Leading Ladies

They are the cream of the crop of our country’s fashion influencers, held in high regard due to their impeccable styles and the impact that fuels their growing following. Heart Evangelista-Escudero, Kim Jones, and Liz Uy look back on how they began and envision where they are headed

-  MJ Jose

The term ‘influencer’ has been tossed around on and off the web for quite some time now. Many internet personalities with a growing following develop an affinity with this buzzword, tacking it onto their social media accounts and mixing it in with the rest of their biography in the ‘About Me’ tabs of their websites. The online Cambridge Dictionary defines an influencer as someone who affects or changes the way people behave. This annoints the term a little more gravitas than we normally associate it with, given how casually it is bandied about. Heart Evangelista-Escudero, Kim Jones, and Liz Uy, who have been on the radar well before the advent of social media, are influencers in every sense of the word, especially in the fashion sphere. We flock to their Instagram accounts, eager to know who they are wearing, where they are travelling to, and what their next projects might be. Yet these women are more than what they wear; they are representative of years of hard work, a drive to put one’s self out there, and a vision that continues to resonate with a wide audience.

Miss Jones

In search of a space she could call her own, Kim Jones joined the blogosphere anonymously. Back then, it was more of a personal project than anything else; she would upload a collection of virtual keepsakes such as photographs, artworks, music, and poems to her website, which became a sort of home for anything and everything that left a lasting impression on her. It was only in January of 2011 that she decided to put a name and face to her blog. Her growing follower count was a pleasant surprise, but it was—and still is—more vital to Jones that her message of connecting to readers through and beyond fashion would come across.