Picture me on the way to work, Topshop leather, Kenzo jumper, Acne jeans. Elle Magazine in hand whilst a .net magazine article loads on my iPad. Confused? What does a woman interested in fashion want with a tech magazine? Would it shock you to believe I am a web developer who loves to code as much as I love catching shows at London Fashion Week? If the answer is yes, this is a stigma I aim to change.
Being a young girl naturally you are drawn to clothes, jewellery and the latest trends. I was no different. My friends and I would comb through magazines looking at what was on the runways so we knew our Versace's from our Valentino's; however, I am proud to say at home I was a tech geek. I would play on my computer trying to figure out how to make websites from looking at the Page Source, I soon outgrew this and started searching for HTML and CSS tutorials. My love affair with tech has grown stronger ever since. At university, as I coded, my friends studied a variation of fashion degrees and that definitely helped as I was constantly surrounded by vision boards and illustrations. My personal style ironically reflects my code, clean lines with simple silhouettes.
For the first time I began to see the harmony between my two passions, now, the seamless communion of the two is definitely my plight. In a world where digital is becoming increasingly essential, the ability to create a synonymous physical and digital experience is crucial. Christopher Bailey's work for Burberry is a great example of High Fashion with an integrated digital shopping experience. 121 Regent Street is the first of it's kind in the UK and has been created as a space where the shopper can share a physical experience with the feeling of walking through Burberry's website.
In that endeavor, as we female technologists are niche, balancing out the ratio is ever more important. To create a better-rounded picture of what is to be done to make these experiences, the contributors should have a variety of mindsets in order to achieve the best outcome. This is where style meets tech, not in a standoff, but in a harmonious marriage of two fields that have a lot more in common than one would naturally think.
These nuptials led me to the founding of chloédigital. Chloédigital is a boutique digital agency that specialises in fashion and beauty. My day there can vary from, coding, working with designers to create innovate digital environments, project managing, advising fashion bloggers, attending app launch parties, and if there is time left passing by the digital drinkabout.
I often find people are shocked that I am one of the developers at chloédigital, as I am questioned if I am even any good. I look to change this along with fellow entrepreneurs like Belinda Parmar of Little Miss Geeks from the UK and USA's Kimberly Bryant of Black Girls Code, as they are taking active steps to diversify the game. I strongly agree with their efforts however feel we must make sure that when nurturing the future girl coders, not to subconsciously divert them from their other loves as those added interests can harbour greater insight to innovation when developing. Regardless, if you are listening to Beyoncé and wearing a pair of Louboutin's, you can still get your geek on.