By: Jamil Crews

For some, working for a legendary multimillionaire mogul and scoring 15 minutes of fame via a reality based television show may seem like a dream. Let’s face it, in the world we live in today, who wouldn’t want that type of an opportunity? But for Alyson Kinloch, that’s not exactly her reality. In fact, for this 25-year-old beauty from the hit Oxygen reality show, Running Russell Simmons, she has big dreams of her own. I got the chance to catch up with Aly to get her take on her life after the reality show, her background in fashion and her plans to launch the next big denim brand. She also talks about what we should be looking out for with denim this fall, and, in true Jersey-girl fashion, tries to answer some of my rapid questions.  I think I stumped her on a few of them, lol.

Jamil Crews: So how has being on the show changed your life, if at all?

Aly Kinloch: It’s given me a platform and an opportunity to help other people. I’ve actually had a couple of kids reach out to me after seeing me on the show wanting to find out how to get into fashion and I have been able to direct them, and assist them with finding their passion, and for me, that has been really cool because I am a firm believer in people helping people and paying it forward. It’s given me a different kind of mentor feeling.

JC: That has to be an amazing feeling being able to give back and using your “celebrity” to make a difference. What about lessons learned from being on the show? Do you feel like you’ve learned any?

Aly: I actually learned a lot about myself; where I want to be and pursuing my passions.

JC: One of our readers submitted a question and they wanted to know if you think you should have won the opportunity to work for Russell Simmons over Sagen?

Aly: I think Simone and Christina (Russell Simmons’ veteran assistants) chose the person they felt was best qualified to do the job and I am happy for her.  Sagen had a PR background and that type of a background can really help them more than someone, like myself, who comes from a fashion background. I worked at J Brand and I have a women’s fashion background and right now he only has men’s fashion. It wasn’t really a competition for me. It was an internship.

JC: So tell me a little about your background in fashion. How did you get your start?

Aly: A few years ago I interned for J Brand in their New York office, and since then I fell in love with fashion. I got a chance to work with four amazing women who loved what they do and are passionate about it, and you couldn’t’ help but to have that energy rub off on you and I really wanted something like that. I ended up falling in love with showrooms. I’m a people’s person and after the experience I had with Abercrombie, it felt like a natural transition for me. I was 20 years old at the time and I realized that this was my purpose; this is what I was put on this earth for. I also freelanced for a women’s contemporary showroom for the last four years and I ended up working with J Brands as a retail specialist. And now I am at Kathy Walker Sales, which I absolutely love. So that’s my background. I just love building brands. I want to build brands and break barriers. I think there is nothing more amazing than watching companies go from zero dollars to one hundred million dollar brands. I remember when I was interning at J Brand, there were only a couple of people wearing it, and now J Brand dominates. J Brand is denim! That is amazing, how they changed the game.  It’s absolutely amazing. I love it!

JC: With your background in working with J Brand, would you say that you’re calling [in fashion] is denim?

Aly: I love denim. I really, really love denim. I would like to do my own denim line. Denim is definitely my “thing”. I love the nostalgia about it. I love the way it makes people feel. There is just something comforting about denim. You can dress it up, you can dress it down. You can do light washes, dark washes. There are just so many things you can do with it. I love it. I am just a denim girl, man. I’m a jeans and tee kind of girl. I also love other parts of fashion, but denim is really my thing.

JC: What denim trends should we be looking out for?

Aly: Coated denim is going to be big this fall. Color denim is also going to be big this fall. I definitely see higher rises coming back, which is awesome! Like an eight inch rise, 10 inch rise. But definitely coated denim is big and colored denim is a trend that’s going to stay on for fall and also super stretched fabric, which is more of a cotton-y denim. It’s super, super soft and it really holds the memory. So it’s good for the girl who has a little bit of booty or girls who are a little slim. But that’s where it seems the trend is going. Also, definitely a trend toward novelty denim. At this point in time, everyone seems to have their core denim. They have their skinny jeans, or their wide legged jeans, or their boot cut jeans. So I definitely see a trend toward more novelty. More colored denim, more hand painted denim. Different patterns, with people mixing corduroy with denim. It’s just a way for people to get away from their classic denim. I love variety in the closet. It’s also great for the selling floor.  It’s new, it’s fresh, and it’s different.

JC: It seems like you really know your stuff when it comes to denim!

Aly: I heart denim!

JC: That’s really dope. It’s amazing having this conversation with you because when you mention things like coated denim, this is something new to me. I have never heard of coated denim before, so it’s refreshing to learn something new about it.

Aly: There is a man by the name of Oscar Adames. He works for J Brand. He is actually written up in a New York publication as the “Denim Guru”. That man taught me everything I know. He is fantastic. If you want to learn about denim, you go hang out with him for a day. He’ll school you!

JC: I’ll have to check him out. So before we wrap up, let’s do our rapid questions.  I’ll ask you a question and you just quickly give me an answer to it.

Aly: Ok.

JC: Favorite Restaurant?

Aly: Blue Ribbon.

JC: Favorite vacation spot?

Aly: Damn! Uh, St. Maarten.

JC: Favorite fashion icon?

Aly: Oh shit, umm…Tom Ford.

JC: Your preferential style (I think we already answered this)

Aly: I don’t really know. I’m a jeans a tee kind of girl, but I like the kind of bohemian oversized clothes. I wear a lot of oversized clothes. People ask me why I wear oversized clothes. I just like the baggy, chic look. Tailored chic!

JC: It’s good that’s it tailored. Because you are a very petite girl, and you don’t want to make it seem as if your clothes are swallowing you. [laughs]

Aly: Yeah I don’t want to want it to look like I’m in a trash bag.

JC: [laughs]. Favorite designer?

Aly: Uh, YSL.

JC: What’s in your iPod right now?

Aly: Is it really bad that I don’t have Watch The Throne? I really need to get it…

JC: Whoa, whoa, timeout! You said you don’t have Watch The Throne yet?

Aly: I’m really bad with updating my iPod.

JC: Oh my God. You’re killing me right now.

Aly: I know, I know, I know. I need to buy it immediately. I love Jay, and I love the album, I just haven’t got a chance to get it yet.  And, also Pharrell. I love that man!

Follow Alyson on Twitter: @lovealyk

Follow Jamil on Twitter: @JayGetsBusy

Credits:

Photographer: Ivan McCartney @Krazilv

Stylist: Tim B. @_TIM_B

Make-up: Sir John @SirJohnBLife