The World According to Anna dello Russo

Anna Dello Russo might just be one of my favourite people ever. No other word can describe her love of fashion other than the highly overused and slightly pretentious term of 'fashionista'. Some may say that word was invented just for Anna. Or we can call her a 'fashion maniac' - as Helmut Newton once famously said! She has become a street style star in her own right, with fashion bloggers such as The Sartorialist and Tommy Ton going absolutely nuts for this Italian whirlwind of fun. There are no other editors like her. She is in my opinion: fashion.

For those of you who don't know who Anna dello Russo is, there is no doubt you've seen pictures of her before. She is the one who turns heads at every fashion show and creates such a mad scrum of eager photographers awaiting her arrival, some may wonder why even watch a fashion show when you've got the likes of Anna. Let's just say, she is like the Lady Gaga of the fashion industry. She does have a job besides all this fun and laughter, as editor in chief of Vogue Japan, a position she has held for almost 10 years. She is as well a self proclaimed collector of clothes, collecting couture and ready-to-wear for 20 years, and has amassed a huge social media following on Instagram and Twitter - she has a million followers on the former and 175,000 on the latter.

Fabulous in Fendi

Yet Anna wasn’t always this mad fashionista who lived and died for clothes. Born in Bari, southern Italy, on April 16th 1962, Anna dello Russo grew up like any normal Italian child, with plenty of sun, good Mediterranean food and a loving family. It was when she got to the age of 12 that she realized a love of fashion, especially getting dressed up. She once recalled a conversation she had with her father in regard to her unique way of styling an outfit. "My father said, 'Where do you go with this umbrella? It's not raining!' (I come from the South of Italy.) I told him, 'I'm going to school!' And he said, 'With your umbrella?' I answered, 'Yes! This is part of the look."

After she finished her MA in Italian Literature and Art History, she went on to spend 18 years at Vogue Italia as fashion editor, and then editor of L'Uomo Vogue from 2000-2006. She went on to the respected role she holds now, as editor of Vogue Japan or Vogue Nippon, yet still has her base in Italy. Anna even has two apartments in Milan, one for her and one just for her wardrobe - that is how immense it is! What I love about Anna is that she is so different to all the other prim and proper editors who you rarely see crack a smile. Could you imagine Anna Wintour wearing head to toe Fendi playing up to the cameras outside a Dior show? Or Emmanuelle Alt laughing and giggling her way into fashion after parties? No way! But Anna doesn't care and literally lives to have a good time, wherever she is.

I have regularly featured editorials from Vogue Japan on this blog, which highlight Anna's talent as a successful stylist. This woman knows how to dress, and this eccentric, beautiful way of dressing is conveyed in the shoots she styles for the magazine. She is above all a stylist, not so much a journalist, and would rather touch and feel the clothes (and probably wear them!) rather than write about them. She has tried her hand at designing too. In 2012, she released an accessories collection for H&M, which sold out extremely quickly.
So who are Anna's go to designers? Well she loves her Italian brands of course, and serves as muse to Dolce and Gabbana whom she's often seen hanging out with - check her Instagram feed. Fendi fur coats, Prada shoes, Tom Ford dresses and Versace jewellery would serve as a classic 'Anna' outfit. She has fun with her clothes, with clashing prints, layers of accessories, loads of colours and super high heels. Of course, her slim, long legs and tanned frame helps to make any outfit look amazing on her. Not bad for a 52 year old. I loved the Moschino red and yellow McDonalds dress she wore from their autumn/winter 2014 collection as well as that amazing patchwork Fendi coat she wore to Paris Fashion Week.

I'm not going to lie, there’s a part of me that wishes I was in Anna's shoes - and who wouldn't want to play dress up every day of the week (or sometimes even 3 times a day, she once revealed.) To finish off in Anna’s own words, 'I don't want to be cool. I want to be fashion.'

Out and about at Paris/Milan Fashion Weeks, wearing Prada, D&G, Versace and Philip Tracey

All Dolce and Gabbana...

From Moschino, Balenciaga and Fendi, Anna will wear it all.