From downtown to digital
MANILA, Philippines - Don’t go sniffing around for Anna Canlas now. Well, if you must — she is probably on the 8th floor (Summit Media’s delegated level for digital publishing), firing up one of the several entries that will hit Stylebible that day as its new editor-in-chief. Anna, until very recently, was just in New York, finishing up her master’s degree in NYU. So recent you can still, just maybe, catch a whiff of the big city’s measured optimism, faster than you can even fetch out your MetroCard. From 8th St-NYU to the 8th floor — there she goes.
This week, YStyle talks to the repatriate fashion girl at the head of one of the country’s largest digital style platforms, from how over bra tops she is to the power of online media. Smell that? Change is coming…
YSTYLE: What about Stylebible was particularly appealing to you?
ANNA CANLAS: Being able to publish at the speed of trends.
How do you plan to integrate your freshly acquired degree from NYU and your previous work for Preview to your new post as Stylebible editor-in-chief?
I had a lot of experience in news writing and cool hunting from my internships at the New York Observer and Trendland.com. And so I plan to run Stylebible like a newsroom, but for fashion. As for my work for Preview — styling and all that — I plan to start shooting more original images; make the site as pretty as it is smart.
Regarding the content of the site — how are you updating it? And do you aim to address a new audience?
We are planning a massive redesign that will take our team a lot of sleepless nights to sort out. I’d love to expand our reach to include the kinds of upmarket girls that read YStyle! LOL.
?What do you think is a significant advantage when it comes to online media?
The fact that you can go back and fix an article that’s been published, within reason. Although that could also be a liability.
Are there existing formats/websites out there that you reference to?
Well, I am obsessed with Pinterest.
?On Style
How has your style changed since living in New York?
I’m always, always in flats. And I don’t always look like I’m going clubbing later in the night.
Edit your closet to ten pieces. What would be left?
1. Tomas Maier white cotton pique polo shirt
2. Rag and Bone Boy T-shirt
3. Vintage spaghetti-strap black bodysuit
4. Gap navy sweater
5. Muji mid-length A-line khaki skirt, in navy
6. Wolford black mesh bra
7. Current Elliot The Roller boyfriend jeans
8. All Black patent cutout loafers
9. Navy blue dress socks
10. Armor Lux red and white Breton striped shirt
Do you believe in effortless style?
Yes. A thousand times yes.
?On Beauty
?Let’s get this out of the way. “No makeup” makeup — how easy/difficult is it to execute? What essentials need to be packed?
Ridiculously easy. I just slap on Dr. Aivee Aguilar-Teo’s SPF 40 Sunscreen Foundation Cream then brush up my brows using brown fiber mascara (I prefer it to brow gel), so I look awake.
How much attention do you give your hair?
Not enough. I took swimming lessons at NYU so I don’t know how good my hair is holding up. I’ve given up dying it, though.
Favorite scent: Lanvin Rumeur 2 Rose. But sadly, it’s been discontinued.
?On Self
What program did you take up in New York?
Master's in journalism, major in magazine writing
Favorite workout: Swimming.
Favorite pop artist: Just one???
Most iconic music video: Kylie Minogue, Slow
Most stylish movie: Manhattan by Woody Allen
Most stylish movie hero/heroine? Diane Keaton in Annie Hall
Whose closet is an extension of yours (and vice versa)? My two sisters’!
Style icon: Kate Bosworth.
?On Fashion
What do you like wearing these days?
Frenchie style.
What is the best thing you’ve ever bought? Well, I go ballistic when I can’t find my Colette T-shirt in my closet, that says in needlepoint on the chest: “Colette.”
What pieces have you permanently chucked from your closet? Bra tops.
Are you into shopping online? Yes.
Most overrated trend? Normcore.
What is the look of now? ‘90s rave. Photos by Bj Pascual
