Fashionista of the Year for 2013!

Article by: Jenny Aluning

It was the online world that introduced Carina ‘Cari’ Collazo (StarCentral Magazine’s Fashionista of the Year for 2013) to fashion. Through the internet she discovered blogs run by other fashionistas. She discovered that for her, “…fashion became a form of expression and self-love… as my love for fashion grew I became interested in sharing my love for this art…I wanted to inspire others in the same way that others had inspired me…”

Cari launched her blog in 2011 and followed it with two YouTube channels which so far, have an amazing combined total of over 4,500 subscribers with nearly 1.4 million views! She is truly succeeding in her goal of sharing her love for fashion with others!

As time passed, her passion for this form of art only increased. “…What I love about fashion is that there are truly no rules, only guidelines, but what I love the most is the process of putting outfits together…” Her innate skill has seen not only the public embracing her sense of style but the fashion world as well. Several online clothing brands sponsor the 29-year old. They “…trusted me with their brands. They believe in me and that’s one thing I appreciate…” But the most compelling, and for Cari, memorable evidence of how much her career has touched others has been being named ‘Fashionista of the Year’. Family, friends and fans rallied around her to help her win the title, “…I’m truly blessed to have such a great support group…”

Success never comes easily. For the married, mother-of-two “…the most valuable lesson I’ve learned is to see past the bad and focus in the good. It’s better to live in a positive light then get swallowed in a mist of darkness and negativity…” That mindset will definitely stand Cari in good stead as she forges ahead with her career. Along with her blog and YouTube channels, this LA-based fashionista is also a makeup artist and she recently launched her own boutique called ‘Demi Boutique’. She models the clothes on her blog (such as the apple-green skirt in her picture) which are then available for purchase via email. Cari plans to expand this into an online boutique one day and with her drive and fashion sense already proving to be a formidable combination, it’s not hard to believe that this one dream she can definitely turn into reality.