You may have never heard the name Alana Pallister but you’ve definitely seen her designs on practically every trendsetting celeb.
Alana launched her clothing brand I.Am.Gia a mere 6 months ago, but that hasn’t stopped her from amassing a cult following from stylish stars like Kaia Gerber, Bella Hadid, and Emily Ratajkowski.
Here, FEMAIL chats with Alana about how I.Am.Gia became a go-to source for cool girls, her favorite trends for fall and what’s next for the brand.
Gia Babe: You may have never heard the name Alana Pallister but you’ve definitely seen her designs on practically every trendsetting celeb
I.Am.Gia may only be 6 months old, but Alana is no stranger to the fashion industry. She has operated an online boutique in Australia before launching the brand in May of this year.
While running TigerMist, she realized that people’s shopping habits were changing thanks to the influence of social media. ‘I saw the rise of the social media “it” girls, so I decided to base the line on my favorite movie Gia, which is about the rise of the first ever supermodel Gia Carangi,’ she said.
But while the brand may be inspired by ‘it’ girls and supermodels, Alana says I.Am.Gia is for everyone. ‘We try to cater to all women. Each capsule we design has a different type of girl in mind, which allows everyone to be a ‘Gia Babe’.
Cool girls: Emily Ratajkowski, 26, (left) and Madison Beer, 18, (right) are both fans of the fashion forward brand
Because the brand is influenced by social media and has a young target base, Alana said it was really important to her to keep everything affordable. ‘As a social media brand, the girls we are targeting aren’t going to spend $400-500 a piece,’ she said.
That’s why the entire range of sexy dresses, sleek separates and accessories all retail for under $150. Even the brand’s cozy oversized coats retail for around $80 each.
In order to keep prices down Alanna releases capsules every few months instead of designing expansive collections at the beginning of every season. This also gives her more freedom with her designs, as she can produce new and trending pieces often.
‘I think the line has been such a hit because we are able to create things that aren’t in the market yet.’
Style stars: Alana was especially excited to see her designs on the likes of Kaia Gerber, 16, (left) and Bella Hadid, 21, (right)
Besides being on-trend, affordable and insanely chic, Alana thinks that the brand has been embraced by celebs because the brand is ‘new and fresh’. ‘So many girls have told me, “OMG, we’ve wanted a brand like this for so long!”‘
While it seems like practically every starlet in Hollywood has been seen in her designs, the two customers she was especially excited about were Kaia Gerber and Bella Hadid, because they encapsulate ‘the bad-ass Gia Babe perfectly.’
‘The brand had only been around for about a month, when I got a DM from Bella’s team on Instagram,’ she said. ‘I live in a remote nature reserve in Australia and I got this message from her people at 5 am that she wanted to wear the brand at Couture Fashion Week in Paris. I immediately jumped out of bed and drove to my little warehouse to ship everything out to her. A week later we saw her wearing the line, and it was a dream come true.’
As for who Alana would like to see wearing the line next? ‘Now that we have Kaia in I.Am.Gia, how cool would it be to see her mom Cindy and all the original supermodels in the brand?’ she said.
‘It’ girl: Victoria Justice, 24, recently rocked the ‘Cobain’ pants, one of Alana’s must-have items for fall
Alana says to expect the ‘Gia Army’ in lots of color this season. ‘I’m all about color this fall, we have a lot of pieces coming out in lime green, bright orange, pinks, yellow. Lots of really fun and eye-cathcing colors, and animal prints are going to be huge too!’
Also be on the lookout for more accessories. ‘We are doing a huge accessories push, each of the upcoming capsules will have about 5-6 pieces moving forward. We will have everything from bags and boots to sandals and phone cases.
If you plan on shopping only a few pieces from the collection, Alana says make it ‘the Pixie coat, because it has been seen on every single babe in the Gia Army, the Cobain pant because they are so comfortable but look so cool as well, and the Winona pant because I think everyone should have a little PVC in their wardrobes!’
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