Gala Gonzalez of
Inside Am-Lul's Closet is the kind of girl most of us would love to be, and has the kind of extensive wardrobe we'd all love to own. Not only does she have a seemingly endless amount of hip current must-haves and classic sartorial treasures, Gala is beautiful (she’s a model), talented (she designs for a major Spanish fashion label) and privileged (she comes from a Spanish fashion family).
More importantly than all of these though, is that Gala owns an indefinable je ne sais quois that can turn a brown sack into the chicest, most effortless bit of cool with the flick of her glossy brown mane. It’s this very ability that has made Gala the darling of the fashion circles that are generally above and beyond your average style-diarists. It also helps that she is warm, hardworking, and matter-of-fact about the fashion circus and her fabulous high life.
This former journalism student is a womenswear graduate from London College of Fashion, having also completed her foundation at Central St Martins. It was here she was re-introduced to fellow Spaniard, Prince Pelayo aka Pelayo Diaz Zapico, Gala’s male counterpart, from the popular blog
Kate Loves Me.
“We had met at a party in Barcelona, but we didn’t know it at the time. When we started at St Martins, I thought he was Italian and he got really pissed off with me because I said this!” They became firm friends, and it was with Pelayo that Gala decided to ditch fotolog for what was intended to be a secret blog, to see if people would catch on to it at all. And yes they certainly did.
“The day that Vogue called was the day when I thought, I’ve kind of made it, whatever that means! That was a big, big moment,” she says.
Being chosen as a leather icon for Loewe was another high point. “I found myself in the middle of that, I just thought to myself, how the hell am I here? Especially when I saw the rest of the cast. I’m no Pixie Geldof or anything like that - I’ve been well, working my ass off! - and then I just thought, well, you know what, I’m here because I should be here,” she adds.
This month though, Gala finds herself in Sydney, getting used to the fact that it’s the middle of winter in August. “It’s quite different from what I expected. My Mum just moved here recently, and I always wanted to come. So, I decided to take a month off work and do it!”
But of course with a girl such as this, it isn’t all fun and games. Rumors have been flying of a possible something-something with Australian label, Bowie. They helped arrange our interview with her. She shrugs it off casually with a laugh. “We’ve just been in talks! I’m not saying I am, I’m not saying I’m not - we’ve just been talking about...things!” Amongst everything else she’s got going on, you’ve got to admire her for her professionalism too. Le sigh.
Like a lot of globetrotter types, Gala finds general differences between the UK and Australia surprising and unexpected. Fashionably speaking, she sees the difference in the way people dress as refreshing. “Obviously, people are lot more body conscious here, and they dress in a brighter, fresher and more expressive way. I think people are really trendy too, they follow the same type of trends as Londoners - which I think would be more difficult to do since you don’t have as marked a difference in seasons like we do in Europe. So respect for that!”
Did she let this summery kind of winter (in comparison) affect her wardrobe choices whilst packing for this antipodean trip? “I love any kind of winter because you can wear so many different layers of clothing. The only problem is the weight that you are allowed to bring onto the plane! But I basically packed the usual stuff that I wear in London. I’m lacking a bit of colour, but I’m going to compensate that with getting into Australian fashion whilst I’m here!” She doesn’t kid around – when we meet, Gala rocks a recently purchased knit jumper from Gorman while cruising Bondi, above.
A stroll through the archives of Gala’s blog will tell you that this Spanish beauty dresses with the kind of confident freedom and charming insouciance that can be the most elusive of all qualities when putting together an outfit. And who are Gala’s style icons? “I have icons that are more than just about fashion. Like, Pamela Courson, you know, JimMorrison’s partner, because of what she represented, and Anita Pallenberg; I love the '70s. We’ve got modern examples of the same sort of thing, like Kate Moss. But I’m not digging Kate Moss’ style.” Hear that Kate? Move aside, girl,Gala’s coming through!
It had to be asked what shoes she’s been wearing the most whilst in Sydney. “Right now," she says "flip flops, because I sprained my ankle! I actually thought I broke it, it happened when I was just walking down some stairs! I actually didn’t pack that many pairs of shoes; the ones I did are quite comfortable, for walking around and seeing the city in. I bought a pair of little pixie boots from Beau Coops. I also brought along with me a pair of those plain transparent Prada shoes.”
From Paris and Prada to Sydney and sprained ankles, one thing is for sure, wherever and whatever Gala goes and does, she’ll look absolutely amazing doing it! Follow Gala's Sydney trip and her sartorial story at Inside Am-Lul's Closet.
Photos by Rachel Yabsley