AIMEE SONG
From Amal Clooney to sentimental Chloé, the Los Angeles-based influencer and fashion designer meditates on the personal, professional, and public essence of iconography.
Trenchcoat MATÉRIEL,
earring KATKIM,
necklace LÙNIKA
PHOTOGRAPHER SAM SPENCE
INTERVIWER RACHEL CHEUNG
Imagine: The year is 2008. Tumblr is booming, and your blog is everything. Your dashboard is overflowing with ideas and inspiration. You scroll, scroll, scroll… and then stop. You’ve stumbled upon the most beautiful page. With impressive interiors and impeccable outfits, the vision is chic yet comfortable, classic yet cool. And it was curated by Aimee Song.
As a New York Times bestselling author with three Forbes lists under her belt, Aimee Song is an early pioneer of the influencer industry. A natural creative with an eye for aesthetics, Song started her blog in 2008 while studying Interior Architecture at an arts school in San Francisco. The platform was initially intended as a visual forum to share interior design inspiration and showcase her portfolio, but when posts dedicated to her outfits started gaining digital traction, Song took the opportunity to launch a personal style blog, bringing her where she is today. Currently, she works as a full-time influencer in addition to creating for her brand, Song of Style — a premium fashion label that launched in 2019 and is sold exclusively through REVOLVE. Beyond her massive 5.8 million social media following, Song’s clothing line, personal content, and collaborations with top-tier industry brands like Shopbop, Dior, and YSL Beauty demonstrate that she has a natural sense of what makes someone, something, or somewhere “iconic.” From design originality to mental health iconography, Song discusses what it means to be an icon in our current culture.
Although the idea of an icon was not largely present in her childhood, Song recalls a few of her muses and inspirational figures while growing up: “Christina Aguilera, Mariah Carey. I thought Oprah was so major. And with Asian people, the only one I had growing up was Lucy Liu.” The qualities shared by these women are notable—strength, resilience, authenticity, charisma — all of which, Song carries herself and inspires in others. Song defines iconic as “something or someone who makes a long-lasting change or impact… Being impres-sionable, hopefully in a positive way.” She clarifies that the subjectivity and specificity of something iconic, as well as what makes it so, can vary across categories, and is open to interpretation by the individual.
The duality of Song’s work in clothing and interiors lends itself to a subconscious awareness about iconography. As a multi-disciplinary creative, the notion of creating iconic pieces or an iconic space naturally finds its way into how she designs a clothing collection or renovates a home. “A space that feels classic will always be sort of ‘iconic’ in a sense. Interiors are long-lasting, and you want to design it with that in mind,” she shares. “With clothing, you always want to wear your best pieces for a special moment, whether it’s a wedding, a date, or while traveling. Maybe you're doing a big presentation at work. You want to be memorable. I always think ‘oh, how cool would it be if someone wore Song of Style as their best pieces.’ Especially when I'm at fashion week and I see girls wearing SOS, I'm amazed because fashion week is that time when you get really dressed up and you want to have an iconic moment. I would want whoever is wearing Song of Style to be their own icon.”
When it comes to her creative process, Song reflects on the differences between her approaches to interior design and garment design. “The two are similar in that not everything happens immediately,” she shares. With garment production across seas in Portugal, China, and India, Song reveals that each collection is designed ahead of its season and takes months before the final product is available at retail level. The trajectory of each [clothing versus interior] is often prolonged for a variety of reasons, but Song believes the interior process is faster than clothing. When working with interiors, Song says, “Since it's something I've been doing since I was nineteen, I’m quite familiar with materials and space. Rather than incorporating the latest interior trends, I focus on building a space that will last a very long time.” She expresses a similar sentiment when designing for Song of Style, with a twist and nod to sustainability: “Even though Song of Style is not a trend-focused brand, sometimes I like to merge classic styles with trending elements. I like things to last, I like clothes to last longer than seasonality. Some pieces I wear were designed two years ago. When I see people wearing clothes from the first SOS drops, I think it’s amazing, because that longevity is important to me.”
Blazer DALOOD,
trousers GIANFRANCO FERRE,
shoes CLERGERIE, earrings LÙNIKA
“People are so fast to turn on influential people, and I think that’s hard and sad because we continue to put so much pressure on our icons. I think it’s important that we become kinder, gentler and more forgiving.”
Thinking of the people and qualities that inspired her brand essence, a few key figures come to mind. Song recalls who she wanted to embody through her designs: “Samantha Jones from Sex and the City. She's her own woman, she's so confident, such a boss. I really like that persona, and I wanted to emulate that. I also think of Amal Clooney, who’s not just George Clooney's wife, but also an incredible social justice lawyer. She is so powerful, a woman of her own, which, to me, is quite iconic.” Song describes how she hopes people feel a sense of empowerment, strength, and poise when wearing Song of Style.
As far as pieces she loves from her own collection, Song highlights three notable designers whose garments and accessories she considers staples in her closet: Nicolas Ghesquière for Louis Vuitton, Pierpaolo Piccioli for Maison Valentino, and last but perhaps most memorable, her first pair of Chloé shoes. She details why the aforementioned are cherished in her mind: “For me, Ghesquière was a legit icon when he was at Balenciaga. I think he became a more mainstream icon when he went to Louis Vuitton because it's such a big fashion house and the designs are admired by so many, but for good reason—timeless, always in style.” She continues, “I also love Pierpaolo for Valentino; I think what he's doing is just beyond. He has really transformed the brand. I love the message they have; I love that they're always trying to be more inclusive and thoughtful. I’ll probably keep their pieces forever.” When it comes to her pair of Chloé shoes, Song recalls the circumstances in which she purchased them, and why they have stayed in her closet to this day: “When I was working at DSW, I bought my first pair of Chloé shoes with an additional discount. I was interning, doing retail, and putting myself through school, and it's a bit iconic — and ironic — because I was working so much back then to get where I am now. They're also from the Phoebe Philo era, which I think is so cool. I still have them; they hold so much memory and sentimental value. I wouldn't get rid of them.”
Top CHLOÉ
Considering her professional partnerships and personal admiration for premium labels, Song offers insight into the designer space and why, above many other labels, these high-end brands are perceived iconic. Attributing the success to a combination of timeless design, meticulous craftsmanship, and gained experience, Song explained, “It's the originality. These creative directors and designers, they've worked at ateliers for many, many years. They're visionaries,” Song says. “They do the research and create the designs that trickle down and reinterpreted in a more digestible way for the mass.” Many have had the experience of watching a runway show and wondering, ‘Who would wear that?’ Song reminds us that these creations weren’t necessarily made for the everyday person to appreciate, noting how a similar concept exists in the fine arts world: “When you look at an incredibly stunning piece of art, many will think, ‘What in the world is that?’ But there will be a few people who it really resonates with and truly understand it.”
Aside from the consumer-capitalist effects of iconography in the creative world, the pervasiveness of iconic people and objects in media — and the lifestyle they promote — can be overwhelming. With digital companies encouraging endless scrolling, we often consume highlight reels of everyday life, which has arguably changed how we perceive and standardize ourselves as individuals and as a collective in comparison to our icons. Regarding the responsibility of an icon to uphold the realities of a not-always-glamorous life, Song says, “Comparing yourself to another is, unfortunately, something that as humans, we'll always do. Whether comparing yourself to your icon or to a peer, hopefully, comparison is happening for the sake of growth, not self-detriment. When you have a healthier mindset, it's easy to be more than what you think is good enough.” While comparison is inherent to the human condition, it is important to be aware that everybody has an opinion. Song reminds us how the digital age emphasizes every action, and that while constructive criticism is welcome, hate is not, and forgiveness should be given: “Back in the day when we had these social icons, they were allowed to make these mistakes. Not all their mistakes were being broadcasted like it is now with social media. Everything is shown — your conversation, your opinion, your verbal slip-ups. People are so fast to turn on influential people, and I think that's hard and sad be-cause we continue to put so much pressure on our icons. I think it's important that we become kinder, gentler, and more forgiving.”
Suit and skirt ANOUKI,
boots TORY BURCH ,
belt SARA WONG,
rings ADIRA&DELILAH
Song continues, sharing her experience at a weeklong mental health retreat called the Hoffman Process. She details how working with complete strangers, immersing herself in the root of her mannerisms and mental habits, and doing the tough introspective work made her into a more open, well-rounded, happy person—not only for herself, but also for others: “It was transformative. Life-changing. I became sure of who I am and what I want, and that's very freeing,” she shares. “I feel like everyone has something, you know, everybody struggles somehow, whether it's from childhood, and you're like ‘Wow, why am I like this, why can't I be more like this?’” Song emphasizes the benefits to taking power of one’s own mental health for those who grapple with such issues, alluding to the iconography of the ability to step away from the noise of everyday life and prioritize yourself. She adds the importance of doing this internal work for those who identify within a minority group: “Being in the LGBTQ community or being from an immigrant family often means we have this identity crisis growing up — trying to fit in, get by, to be heard. And with that also comes a lot of internal issues.” Song reminds us that taking control of your mental health and prioritizing inner well-being is iconic and something to be proud of, especially when it can feel taboo to do so.
In its subjective nature, iconography is complex. It is open to interpretation and varies by perception, experience, and opinion. What is considered iconic is constantly evolving as trends, styles, and idols come and go. Being iconic is unique in that it is personal — one may place the highest value and admiration on someone, something, or an experience that another finds completely opposite. Between maintaining authenticity, practicing forgiveness, and exploring the internal self, Song simplifies iconography with a broad lesson: the most iconic people and moments are genuine, unapologetically themselves, proud to simply be — and that, in itself, is worth celebrating.
This profile was published in The WOW N° 5.
Issue5 available now.
TALENT: AIMEE SONG
PHOTOGRAPHER: SAM SPENCE
STYLIST: FRANCESCA GIOVACCHINI
HAIR: ANDREW CHEN using MASON PEARSON
MAKE-UP: VIVIANNE RAUDSEPP using BEAUTYCOUNTER
CASTING DIRECTOR: ANGELIKI SOFRONAS