Niki Mehra is a self-confessed Delhi girl, born and brought up in the capital. She’s well read and music savvy, ambitious and truly stylish. That would explain her tens of thousands of followers on Instagram making her one of the top Indian fashion and beauty bloggers. As young as a mere one month old blog, Niki Mehra won the Swarovski ‘Style your way to Paris’ contest in association with popxo.com competing against bloggers from all over India and was chosen to be the official Indian fashion blogger for Swarovski for 6 months, 2015.
She has been featured in magazines like Cosmopolitan India and has a two page spread in Grazia India. She has also been featured in a lot of digital publications online. She joined the renowned popxo blogger network in 2016.
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Have you always been interested in fashion or it happened during your college days?
I have always been interested in fashion. My mom still taunts me about how fussy I was with my clothes since I was a little girl.The love was always there but I would like to believe that my interest in fashion increased immensely in college because my fashion sense grew a lot then, courtesy Instagram, Pinterest and well the fancy DU college life!
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How did you get into blogging?
I got into blogging while I was still doing my masters in economics. Post my graduation, I wanted to take a year break and do something of my own. But I got into this great college and all my close ones insisted I complete my education, which I decided to do. However, the zeal to start something of my own was still very much there. So I decided to give my blogging venture a try because it could be easily multitasked with my studies and fashion has anyway always been my calling ! And well here I am!
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What has been your inspiration for starting a blog?
My biggest inspiration was to have a successful career in fashion, my childhood desire. Blogging wasn’t the first career option I thought about. Even though I always pursued mainstream courses, economics to be precise, time and again I would ask myself if I’d be happier joining NIFT for a fashion course, being a fashion designer or a fashion entrepreneur with my own line . And then came a phase where blogging suddenly picked up in the country. To be honest I didn’t even know what it meant back then, so I researched and followed a few foreign bloggers to get the hang of it. And eventually fell in love with the whole idea!
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What were the problems that you faced along the journey and how did you overcome those?
Like any other profession, the industry has a lot of talented people creating great content and connecting with a large number of people. It can be intimidating for someone who is new to the scene but aims to compete with the biggies! That’s what happened with me when I started out 2 years ago. But I was lucky enough that Swarovski selected me for their international campaign and my blog picked up in no time, and my fashion sense connected with so many people so fast.
But once you are established, you have different kind of challenges. To stand out, to create your own identity and niche in a space where everyone is being approached by the same brands to do the same thing is really tough but I think exciting at the same time.
Sometimes collaborations work out but sometimes they don’t, and that’s obviously heart breaking. But to pick yourself up and be constantly self-motivated is quite important and challenging at the same time.
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When did you start your YouTube channel? How was the response from your fans?
I am a YouTube baby! I just started about 4 -5 months ago and to be honest I haven’t been so active because my blog has kept me really busy. I started YouTube because my viewers really wanted to see more of me in videos and doing tutorials and styling videos. Luckily the response has been really good from the point of view of a newbie in the YouTube space.
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How do you manage your blog and YouTube channel together?
I am not good at managing the blog and YouTube! I am trying daily to be as active as I can, but achieving the consistency of a full time YouTuber along with the blog is definitely challenging.
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How do you think fashion blogging has evolved in India?
The whole fashion scene in India has become crazy right now! Fashion blogging is such a booming industry and the potential is immense! The brands are responding positively, the audience is super warm and the society is accepting blogging as a full time profession! Earlier, people didn’t know what blogging was, the brands wouldn’t take the influencers seriously but now I can proudly say we have come such a long way!
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What would you say that is the greatest satisfaction of being a fashion blogger?
The greatest satisfaction is definitely being appreciated for your work and being loved for the same. When brands, magazines and TV channels I have grown up wearing and watching appreciate me, feature me, tell me they love my work, the satisfaction is crazy! Also when the readers and viewers recognize me on the streets, or message/ comment telling me that I inspire them, it’s overwhelming!
I would also like to add that when work takes you places, you feel like you have accomplished something and that satisfaction is beautiful. When I was invited to New York to interview Rihanna, there was a great sense of accomplishment, belief in myself and happiness.
Niki Mehra’s instagram
