CLAIRE SULMERS UNCOVERED

Claire Sulmers, graduated magna cum laude from Harvard and is the Editor and founder of FashionbombDaily.com, a day by day destination blog for the multicultural and diverse fashionistas. From big name style to fashion news, trend reports to street style,

So far, what has been your experience here in Lagos with the people, the food and the town in general?

Everybody has been extremely nice, warm and welcoming. We got my Ankara clothes today. Also, there was a lot of interactions at the airport, because I lost my luggage, but thankfully got it back today! The food is amazing even though my body is taking a little bit of time to adjust to it. But you know, I love the flavours. We just had egusi soup today, pepper snails, my new favourite thing, jollof rice. I love all the food!

We all know online media is so right now and there are millions of online magazines, blogs, etc out there, how and why did you start your fashion website or when did you start blogging?

I started my website in August of 2006 and a lot of people say I’m one of the pioneers but, you know, we’ve been around a long time and we’ve established ourselves and we have an encyclopedic catalogue of every outfit, Beyoncé, Rihanna, and Nicki Minaj has ever worn. We’ve seen stars come onto the scene and blossom; we’ve seen stars come onto the scene, fail and flop. But I think one of the keys to our success is, we continue to evolve and diversify in what we do. One of the reason I decided to visit Africa, Lagos in particular, is because I feel there are a lot of people here doing so many amazing things fashion wise and I’ll love to bring that American voice and viewership to everything that’s going on here in Nigeria, most especially Lagos.

As you said earlier, your online fashion magazine is one of the most influential in the world. What do you think sets you apart from every other blog?

What set me apart is the niche audience, I cover mostly celebrities of African descent, and also feature Jlo and all the Kardashians and Gwen Stefan, these are people that have amiable style that people want to emulate. Traditional media might not pay attention to them but they are icons in their own way and have large following. Anybody who is a fan of Beyonce, would be a fan of FashionBombDaily, because we tend to be positive, we are not really into the gossips or negativity, and lastly, there’s a face of the brand which is me. We cover events and do more things and also interact with our readers.

When did your blog get local and international recognition?

Living abroad gave it international recognition. Also along the way, I’ve had exclusive coverages, different exclusives features/interview of celebrities. But I do think my experiences living in Paris, working with Italian Vogue and covering the New York, London, Paris, Milan for eight seasons set my website apart from the rest.

How many hits do you get daily? What’s your typical day like?

I travel a lot but, an ideal day would be waking up by 8 or 9am, hanging down on my computer and working till around 2pm, taking a break and then go to the gym or take a nap and then prepare for an evening event, and if not, I’ll have dinner with my friends or with my family or go to bed.

What is your one fashion weakness?

Sunglasses, I love sunglasses. I don’t wear make-up unless I have somewhere to go. So on those days I don’t wear make-up, I swear by sunglasses and lipsticks and I just do. For younger and bloggers that and people that want to have a website like yours, how would you tell them to go about making this business lucrative? Find a subject that’s is unique and distinctive to you. I was lucky to identify a niche audience. If they send me emails, I would reply to it. I would say the solution is not to make a site like mine, but to make a site with your personal stamp on it, and see how people react. You don’t get the money until you put in the work. You can’t make money from advertising if no one is visiting. Make sure your website runs well, it’s not delayed, and it’s designed well. Have you heard of any Nigerian Blogs? I learned about Linda Ikeji, and Bella Naija, Bella Naija and my site sometimes cover similar items or stories. Do you have a beauty regime ? I wash my face with, or make sure I clean my make-up off with simple skincare wipes, I moisturize with SPF. I don’t wear make-up that often, unless I’m going out, I drink lots of water and make sure I’m moisturized all the time with coco butter, that’s really it. So, what other fashion blogs and sites do you read, apart from yours ? Vogue.com, Fashion.com, the business of fashion is always good. Other times I look at the celebrity websites, the gossip websites. A lot of times they report on the gossips, but they don’t have any fashion info, so I pick out the fashion elements in them and work it into my blog. Any last words for us here in Lagos? Thank you so much for having me, I’ve had an amazing time and I can’t wait to see and learn more.