocket or bag is key to survival.

Watts: What made you go "back to basics" and get the BlackBerry Classic?

Strut: I need two different devices: one for creativity and one for productivity. One of the first phones that I had gotten for myself was the BlackBerry Pearl and that keyboard is probably why I can type more than 120 words a minute. I went to the BlackBerry Classic launch event and realized how much I missed being able to knock out messages quickly and efficiently.

I'll admit that my life is a bit fabulous, but it's not all fun and games. In between the "fun" stuff there's a lot of organizing, negotiating, and work happening behind the scenes and that's where the BlackBerry Classic comes in.

Watts: How important is the keyboard to your job?

Strut: It's a necessity because I'm a full-time blogger and content creator. This one feature alone is everything. Although I live a non-traditional and ever-changing life, I don't miss a beat with the BlackBerry Classic, the Hub, and that keyboard. I get all of my notifications in one place, I can easily communicate with the people I need to, and write a blog post without error. I'm always on the go and I don't have time for mistakes or to edit my messages. It's common for me to literally walk the runway while firing off an email or other communication, and my messages need to be flawless.

The BlackBerry Classic handles all of this for me and lets me do my job effortlessly. I tweeted that since getting the BlackBerry Classic my productivity has gone up and I stand by that.

Watts: What work have you done with BlackBerry Classic?

Strut: Recently I was in France for the Fashion Week, and my BlackBerry Classic was right there beside me letting me take notes for my blog and other outlets. Aside from what I post on JayStrut.com I also curate content for the brands I work with. When I'm not able to physically attend their events I send them content I've written with my BlackBerry.

As we speak I'm walking into the launch of a makeup brand. After this, I'm headed to a restaurant opening, then a menswear launch and whatever else is on my schedule. My BlackBerry Classic is right here with me to help me stay productive, organized, plus take notes, and other recordings for the content I will be writing later on.

Watts: What features do you enjoy?

Strut: The Hub is central to everything that I do! I wouldn't be able to keep up with anything without it! There's a swipe-up feature that I love that lets you see all of your screens and have everything at your fingertips.

Watts: What apps do you use on the BlackBerry Classic?

Strut: In all honesty, I'm not that big on applications. I use social media but the BlackBerry Classic is strictly to keep me productive and on top of everything.

But BBM is fantastic, I use it across all of my devices.

Watts: How would you rate your BlackBerry Classic?

Strut: I love it! It's an essential that I wouldn't be able to do without.

Watts: What has the reaction been from peers?

Strut: None of them are surprised I own it—it's common in this industry to own two devices.

Pricing and Availability

Do you need a great smartphone keyboard to create on the go? In the U.S., you can own an unlocked Classic for just $344.99. You can also get the Classic via T-Mobile for zero down and $18.33 a month for 24 months. Verizon and AT&T offer similar deals. In Canada, look to carriers such as Bell, Telus, Rogers, and others for good deals.

U.S. and Canadian consumers also may buy unlocked Classics directly from ShopBlackBerry. I also recommend regularly checking here for availability in your region. (Note that pricing differs per market.)

About Brea

Brea Watts is a lifestyle blogger with a hint of content and social media marketing expertise. She's also an occasional contributor to the BlackBerry Business Blog, and a Bay Area native who loves cooking and creativity.

<b>Celebrity Fashion</b> Lines That Failed | MadameNoire

Posted: 06 Aug 2015 04:05 PM PDT

Image Source: Shutterstock.com

Image Source: Shutterstock.com

It's inevitable. Once a celebrity gets praised for their style or starts a trend, they immediately venture into fashion. Too bad these style ventures didn't last very long. RIP to these celeb fashion lines. They were (kind of) cute while they lasted.

<b>Celebrity Fashion</b> Report Card: The Best and Worst of the Week |

Posted: 04 Aug 2015 09:01 PM PDT

Quiz: Who is your <b>celebrity fashion</b> twin? - AOL.com

Posted: 01 Apr 2015 08:00 AM PDT

Quiz: Who is your celebrity fashion twin? - AOL.com

Quiz: Who is your celebrity fashion twin? - AOL.com

Op-Ed | <b>Celebrity Fashion</b> Hijackers | Opinion, Op Ed | BoF

Posted: 11 May 2015 04:01 AM PDT

NEW YORK, United States — In the autumn of 2011, the sisters Kardashian introduced their new women's label at Sears, with Kim, Khloe and Kourtney posing — abreast and a-butt — in body-con leopard print outfits, in fashion ads photographed by Annie Leibovitz. Sears was right on trend, as celebrity fashion brands like Jessica Simpson and Carlos Santana had become bestsellers at Macy's. Sears went all in, installing charcoal grey Kardashian Kollection boutiques at hundreds of its branches in a 'Hail Mary' move designed to reverse the apparel slump at the once-legendary, now-beleaguered mass merchant.

But the Kardashian kommotion didn't last long. By 2013, Sears shoppers were no longer keeping up with the Kardashian Kollection. I saw this for myself at the Yonkers, New York branch of Sears, where a shoddy spread of clothes, flimsier than Halloween costumes, went virtually untouched at 50 percent off, alongside last-chance $9.99 markdowns on the "Klearance" rounder.

Frankly, I was amazed that it took so long for Sears to pull the plug. On May 5, Fortune magazine revealed the liquidation of the KK label, a few months after Sears and the Kardashians had quietly called it kwits.

I could already hear the collective clucking on Seventh Avenue from legions of struggling professional designers, fed up with the celebrity hype that had helped drown out their creative styles at retail. With the Kardashian sisters now down, two-for-two (their capsule experiment with womenswear retailer Bebe Stores in 2009 barely lasted a year) was this a sign that the tide could be turning? Was fashion's love affair with celebrity labels going out of style?

Au contraire, to be sure.

Since last October, when I came out with my second book, Hijacking the Runway, How Celebrities Are Stealing the Spotlight from Fashion Designers, I've watched star-struck consumers, retailers and investors continue to gravitate to celebrity fashion brands, just as I predicted they would. What's more, management consultants and Hollywood agents keep fuelling the flames, scouring the marketplace to cook up fashion deals for celebrities and professional athletes.

Meanwhile, the big winners — fast-fashion behemoths like Zara, Forever 21, H&M and Topshop — continue to steamroll over the fashion establishment. Independent designers jockey for the bragging rights that come with "best designer" awards or the celebrity billboards that get photographed wearing their clothes. Ironically, that's fashion's real impact today: the steady churning of brands that keeps the industry dynamic. In fact, I'm already primed for the resilient Kardashian franchise — buoyed by Kim's 30 million followers on Twitter and Instagram — to make a fashion comeback, real soon.

Nine West founder Vince Camuto worked wonders to turn reality-show starlet Jessica Simpson into a populist fashion icon starting in 2005. Young fashionistas identified with Jessica in her trendy platform sandals, the shoes that put her label on the map and then mushroomed into more than 22 product categories, growing into a $1 billion-a-year-at-retail powerhouse in less than a decade. Jessica Simpson was a wake-up call to stars on the red carpet and reality TV: partner with an established industry player to create your own clever spin on fashion — and take it to the bank!

No matter how ambitious or well-financed they may be, most celebrities can only dream of the high-fashion retail success that Victoria Beckham and twin sisters Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, founders of The Row, have amassed in recent years. Neither brand needed a long track record in the fashion industry to quickly amass scores of exacting clients — which is very hard to do. All three women work full-time as fashion designers — and it shows. They market wearable finery, such as $3,100 Victoria Beckham sheath dresses and $2,950 lambskin leggings by The Row, which a niche of affluent — albeit skinny — mature women keep buying, year after year. They go fishing where the fish are.

But most celebrities are more obsessed with becoming — as opposed to creating — a fashion label. They like a licensing play that allows them to monetise their fame and keeps their names in lights, while they fiercely compete to stay on stage and screen. Celebrities are the go-to vehicles that guarantee consumer interest — instant buzz and acceptance — across the 24/7 Internet, which has created so much virtual space, demanding a staggering amount of content to fill it.

The surge in sales from celebrity novelties such as J-Lo and Justin Bieber fragrances, along with gimmicky shapewear and stilettos marketed by TV Housewives, are among the trendy flourishes that stores depend on to tart up their assortments, as they ride the wave of the bold-faced names of the moment.

Today's celebrity fashion hijackers are formidable. Making their over-the-top red carpet bows at the 2015 Met Gala last week were the usual showstoppers, Rihanna and Beyoncé. Both superstars have achieved new fashion heights: Rihanna was recently named as Puma's creative director for womenswear, while Beyoncé is developing her first athletic streetwear label, backed by Topshop's Sir Philip Green.

If only more conventional designers could pull a Tom Ford or a Michael Kors to become household names, as relatable as movie stars. But that doesn't happen in a hurry.

So who will become the next star to scale fashion's slippery slope? Mark my words, if it's a conventional designer, celebrity and social media will factor in big time, to raise his or her global premium high above the din. There's just no other way.

Teri Agins is a fashion writer and the author of Hijacking the Runway: How Celebrities Are Stealing the Spotlight from Fashion Designers, The End of Fashion: How Marketing Changed the Clothing Business Forever, and the Wall Street Journal's Ask Teri column.

The views expressed in Op-Ed pieces are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Business of Fashion.

Join the discussion on BoF Voices, a new platform where the global fashion community can come together to express and exchange ideas and opinions on the most important topics facing fashion today.
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