Maya Nilsen
Well-rooted in the digital age, 22-year old Swedish-Filipina Maya Nilsen goes from creating style vlogs to moving back to the homeland and starting her own business of all things vintage
One search query of Maya Nilsen on the internet and you’d instantly get aesthetically-pleasing, well-curated visuals and style inspiration both from YouTube and Instagram. “I started early. I got into fashion aged 16,” she reveals. “My mom used to work as a buyer for SM Department Store’s women’s line and growing up, I would be exposed to a lot of clothes.” Starting out as a hobby, Maya and her friend started the then unknown Sweden-based style vlog The Line Up six years ago. It instantly became the go-to for fashion enthusiasts looking for style inspiration and now the channel has racked up 526K subscribers and counting. “They used to tell me the easiest way was to write a blog but I thought my life wasn’t that interesting to write about so my friend Julia and I put up videos on YouTube and only a few people were doing that before,” Maya gushes. It opened a lot of doors for Maya, allowing her to work with big brands and exploring the possibilities in store for her. But recently, she revealed that she has left The Line Up. “I thought maybe I was just in a creative dip and I lost the passion for filming and editing videos.”
Moving back to Manila with a clean slate, Maya had so many questions but there’s was one thing she was sure of— finally working on her curated vintage store which she calls Rag Renewal. A friend brought her to Makati Cinema Square one time and her eyes definitely watered. “That was the exact moment I knew I wanted to put up my own business.” Coming
from a trip to Baguio recently to source more vintage pieces to be reworked, Maya plans on launching her brainchild very soon. “I guess I’m just sentimental. I like investing on things I can no longer buy again.” She may no longer be actively doing vlogs but one thing’s for sure, we’ll see more of her in the near future. Perhaps not only as a style enthusiast, but also as a DJ and a business woman, thriving and growing.