All the rage: Style Week OC
The mom of three boys wore a brown suede fedora, a white shirt and ripped jeans.
She held a chocolate-covered banana in each hand and smiled for the camera.
With a click on her phone, she posted the picture on her Instagram page and tagged Balboa Island as the setting.
“I had to share another pic of this top because it’s so cute!” she captioned, noting the label.
That picture attracted over 4,000 likes.
That white peplum lace top went out of stock.
And companies have tapped her to be a brand spokeswoman.
That woman is Lyndi Kennedy, an Orange County and Los Angeles stylist who runs fashion blog Lyndi in the City.
Kennedy is known to designers, department stores and her 113,000 Instagram followers as a digital influencer. Her product recommendation posts cause hundreds of thousands of followers to buy the items she suggests.
What started as a fun blog to write on the side for friends and family nearly three years ago, has grown into a lucrative business as Kennedy has teamed up with stores like Nordstrom and the shoe company Sole Society to share her favorite looks.
She’ll also make appearances for brands or retailers, but she won’t state how much she charges for a meet-and-greet.
What’s next for Kennedy is partnering up with Fashion Island to help showcase the new fall trends during the shopping center’s ninth annual Style Week OC.
Style Week OC, running Thursday to Saturday, will feature runway shows, in-store parties and meet-and-greets with style bloggers, allowing each fashion enthusiast to share her favorite new looks, tips on pairing pieces and advice for mixing and matching accessories.
Kennedy will be featured at the women’s clothing store Halston Heritage, and four additional Orange County bloggers, including Carrie Bradshaw Lied, The Style Riot, My Style Diaries and Devon Rachel, will be stationed at Rebecca Taylor, Anthropologie, Trina Turk and Elie Tahari.
“It’s hard to see yourself that way,” Kennedy said of being a digital presence during a break while shooting a promotional video at Halston Heritage. “I started as a wardrobe consultant and just started a blog for my own personal creative outlet. It grew slowly, but when I hit 110,000 followers, I cried.”
Kennedy, who posts a photo of a new look or product every day, said she has learned how to expand her social media presence by reading suggested tips, such as the best time to post and the best hash tags to write beneath a picture. And one of her three sons or her neighbors usually step in as her photographer.
Her email inbox one recent day brimmed with over 40,000 accumulated emails from women and brand spokespeople asking for fashion expertise. After running a social media insight survey a little more than a month ago, she learned that 90% of her followers are women ages 18 to 35, most of them from New York, Los Angeles and Texas.
Her dream is to find a manager and better formalize her place in the fashion world, she said, but her main priority is to share with women looks of various prices and to create ensembles that are comfortable, playful and feminine.
As for trendy?
Tread lightly, she advised.
“Do not spend $400 on a pineapple T-shirt,” she said with a laugh. “Just please don’t.”
Nikki Prendergast, founder of fashion blog My Style Diaries, will be featured at contemporary designer store Trina Turk.
Since starting her website in 2011, Prendergast, a Huntington Beach resident, has worked with fashion, lifestyle and beauty brands Nordstrom, Athleta, Starbucks, CoverGirl, Target and Cadillac.
She said she wanted to share outfit inspiration, seasonal trends and affordable fashion finds on a website that comes off as more conversational and approachable than a magazine.
Prendergast, who graduated from the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles and worked as a fashion publicist in Beverly Hills, has over 58,000 Instragram followers. She said she chooses to promote and endorse only brands and products that she would purchase.
For the fall runway, she plans to showcase Trina Turk’s mix-and-match prints.
“I’m all about a bold, jewel-toned color palette and mixing prints from head to toe,” Prendergast said, noting her favorite fall looks include shift dresses, wide-leg trousers and anything with a subtle nod to the 1970s. “Just keep everything in the same color palette for a cohesive feel.”
The Fashion Island Style Week OC will kick off Thursday with Neiman Marcus presenting a runway show of fall trends from top designers at 6:30 p.m. Though the show will be a private ticketed event, the public may view it from an area surrounding the runway.
The Fashion Island Fall Runway Show at 6:30 p.m. Friday will highlight the season’s looks by retailers including Anthropologie, Elie Tahari, Bloomingdale’s, Nordstrom, Trina Turk, Rebecca Taylor and Halston Heritage. This runway show will be open to the public, with seating available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Later that night, shoppers will be invited to attend in-store parties, with the five Southern California style bloggers sharing hosting duties.
Style Week OC festivities will continue Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m., when shoppers can participate in in-store parties and promotions at shops including Modern Romance, Joie, Vince Camuto, Kendra Scott and SEE Eyewear.
For more information, visit styleweekoc.com.
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If You Go
What: Style Week OC
When: Thursday through Saturday
Where: Fashion Island, 401 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach
Information: (949) 721-2000 or
