Fashion magazine finds a real Gem
Fashion's next blogging sensation is a student who hates fashion! 23-year-old Gem Royston-Claire is the winner of ASOS magazine's Battle of the Bloggers competition.
Gem is a third-year BA (Hons) Fashion Promotion student at the University for the Creative Arts (UCA) at Rochester. She confesses to loving style - but hating fashion.
"My favourite fashion discovery has been that I actually don't like fashion. It's style that I love, and studying fashion promotion at uni has helped me realise this," said Gem, who lives in Canterbury with her cat, Roxy and boyfriend, Alex.
Her prizes include Hewlett Packard's latest fashionista-friendly netbook, the butterfly-covered Mini 210 Vivienne Tam edition. Gem also takes up a temporary position as an ASOS style blogger, a job which has already taken her to London Fashion Week. And she has a feature in the current edition of ASOS magazine.
Gem added: "They are sending me on a new fashion assignment every month. At London Fashion Week I had to take pictures of stylish people and report back to ASOS blog readers. It was great fun, but also nerve-wracking. Part of the lure of blogging is that you can do it from the comfort of your sofa but this prize has forced me out of my comfort zone and, indeed, out of my flat.
"Reading the judges' comments on the ASOS website helped me to believe in myself as a writer. Winning has been a really positive experience for me and I can't wait for my next assignment."
Clare Coughlan, UK Advertising Manager for competition backers Hewlett Packard, was one of the judges sifting through 100s of entries. "I loved Gem's writing style - she's funny, upbeat and entertaining," she said.
"Her subject was spot on. Blogs and the internet have broken down many walls especially in the fashion industry. It was great to read the impact this has had on how she discovers new styles and shares her findings with her followers. Plus, she hasn't had to sell her soul to do so!" she said.
Gem, originally from Bexhill in East Sussex, gets over 60,000 hits a month on her style blog 'Gem Fatale' ().
ASOS Life content editor Natalie Wall said: "I enjoy Gem's maverick, slightly rebellious subject matter and natural writing style. She strikes me as someone who would not be fazed by the madness of London Fashion Week and approaching people on street style assignments."
For more information contact:
David Reilly, Press Officer, UCA
T: 01252 892939
E: dreilly@ucreative.ac.uk
