Welcome to ELLA KOL
Ella Kol is a stylized blog I started in 2015. It features a cluster of my photos, adventures, and collaborations with friends I make along the way.
As of 2022, I archived my old blog and started fresh.
A little about me:
When most people ask me where I’m from, I usually say LA. But the truth is I grew up on the sandy shores of Redondo Beach, one of the small beach cities in the South Bay.
During my sophomore year of college, I created Ella Kol. At the time, I was inspired by everyday girls becoming notable names in the fashion world through the rise of social media and I knew I wanted to be a part of this new generation of fashion. I started out by taking photos of myself on my first iPhone and then slowly dipped my toes into the world of blogging. As a natural introvert, I was VERY nervous and shy about sharing or promoting my blog to anyone at first, but over time I developed a love for sharing my passion for the blog with others.
The name Ella Kol is a pseudonym I came up with while I was trying to decide what I wanted to name my blog. Frankly, I just wanted to use something that was easy to remember and simple to pronounce. ‘Ella’ is often tied to Cinderella so I figured most people would be familiar with the shorthand and ‘Kol’ is a nod to my twin brother, Cole.
Fashion, a love story:
What does fashion mean to me? My answer to this question is constantly changing. To me, fashion is a journey that travels and transforms with us through the various phases of our life. Fashion is also a means to bring people together to celebrate diversity and self-expression. Fashion is art, freedom, nostalgia, and many stories all at once.
Through fashion we tell our stories, share our common interests, and live out our greatest dreams. Fashion is everything and a means to communicate that which cannot be spoken.
It’s more important than ever that we seek out ways to make fashion more sustainable. Personally, I know I’ll never be perfect, but I do wish to make more environmentally conscious choices, so that beautiful fashion can be accessible for future generations.
An American in Paris:
My early twenties taught me that its okay to be a late bloomer. My mid twenties taught me the importance of self-love. Now, my late twenties is all about defining happiness on my own terms.
After having a of a quarter life crisis during the pandemic, I struggled to define both happiness and adulthood for myself. As more and more friends started to define adulthood for themselves, I found myself feeling lost, frustrated, uninspired, and stuck.
For the sake of my personal growth, I decided to do something drastic about my stagnant state. Living abroad has always been a dream of mine and with fashion at the forefront of my professional focus, I decided Paris is where I had to be.
I spent the past year researching schools, networking, applying for my visa, and mapping out my first year abroad. Between navigating French administration and culture, I was faced with a steep learning curve. But nevertheless, I was convinced that nothing would be more rewarding than making my own dreams come true.
Now, I’m living in Paris, enrolled in business school, and slowly but surely trying to learn French. Ella Kol is a place where I love to share my life’s chapters with you. To me, my blog has always been an ever-changing canvas of my dreams, passions, hopes, and visions. My interests are constantly shifting. From transforming vintage clothes to discovering new aesthetics, Ella Kol is a piece of me that continues to grow and change as I do.
Thank you for your interest in my stories and welcome, dearest reader, to my world.
xx
Kiana Sakamoto
(Ella Kol)
Contact me here.
