#WCW With Aki from The Sleek Avenue
You might know Aki from The Sleek Avenue, but Aki is more than just a blogger on your Instagram feed. To put is simply Aki is AMAZING and I special soul I have got to meet and brunch with now on a regular basis. Our mutual friend and photographer Annupam is the connector of sorts making up the third party to this brunch club. There is so much to Aki from The Sleek Avenue, and I wanted you to get a taste of the Aki I know so I asked her a few questions for this week's Women Crush Wednesday.
1. What inspired you to start The Sleek Avenue? I am a picture person, and I have always wanted a platform to express my ideas in Fashion Art Direction, not just for clients, for myself too.
2. What is the biggest challenge of The Sleek Avenue? Self-portrait every idea I have. I always came up with some crazy ideas where I wish I can photograph them myself and I have a vision of how I want the photographs to turn out, in the composition, angles, colours and details. Sometimes it's hard to get 100% to what I visualized.
3. When you're not running the streets as The Sleek Avenue what is Aki up to? They said creative is a 24/7 job; it is indeed. I'm always thinking about new ideas, recce for locations, sourcing props, researching on new fashion brands. Even when I hang out with my friends, all my topics revolve around The Sleek Avenue. It might seem like I don't have a life, but that's my life.
4. What does a week in the life of Aki look like? I have a day job in an advertising agency, but you might bump into my in the city, standing on a chair taking pictures of food, or running around with a giant tripod. It's not always glitz and glam, but it's a big part of my week.
5. What is your number one fashion rule? "Do I look like myself when wearing certain things?" I have always been inspired by fellow bloggers, fashionista on their personal style but if I had to steal their style, I would always make sure I add my personal twist to it.
6. Your photography is amazing! Do you have a tip for the Modern Girl who is looking to take more attractive food and fashion photos? Aww, thank you! From my point of view, I think getting the hierarchy of your subjects and objects right in the photos is really important. For example, if I want to showcase a coffee table book I'm reading, I will place the book in the way that it's the first thing you notice in the picture, then dressing up the surrounding with coffee, jewelry as my secondary hierarchy. But I will never let them overpower my main subject.
7. How did you get into Art direction? Retail has always been a big factor of the economy in Asia, and I was offered a job as a junior art director by chance in a luxury retail advertising agency based in Singapore/Dubai. That was 2010. It then opens a lot of doors for me. I'm very grateful for that.
8. When was the moment you realized you had to blog about fashion? I have always thought I'm not good enough, as there are simply too many amazing fashion bloggers I aspire to be. But last year, I was like: "That's enough. Stop judging myself, I have turned 30 without doing anything for myself", and so here I am.
9. What inspires you every day? Doing something different every day. I pick up coffee from a different cafe every day, sometimes take a different route home, explore a new street in Auckland. Inspirations come from anything, anytime, anywhere, and sometimes the least expected.
10. If she could spend 1hr with any fashion icon who would it be? Margaret Zhang. She is very creative and unconventional in the way she thinks, the way she creates, which makes her such a unique individual.
Thank you so much Aki!
Make sure you follow this amazing women over on www.thesleekavenue.com
These photos were taken by Annupam after brunch one day! Totally unplanned and I love!