Fashion. Social Media. Tech. These three buzz words dominate pop culture. Among the most interesting questions now is to ask how these three huge businesses interact and what will our fashion-media-tech future look like? Alumna Yarina Yao (MA Fashion Journalism) is exploring this subject on her award-winning website Tech Loves Style. With 23K followers on Instagram she is getting an influencer within the segment. Fashion School Daily checked in using Yao to find out how she's managed to turn her passion into a fulltime job.


Yarina Yao, MA Fashion Journalism alumna at Los Angeles

How did it start? Yao's blogging and social media career really started with her MA Fashion Journalism final review endeavor at the Academy which aspired"to lead the unordered development of the tech and luxury fashion/beauty industry into the right direction". The resulting Tech Loves Style, using its provocative tagline"Excuse me, who said we are nerds?"

Yarina Yao by Photographer Joanne Garcia


But, Yao's tech root was that the day she obtained her Apple Watch. Intrigued by how far it might do, Yao watched a real potential in the crossover of both worlds.
The fashion journalism program at the Academy equipped Yao with strong reporting skills and the Social Media Center courses taught her how to use social media efficiently as a research and promotion tool. Now she creates strong editorial articles by visiting the hottest tech fashion/beauty events, mingling with insiders and experts, and assessing the market tendencies. She attributes her victory to the best mentor of all,'hard work'. In lifestyle , on average it takes her about 10 hours every day and many weekends to balance the roles of a blogger, marketer, photographer, and stylist, all-in-one. Add to the brainstorming period -- it's a lot yet that is how she has been able to achieve the status of"micro influencer" so fast.
Yarina Yao in Palm Springs by Photographer Giann Enid
Every day Yao writes about technology discoveries and ideas that seemed too"futuristic" twenty decades back. That future is here as we are surrounded with pocket sized computers, hover boards, and even those self-lacing sneakers!
Yao believes that technology is the future of fashion. Although trending, the luxury and technology businesses continue to be largely disconnected due to differences in their customer cultures. It's Yao's aim to help bridge that gap. Within five years, she states she would like to"develop [her] blog into an company that showcases [her] opinion, and launches fashion tech startups, too".