Your Aesthetic Style BLOG
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 Why would a giant corporation like IKEA collaborate with a tiny business like Your Aesthetic Style (YAS)? 👉 A shared service-centered brand promise. IKEA = “Make the everyday better.” YAS = “Love the home you live in.” Most brand collaborations are product-centric. Think #barbiecore. This YAS and IKEA collaboration was service-centric. This was the third experiential event I coordinated in November 2019, as part of IKEA Oslo’s ‘Hack Friday’ to deter ‘Black Friday’ shopping. The event started with me presenting the YAS Method and the audience took a mini YAS quiz choosing their favorite one out of three aesthetic styles (design element & principle combinations): 1. 'Contrast & Texture' 2. 'Line & Space', 3. 'Color & Balance'. We then walked to The Green Room (the showroom with the most sustainable products 😏). One of IKEA's interior designers highlighted the eco-friendly items in the room. Finally, I redesigned the room in three ways; demonstrating how to rearrange and style the same decor based on the three different aesthetic styles. Can you spot the differences? 👀 It was an innovative and refreshing experience for our customers and because of having similar brand promises - the concept fit like a glove! When it comes to brand collaborations rooted in service and sustainability, there’s a ‘blue ocean’ of possibilities, yas!
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 Less telling - more showing. 💯 needed in sustainability but that's easier said than done. Listen and learn from an expert is one step but applying that knowledge, especially if it involves shifting behavior, is twice as hard to do. This was my observation from DIY Days event I'd held in June 2019. Having interactive stands was fun but they still had that ‘learn from the expert’ dynamic I wanted to shift away from. So in November 2019, I coordinated an event with SPACES Oslo to take this experiential learning concept one step further. We started off with something familiar: a panel of incredible entrepreneurs to show what’s possible with redesign. We concluded the panel with tips on how to apply that same redesign mindset into daily life. And that was only part one ;) In part two of the event, the panelists and the audience joined together to redesign ‘waste’ materials on the spot. Learn by doing right? 🙌🏽 It was a HIT - we all got into it lol 😂 and created some pretty cool items from hair bows, to weaved wall art, to sketches of new inventions… The biggest takeaway from that day was something unexpected but has stayed with me ever since: The fastest way to get ‘unstuck’ is together. There’s still so much needed in sustainability but the more people involved the more we figure out. All of us left that event feeling the hope & excitement of what’s possible and THAT is exactly the creative energy needed to fuel momentum and innovation. If I’d stayed in Oslo we probably would’ve done more, SPACES loved the concept so much! But my family was getting ready to move to New York in two months…after one final event I was co-hosting. More on that next week ;)   It’s 2019 in Oslo, the question on my mind: "How to facilitate experiential learning around sustainability?" Consuming knowledge opens minds but change comes from creative action. So I decided to create & test a concept for experiential events. But I didn’t do it alone.
Co-hosting events with redesigners from a range of industries, 4x the impact because we could: - reach a wider audience - articulate multifaceted issues - highlight a range of existing solutions - create an inclusive experience The first event was DIY Days (featured images). It was A LOT of work and as a mom of two kids under 5 years it had to be a family effort 😅 with my eldest son helping set up, my husband filming…but was it worth it? 💯 Seeing a concept turn into something concrete PLUS the wider impact - it’s hard to articulate the hope & excitement it created…but I’ll try lol. Over the next week, I’ll share about subsequent experiential events that stemmed from DIY Days and how it shaped the work I do now. Stay tuned ~ I love versatility & crave variety. I thought shopping was the only way to get that. BUT NOW…when I open my closet, I see my clothes differently. 😍 They’re not just tops, dresses, and pants. They’re a palette of colors, textures, patterns…so so many possibilities and new ideas jump out at me daily. The unexpected by product of doing this is having a TON more FUN with my style. I’m no longer only making styling decisions in my head, comparing myself or trying to ‘keep up’. My style has become an ongoing discovery of clarity & self love that ultimately led me to create a business empowering others to do the same 💗 Words can’t quite express how deeply fulfilling this is but all I can say is your creativity is divine & healing - there’s something in you that only you can bring out - please give it the space to blossom. 🌸 “Style can’t be bought, it comes from intentional thought” 🎤 wait actually there’s more to say 😆⬇️ It’s easy to think that having beautiful stuff = beautiful style because we’re constantly sold to with beautiful images that evoke amazing emotions. Aesthetics is all about emotion! 😍 We equate those emotions with that new item BUT What we’re being sold to is an image of something already styled beautifully. We’re being sold the end result, not the process of how it got there. 😨 We excitedly buy it dreaming how it will fit in beautifully with our stuff. Once we’re home, we’re left with an item that likely doesn’t vibe with our stuff precisely because it’s new. 😅 Putting things together takes time to figure out 🕙 Instead of reading another “must-have” holiday outfit list spend some time getting up close and personal with your closet. If you need a fun nudge to get you started 😉 take my VIBE style class. |
Author
Yun-A (rhymes with 'fun' 'Ah') CEO of Your Aesthetic Style. 
Join me in a fun & free class turning shopping inspo into outfits from your closet! YAS!
Featured in:
OK!Magazine
Topic: Say YAS to Sustainability in Fashion & Interior: Your Aesthetic Style - Solving Problems with Collaboration & Creativity |
