As Fashion Director for LOFT, Alia Ahmed-Yahia works directly with the LOFT design team to interpret runway trends and develop the styles that wind up on women like us. In short, she’s a fashion translator. Based in New York City, Alia believes that fashion is for everyone, just in different interpretations. Her work is proof that being stylish does not necessarily mean having a large budget, but rather an understanding of how to adapt trends and complementary silhouettes into a well-rounded, fashion-forward wardrobe.
With a background in fashion, including stints at ELLE magazine, styling celebrities, working backstage at runway shows and closely with fashion designers, Alia believes her Midwestern roots give her a unique and approachable take on personal style. Here, she shares the latest happenings at LOFT and how tackling trends is all in a day’s work.
What’s your role as fashion director? How do you take a runway look to the LOFT stores?
As you start to build a fashion collection you are, in essence, telling a story. LOFT clothing is always feminine, casual and stylish. Every season for us is a new chapter that continues to tell that story in a fresh way and each piece of each collection tells their own small part of the bigger story.
We start out each season by looking at so many sources of inspiration — from the runways and high-end designers to pictures and items from our travels around the world. A great idea can start as small as a vintage dress that has an interesting neckline or a textile print that a designer found shopping for furniture last weekend.
How closely do you follow ready-to-wear in terms of how the runway looks shape and trickle down to LOFT designs?
Runway is definitely an influence, but when you are building a collection you have to pull from more than one inspiration to tell your own story. If I see a lot of designers doing strong shoulders at the spring runway shows in September, and if the designer is influential enough, many other designers will follow suit and next spring we’ll see a bevy of strong-shouldered dresses.
 However, while many high-end designers may put the wheels of a trend in motion, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you will see it on a more mass level, especially with the extreme fashion that has been coming down catwalks recently. Many of the looks are more theatrical than wearable for real women.
A huge part of my job is filtering and ensuring that we are not only influential, but that the influence is right for our customer and will make her look fantastic. Many high-end designer cuts are not flattering on real women’s shapes. LOFT is for the every woman, which means flattering fits that are feminine and stylish for all body types. So as we talk about trends and style we love, we always need to keep in mind that we are here to design for real women (like us!)
What’s trendy right now in terms of work attire?
Dressing for work should be just as fun as dressing up for a night out or putting on your favourite casual Sunday look. It doesn’t have to be your basic trouser worn with a white button-down. The most modern approach to work attire riffs off the idea of high/low dressing, putting together effortlessly stylish looks by breathing new life into your go-to usual suspects.
We were just shopping in Europe and one trend that we are seeing a lot of is mixed fabrics in the same garment. A comfortable knit T-shirt trimmed in chiffon with a chiffon ruffle on the front looks and feels more dressed up than just a T-shirt. Paired with a tweed trouser and a skinny leather belt it is an office appropriate look that is light-hearted and has personality!
Tell us about the jewellery that LOFT is debuting? We’ve heard great things about it and are wondering what kind of pieces you’re adding to the collection.
I adore the jewellery in our holiday collection this season! (If you ask my friends they will tell you that I am an accessory junkie.) But it’s true: a great piece of jewellery can completely change an outfit.
Each piece in our holiday collection is festive and so fun to wear. From bold and trendsetting, like our gold interlocking chain-link bracelet to versatile and sparkling like my favourite, the jewelled bib necklace. LOFT holiday jewellery — most pieces are under $50! — are those pieces that will get a “Where did you get that?” reaction.
LOFT is known for their workwear and reasonable price points. What’s one key piece that every woman should own for home and work?
The idea of having two closets — one for work and one casual — has become obsolete. “Everyday” pieces are the new staple. Instead of shopping for pieces that fit into each situation — work, going out, weekends — seek out chameleon pieces that work harder for you and can be re-styled back to other pieces in your wardrobe. 
The pieces in the LOFT holiday collection are designed with everyday and everywhere in mind. A sequined tank can be styled under a collared button-down for work and then worn alone out to dinner with a pair of slim jeans. A feminine chiffon rosette cardigan can be dressed up with a grey flannel skirt for a casually festive work look. And the same cardigan looks adorable paired back with a boyfriend jean and comfy tee for a polished, cool look on Saturday.
Who and what are your inspirations?
Right now I am inspired by the challenge of effortless re-invention. As the weather changes, I’ve found myself shopping only for show-stopping pieces and then recreating what I already own with small infusions of those new things. I’ve been most inspired by what I like to call “outfit makers” — those “wow” pieces that completely change a look.
You can wear a simple black dress — the same one you wore last fall — and add an “outfit-maker” piece of jewellery that feels fashion-forward, like a jewelled bib necklace, and suddenly the necklace becomes the centerpiece of the look. These “outfit-makers” do all styling work for you because they make even the most simple of looks feel elegant and fresh. |
