“You have to try and be yourself, find your own voice instead of trying to be somebody else.”
The words of “It” fashion blogger and interior designer Aimee Song echoed on the ground floor of SM Makati where she was officially introduced to the public as the mall’s new brand ambassador for its Style Up campaign.
The LA-based style icon was recently here in the country to inspire and encourage Filipinos to level up their personal styles—which the Style Up campaign of SM Makati espouses. And in this age when fashion blogging, or blogging in general, is prevalent, Song advised fellow bloggers and blogging hopefuls not to fall into the trap of imitation and instead work on becoming their better versions.
“You can always be the best version of yourself,” emphasized Song.
Song started her blog, SongofStyle.com in 2008 while studying Interior Architecture in the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, with the original intent of focusing on interior design. But when her outfit posts received an overwhelmingly positive response, she quickly switched to doing style blog.
She explained during the press conference that the “switch” happened “organically” and “naturally” as she has always been into fashion even as an Interior Architecture student.
Since Song dedicated her site to her outfit posts—which are characterized by being accessible but aspirational—her audience has grown and continues to do so until now. According to Forbes, she gets four million page views a month.
At such a young age, Song already has several feathers in her cap. She is part of Forbes’ “30 under 30” list for 2016, and she has been featured in publications such as The New York Times, Women’s Wear Daily, Vogue Spain and has guest-edited Korean Vogue. She has graced different exclusive fashion events and runs Song of Style Design, an interior design business.
Song also wrote a book entitled Capture Your Style, which is all about finding and creating a brand, showcasing your life, and standing out from the rest on Instagram. It will be released in September but is available on pre-order from Amazon.
The young style icon has an Instagram following of 3.7 million as of this writing. In maintaining her status as an online influencer, Song said that she does not feel any pressure. “I just do what I love and I’m gonna continue doing what I love.”
Her Instagram feed would take her followers to different places in different styles. The photos she shares also give a peek into her personal life.
“My greatest inspiration would be the real people that I see…I travel a lot so I meet different types of people from different cities with different cultures, so they all inspire me,” shared Song.
And her recent visit in the Philippines was also an inspiring experience for the Internet “It girl.”
“It feels amazing, I actually almost cried. We looked at the mall and like the billboards with my face and it just feels super surreal. I can’t believe I’m here like talking to everybody, meeting so many people and being on everywhere like that’s an incredible feeling,” related Song.
Aside from answering questions, she also gave her two-cent on some of the latest fashion trends, approving almost every trend including wearing denim-on-denim, owning off-shoulder pieces, having a messy bun, and mixing metals. The bottom line, she said, is to have fun and experiment with fashion.