{"id":107121,"date":"2017-09-12T12:34:00","date_gmt":"2017-09-12T12:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/?p=107121"},"modified":"2017-09-13T08:18:31","modified_gmt":"2017-09-13T08:18:31","slug":"blogger-spotlight-navaz-batliwalla-disneyrollergirl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/blog\/blogger-spotlight-navaz-batliwalla-disneyrollergirl\/","title":{"rendered":"Blogger Spotlight: Navaz Batliwalla, Disneyrollergirl"},"content":{"rendered":"

Navaz Batliwalla<\/a> is the Top 10 Fashion Blogger<\/a> behind Disneyrollergirl<\/a>. Launched in 2007 while Navaz was working as fashion director at CosmoGirl!, Disneyrollergirl is the go-to platform for insights on the fashion world, through the eyes of an industry insider. We spoke to Navaz about London Fashion Week, fashion trends, collaborations with brands and all the wonderful blogs she reads.<\/strong><\/p>\n

How would you describe your blog?<\/span>
\n<\/strong>Disneyrollergirl hasn\u2019t changed that much since I started it ten years ago. It\u2019s still a place to share my informed opinion on goings-on in the fashion, beauty, media and retail industries. I also publish original fashion editorials, films and shopping pages, sometimes in collaboration with selected brands. What\u2019s changed is the community.<\/p>\n

I have a great community of likeminded enthusiasts across several platforms so rather than\u00a0considering\u00a0just the blog, Disneyrollergirl extends cross-platform to offline including, recently, a style book. I try to keep my focus on the brands that speak to me on a personal level but I\u2019m very interested\u00a0in emerging movements and product categories. Currently that includes the rise of affordable fine jewellery, non-gendered beauty, positive fashion, \u00a0re-commerce and niche fragrance.<\/p>\n

Why did you start your blog?<\/span>
\n<\/strong>I was working full time as fashion director of CosmoGIRL! in 2007 and simply fell in love with this new, immediate and opinionated way of speaking to likeminded fashion enthusiasts. I had a background working with online communities since contributing to Handbag.com as far back as 1999. In this case I liked the rawness of uploading content in real time and having a direct dialogue with readers.<\/p>\n

What are the latest fashion trends we should be aware of?<\/span>
\n<\/strong>There is a big growth in women buying luxury jewellery and watches for themselves. It\u2019s no longer just the husbands buying for their wives. So the designers doing well are those creating simple, beautifully-made pieces that are adaptable, that can work from day through to night and can be worn as a signature piece, even if it\u2019s understated.<\/p>\n

How does London Fashion Week fit in with your blog?<\/span>
\n<\/strong>I attend LFW mainly as part of my freelance work as a fashion writer and editorial consultant. And then I\u2019m happy to support my favourite designers on my platforms as well as keeping my readers up to date on trends. LFW content can be industry news, it can be catwalk highlights (from my personal point of view), consumer-based news (see now, buy now or buying a beauty look straight from the show), or tech innovation such as shoppable social media. I will go to events to support PRs and meet clients but I don\u2019t cover parties or celebs on the site.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s going to be the \u2018next big thing\u2019 in fashion?<\/strong><\/span>
\nCurrently I feel like there\u2019s a real sense of product and content fatigue. I think we\u2019ve all over-consumed so people want a breather. So there\u2019s an interest in slow, considerate fashion, buying things to keep long term, an appreciation of handmade craft or \u2018circular fashion\u2019 \u00a0– i.e. having frequent clearouts via eBay, Depop, Grailed or Vestiaire Collective. Arket will be an interesting business to watch as it’s based around building a wardrobe, not chasing trends.<\/p>\n

Content-wise, the ubiquity of social media has caused the downfall of many legacy print magazines. They adopted the same mediocre tone of voice and forfeited their point of view in the process unfortunately. Niche magazines have stepped into that \u2018meaningful\u2019 space and are disrupting the traditional magazine market. I imagine a similar thing could happen with blogs and influencers.<\/p>\n

Consumers are getting bored of glorified salespeople who don\u2019t seem to have any other interests and the algorithmic changes of popular social platforms has caused disillusion among users.<\/p>\n

What makes your blog successful?<\/span>
\n<\/strong>I measure success by creative fulfilment and I get that by doing work that interests me. I work to build relationships with brands and PRs that have the right fit\u00a0to gain\u00a0access that my readers wouldn\u2019t get otherwise. If you focus on producing editorial that has\u00a0meaning\u00a0to you and your readers, rather than successive sponsored posts, then you win the long term game. It hasn\u2019t been smooth by any means but I\u2019m still enjoying it and I\u2019m still here!<\/p>\n

How do you like to work with PRs?<\/span>
\n<\/strong>I\u2019m a fan of the targeted approach. I like to get to know PRs and their brands over the long term so that there is a mutual understanding. I\u2019m happy to give pure editorial if I\u2019m genuinely passionate about a story. I\u2019m also happy for PRs to send me general info\/press releases etc. if it\u2019s a brand\/product\/category I\u2019ve expressed interest in. I hate being added to generic mailing lists and I instantly unsubscribe! I\u2019m not a fan of being sent unsolicited product \u2013 that\u2019s unnecessary and wasteful. The dream is to be asked to collaborate on a multi-platform project that’s well researched with ample \u00a0time to deliver quality content. However, I\u2019m equally very used to last minute briefs!<\/p>\n

What collaborations are you proud of?<\/span>
\n<\/strong>I love the series of Petit Dejeuner<\/a> shoots and films I have made with filmmaker and photographer Emma Miranda Moore. They celebrate new beginnings and reinvention or interesting morning routines\u00a0and can be stills shoots or short films. I\u2019m also very proud of my book, The New Garconne: How to be a Modern Gentlewoman, published last year by Laurence King Publishing. I worked with the PRs of my favourite heritage and luxury brands to profile the modern\u00a0considerate\u00a0consumer and her approach to style, work and lifestyle.<\/p>\n

What one thing should PRs know about you?<\/span>
\n<\/strong>I\u2019m very much a behind the scenes kind of person and I like the get to the root of a story. So I\u2019m happiest sharing the story of an amazing designer, collection or start-up through words and images, rather than taking outfit pictures of myself.<\/p>\n

What other blogs do you read?<\/span>
\n<\/strong>Glossy.co<\/a> and The Fashion Law<\/a> for business insights; Keep It Chic<\/a>, The Women\u2019s Room Blog<\/a> and That\u2019s Not My Age<\/a> for grown up style; Coco\u2019s Tea Party<\/a>, The Very Simon G<\/a> and\u00a0Fashion Foie Gras<\/a> to keep up with my mates; The Anna Edit<\/a> and The Lifestyle Edit<\/a> (not strictly a blog) for life stuff; British Beauty Blogger<\/a> and Into The Gloss<\/a> for beauty intel and Style Bubble<\/a>, What Olivia Did<\/a> and Peony Lim<\/a> for eye candy.<\/p>\n

Navaz Batliwalla\u00a0features on the\u00a0Vuelio Media Database<\/a>\u00a0along with thousands of other bloggers, influencers and journalists.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Navaz Batliwalla is the Top 10 Fashion Blogger behind Disneyrollergirl. Launched in 2007 while Navaz was working as fashion director at CosmoGirl!, Disneyrollergirl is the go-to platform for insights on the fashion world, through the eyes of an industry insider. We spoke to Navaz about London Fashion Week, fashion trends, collaborations with brands and all the wonderful blogs she reads.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":400,"featured_media":107125,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7272,4038,6980],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107121"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/400"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107121"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107121\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":107180,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107121\/revisions\/107180"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}