Born and raised in Geneva, Boston educated and New York bound, Kim has a fantastic perspective on style and on her own life that's largely due to her travels. I was so happy she was wearing this dress for our chat. I absolutely love it, and even more so she pointed out the bright yellow zipper on the back. It's not something I would have picked out in a million years but it absolutely exemplifies Kim's style "a bit bohemian, chic but always comfortable and simple...with a lot of accessories."
EAS: How do you approach fashion and also shopping?
KD: Well fashion for me is something that lightens your day and it really makes you feel good I think to put something together that you've created for yourself. I absolutely cannot leave the house in sweatpants, you can be stylishly comfortable. And shopping, I walk around a lot just to look, I like to know what's in stores and see what's going on. It's more rare now that I go looking for something particular, I really buy a lot less lately.
Student budget?
Haha, yes and no. I think you go through a period where trends are really important and you buy everything because it's on trend and that's what you're going for. You overcome that at a certain age though, and I've started to look for more unique things, special things. Also, yeah, doing this on a student budget means you have to know how to use things, there's a lot of mixing and matching to make new things from old.
When you say you're looking for something unique what do you mean?
I really love walking into a store where I can see how carefully the owner or designer has chosen the items. You can see their personality through their style and that's because they've chosen things that they love, that inspire them and so those things become uniquely theirs. I guess my best examples are my accessories. I just got this TL-180 handbag that I think is really special, it's like a portable work of art. I love picking up jewelry when I'm traveling because it's like a little piece of that place.
Any examples of stores like this?
Well, my favorite place to shop is France, Paris and the south of France. In Paris I love Sandro, and another that's actually owned by the designer of Sandro's sister. It's called Maje. Also Cynthia Vincent just opened a store in New York and I could spend a week in there (Kim wrote a post about Cynthia Vincent in NYC on her blog Local Finds).
Can we have the rest of your Top Five?
Well other than those three, in the U.S. I really love Madewell and also Zara. One more, I guess it's a Top 6, would be Pinkyotto. I go there when I'm looking for something special, and I go to Zara and Madewell for just about anything.
You can tell from 10 miles away that you're European. I'm interested in what you think about European and American style.
Well in Switzerland the stylish people have the same style so I'm way more inspired by my travels. I love that in the south of France it's always very casual, everyone looks so natural and healthy but still chic. It's ideal.
I've learned a lot about practicality living in America. I know so many people in Switzerland who go on a weekend with five pairs of shoes, three dresses and just an outfit for every single situation. Here people don't worry so much about it, I think Americans are great at using a few items to their greatest advantage. It's fantastic.
Where do you look for inspiration when you're not traveling?
Blogs and magazines mostly. I love AMLUL, Garance Dore, Russh Magazine, Jalouse and L'Officiel. (Kim picks up her French magazines at the Harvard Square newsstand).
And what's next for you?
During University I've been trying out all kinds of PR, and tomorrow I have an interview with a small boutique PR agency in Boston, so I'd love to get that. I really want to take my time, you know? I'm planning to go to New York next to get some experience in the magazine industry, see if I like it and then possibly get a masters in magazine journalism. I love writing and the magazine world seems like a great place for me.
Bonne chance Kim!
More profiles to come...
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