Meet Anh from tha.darlinh

It was the Show of Franziska Michael during the Berlin Fashion Week this summer when I've met Anh. I've noticed her because she is also Vietnamese and my first impression was right: Anh is really kind and open-minded. She started her blog tha.Darlinh in 2011 and since then she's writing about her personal style, DIYs and events in the fashion world. Additionally she's a fashion design student at Esmod-International Fashion School, works part-time for the WALD-Store and just started her Stylist career with LeanOn-Styling.

Why I've wanted to talk to her? Anh has a unique style and I love how versatile this girl is. She's a very young talent, really down-to-earth and very impressing. Let's talk to her:

How and when did you start blogging?
A friend of mine is totally into photography and always wanted to take pictures of me. We started shooting around town then and one day she came up with the idea of a blog. That's when we've started blogging together until she had to move away. We were blogging seperately then and that was the moment when tha.darlinh was born. I've also started with photography but soon it became more and more a fashionblog only.

What's interesting for you in fashion?
I think it's interesting because it's so different and versatile. Different in our everyday or professional life, it's also different how one respond to it. There are so many opportunities, which I like about fashion.

How would you describe your own style?
Oh, very good question. My style is always changing depending on my mood, but in general I'd say: sporty, and I like to wear casual stuff like skinny jeans, a t-shirt and a cool jacket. Casual and sporty.

So, what did you do in your gap year between high school and college?
First, I was in Vietnam for about a month and  took a drawing class as a preparation for college and then I spend a lot of time with my blog. In the meantime I've also attended the London Fashion Week in February and right afterwards I've applied for my studies. Fortunately they accepted me and therefore I had time to do an internship, it was part-time at the WALD Berlin Store and part-time at Dana Roski as stylist. After my internship, they still wanted to keep me and now I'm running their online-shop as a side job because school started.

Do you have any style tips?
Well, the most important tip is to always stay true to yourself. Just wear something in which you feel well because if not it won't be authentic when you're trying to dress yourself up.

Do you have a go-to outfit or your most favorite-clothing-piece? 

Favorite piece would be my black skinny jeans from Zara which I wear right now, I always have these on especially if I do not know what to wear. It's always my black skinny jeans. Everything fits to these jeans and you can wear it anywhere.

What's your must-have for this autumn? 

Not neccessarily a must-have but a trend which I really really like this season is patent leather. I'm waiting for a special boot from Emma Go from Scandinavia and it'll come to our WALD Store this September. This classical boot is made out of patent leather and additionally I've just ordered a skirt from ASOS out of patent leather. 

 
How come that you've interned at the WALD Store?
Well, I've wanted to use my gap year to gain some experience in the fashion world before starting college. I've first wanted to intern at a fashion designer, but it was pretty hard to find someone who would take a high school grad, therefore I was looking for a stylist and through the Superior Magazine I've found out about Dana Roski. I fell in love with her style from the first minute on and googled a bit. I've found out that she's the owner of the Wald Store and then just hit her up via Email, I have asked if they are looking for interns and luckily the last intern has just finished and I could immediately start.

How does a normal day look like for you? 

By now it has become very diversed. There can be days that I'm working on my blog which means that I'd meet up with friends in the mornings. They would take pictures of me (outfit photos) and then I would go home and write the actual post which will be published the next day.  I need about three hours for the shooting and the writing because I always try to find cool locations first. That would be the blog day and other than that I would go to work at the WALD Store.

Tell me, why are we here? Noodeli Berlin?
I've got to know Noodeli from my very first Fashion Week in Berlin when friends brought me here after a day of shows and it was just a nice atmosphere. Fashion Week was then a very big highlight for me and the noodles here are very delicious and since then I like to come here. My work is nearby as well, so I also come here for lunch sometimes. It's really sweet and calm here.

What's your favorite food or favorite recipe?
I love Sushi! Cooking, it would be noodles. About anything with noodles, I like to try out different sauces and experiment on recipes.

Any words to your future at Esmod International Fashion School?
I didn't decide myself to become a designer yet, I want to study fashion design but meanwhile, after the internship, I had so much fun with the styling so that I've started my own styling project. A very good friend of me and I are a stylist-duo called 'Lean on Styling' and we've already styled an Editorial for the Superior Magazine which will come out soon. We'll see what will happen after my studies.

Are you influenced by your Vietnamese roots?
Well, of course my parents influence me and for example my mum wears the same clothes as I do and we often share the same taste.

Oh, I just saw that you dance, what kind of dancing do you practice?
I've started dancing about 9 years ago and back then it was Hiphop, I've also danced in a Crew and attended several Contests, but due to high school I had less time for dancing. I then quit and now I have jazz classes once a week which is really good because one of my friends is teaching. I don't really do Hiphop anymore because for me the competition aspect is higher than the passion one. So, I prefer jazz dance because it's more emotional.

Any other sports?
Not really, dancing is the only thing I've ever did. I've tried out Fitness but it wasn't made for me.

Any sports, health tips?
Just do anything intuitively. Listen to your gut and your body. Have chocolate when your body calls for it, listen to yourself more and see what you really need. I don't do diets and stuff because I just like eating but I also work that off with warm-ups and dancing.

Thank you Anh for the dinner at Noodeli and for this lovely interview. Wish you all the best and much love for your future and especially for your studies, always keep doing what you love :)

Many hugs xoxo