Situated on a quilt spread over the grass of the South Lawn, junior Bella Vega politely spreads her brightly-printed skirt over the front of her legs as she explains her freshman year ambition to “brand herself.”
Many see high school as an opportunity to reinvent themselves, whether that be by choosing a new nickname, hanging out with a different crowd, or in Vega’s case, furthering the pursuit of her lifelong love of fashion and style. To do so, Vega started a fashion blog called Rebel Crush last November, which now has over 5,000 views.
“Fashion isn’t something that you can just take classes on,” Vega said. “The answer to get into fashion, the easiest way now, is blogging. Blogging is a way to get your taste out there. So I thought, ‘Well, I have to start one!’”
According to Vega, pursuing a career in fashion is similar to pursuing one in art or music in that it requires recognition from those in the business as well as connections.
“I think I was always into fashion ever since I was little,” Vega said. “I always loved fashion and clothing. When I was younger, in fourth grade, I had my own little design book where I’d design clothes and I’d show everybody, my family, my designs. I always cared about how I dressed, not necessarily to impress others, but to feel confident in myself and to try new things with my clothes, especially in high school. ”
As opposed to blogging about herself, Vega opted to include staged photoshoots of other individuals that feature unique styles.
“They’re videos on people who I see, my friends, who have a style that I really admire that I think are interesting and different and stand out,” Vega said.
Often, Vega features a variety of fellow Redwood students, each having their individual style and tastes, showing different aspects of the fashion world and current trends.
“[Those who are featured] pick three outfits to share that they put together and I pick different pieces from their closet and ask them questions about fashion, music, and their other interests,” Vega said.
After creating Rebel Crush, Vega reached out through a family friend and was able to get hands-on experience in the fashion world.
“This summer I did an internship with fashion designer Traver Rains. He was a designer in NYC with Richie Rich between maybe ‘99 through 2012. He and Richie did the fashion line Heatherette, which was this huge New York line. It was the line of New York,” Vega said.
Working around four days a week at Rains’ studio space in Tiburon, Vega helped with the production, using sequins and hot glue, as well as working with computer tech.
“I was working with [Rains] on his own line. I worked for him for his SF Pride show and I edited the video that played on the two big screens at Pride, which was the biggest moment of my life. The video was about 25 minutes for the show,” Vega said.
Vega is still working with [Rains] and just finished a Moroccan-themed fundraiser show for the program known as Hotbed Benefit, which provides opportunities for artists to exhibit their work in support of Bay Area educational charities.
As for the future, Vega plans on moving to New York City, which was crowned the global fashion capital by Vogue last February.
“My plan forever has been to go to New York City to go to college and to try to get as many internships as possible to get all the experience that I can and work for a magazine. I love New York, I love the vibe, I love the fast pace. It’s art everywhere, it’s the art epicenter and that’s where I want to be,” Vega said.
To visit Isabella’s blog, Rebel Crush, visit: http://rebelcrush.blogspot.com/
