When the chips are down, something to remember....

The face behind the branding

One of my BFF is a gorgeous and incredibly talented graphic designer called Maryam.

We have been friends for yearsssss and she pretty much knows me inside out and has been SO supportive with my blog and all things  "Shoena" So when I needed a design for my business card for my blog, I knew just who to contact. I gave maryam just a small brief which was that I wanted a design that represented me and the love of my life; fashion. I sort of threw in that it would be cool  if my cards were in the form of a mini collage, made up of all the things I love, That was pretty much it and the result was just so damn
 FAB-U_LOUS

My business cards

So again when I needed an AMAZING logo for my shop; "House of Shoena", I texted Maryam (of course) Immediately. We agreed that the logo had to be in line  with my blog and business cards as ultimately I am trying to create a brand (well I want to be the next Kelly Cutrone lol). All she said was "leave it with me" so I did. The next day I woke up to this:

When I saw  the logo I screamed, jumped and then screamed (in that order) as YES I was (and still am ) SO in love with it!! Not only does It sum up what my shop is all about, its ties in nicely with my blog and business cards and represents my taste and style.

As you can see  Maryam is an incredibly, inspiring freelance graphic designer!!!!

She kindly gave up some of her time so that I could interview her for the Tha-One.com ( a site that I write for). Read it here tomorrow.

Check out her website here 

House of Shoena goes to Pacha

So as I mentioned a few blog posts ago, I am launching a small on-line shop called 'House of Shoena’ (HOS),  due to launch the end of the November 2012.

My shop will stock  LIP-SMACKING  one off samples and  vintage products that I have sourced  and also pre -owned products (previously owned by me). HOS will also stock lovely products from emerging brands/designers.

2 weeks ago something AMAZING happened; I was approached by a cool woman asking if I could feature some of my products in her fashion show that she was organising to support emerging brands/designers . It seems she saw a picture from my photo-shoot and fell in love with the gorgeous Ox blood fur jacket that the hot model  was rocking very well!!

I STILL can not believe it (ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh). I agreed obvs and the fashion shoot is due to take place on December 21st in Pacha night club.

You can buy your tickets here

Hope you can come down and show me some love!!!!

It would be Fab if you could spread the word and tell your peeps too J

Now I need to start working out what I’m going to wear… hhhhhmmmm

 Logo designed by Maryam Javaid, check out her website here

Mad love for the ORA

You've got to hand it to Rita Ora, not only can she can SANGGGG, but boy oh boy does she have some serious style-swag!!! I was recently paid a HUGE compliment, which was that my style had a "sort of Rita Ora" vibe going on. Well this is all good as I LOVE Rita O!!! she is one of my style icons!! love how she flirts with fashion, and just is just so fearless with fashion, which is what I am all about!!

Did you see what she wore to the EMA's the other day? I would SO wear both outfits.

What do you think?

OMG!!! I am Woman of the week!!

After a stressful morning getting into work today (FYI- I took the wrong bus from the station to work, well it was the  right number but it was going in the wrong direction in my defence today is day 2 at my new job so I am still getting used to the route). Anyway so I frantically ran into the office feeling hot and a little stressed, then 'bam' A message came up on my phone telling me that I had been named "Woman of the Week"!!  I wanted to scream right then but I didn't as I was sat  at my desk and I don't want my new colleagues to think I am a nutter, so I ran to the ladies and screamed there lol!

I am SO pleased with the write up, and feel SOOOOO honoured.
Check it out here:

 http://sisterukhana.wordpress.com/2012/11/12/woman-of-the-week-sheena-isokariari/

House of Shoena Photo shoot

So last Friday was the photo shoot from my shop 'House of Shoena' (H.O.S) and .... it was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much fun!! now I will admit that I was shaking in my stilettos, as I boarded the hot tube to head to the shoot in North London. Ha, you should a have seen me I had a ram jam suitcase, a rucksack and  my day bag. I was shaking not because of all the luggage I had to carry that probably weighed the same as me but because I was nervous abut the shoot, excited too.
Anyway I am pleased to say that shoot went really well and was one of the best days ever, hands down again and again!

The two models that I selected were UH-MAZING!! fun, fearless, quirky with that edge that I love and of course gorgeous. It was important that the models embodied all of the above as these words describe my style and my style main icons (FYI- Solange, Rita Ora, Ri Ri,Julia Sarr-Jamois, Fearne Cotton, Elle Varner and Gwen Stefani). As HOS symbolises a house of all things that represent my style, then it makes sense that the models that I use also do.

So enough of the talking, here are some photos from the shoot.

Oh, one more thing... the Warehouse/ studio was SCH-MAZING (yes, this is my new word courtesy of the stunning Nicole Scherzinger). It was filled with lots of Vintage products which is right up my street.

Last but not least I want to say a massive thank you to the following people:
Fab, fashion blogger Marsha of style of a london tall girl for popping by
Super duper cool and  incredibly talented Photographer Pete Fallan for taking the snaps
The 2 Hot  models Ancuta and Siha for agreeing to model and making the shoot fun and fabulous
AND to my lovely buddy Jake Bullough (who is also a great designer) for kindly letting me use his warehouse/studio. Check out his beautiful bags here www.beara.beara.co.uk http://beara.beara.co.uk and have a read of my interview with Jake here.

House of Shoena will be launching in less than 3 weeks. :)

Rome wasn't built in a day

Hellloooooo, sorry for the lack of blog posts this week!! This week  has being a cray, cray one with my best guy friend over from the US of A and 'stranded' due to Hurricane Sandy, meetings, work has been busy but all good AND  I have been (and I still am) preping for my photo shoot tomorrow. If you do not follow me on twitter you will not be aware that I am launching a little on line shop called H.O.S (House of Shoena). After a few set backs I am pleased to announce that my shop is still happening and tomorrow I am shooting some of the outfits on 2 gorgeous models. The rest of the products will be cut outs. I will admit I am super excited but also super scared/nervous, GULP!!

Check Twitter tomorrow as we will be tweeting from the shoot :)

Oh and next week I will be blogging about the the concept behind the shop and how it all came about.

As it stands we are due to go live 30th November, ahhhh!!! You only get one launch date so we are working hard to get it right.... as the saying goes,  'Rome wasn't built in a day'.

Check out the logo (below)  for H.O.S designed by one of my super cool BFF.