Suhaila Niazi is one of the few designers who creates clothes just to make her customers feel good, and not to make money. She started Al Shakour clothing with her business partner Razi Khan because she wanted to give women clothes that would make them feel special. After speaking with Suhaila, I found that she is a designer who has been able to find the perfect balance between her passion and her values.

(BestFan): You were working in the fashion industry for 20 years before you started designing. How did you know you wanted to work in fashion?  Why did you recently change direction with your career?

(Suhaila): I studied fashion at La Salle College, and when I graduated, I was told that I could not pursue this field because of the competition…So I started to work in the industry as an assistant, and on the floor at stores, and I didn’t like it at all…When I hit my best job ever it was becoming a buyer, and I noticed that a lot of the pieces that were being bought were not being sold in the industry properly.  I noticed I was selling dresses and people were saying “do you sell this dress with a jacket? Does it come with sleeves? Does it come with a long slit?”…Customers started giving me feedback on what they wanted. Because I was working in retail – at that time I was working at Holt Renfrew as a personal shopper – more and more people would voice their opinion. People assume that because you’re a personal shopper, you’re like superwoman – you can find anything because you’re a personal shopper. Then, my business partner, Razi, and I were at dinner  and I told him people just want so much and I feel like I could do it, and he was like “then why don’t you just do it?” so it was that push, that he threw me off the cliff.

(BestFan): You’ve been in the fashion industry for a long time, and worked with a lot of different people. Is there anyone you’ve worked with that’s stood out to you?

(Suhaila): One would be Annie Horth, she’s actually the stylist for Celine Dion. She hired me to do her launch for her album, and that was one of the best experiences I ever had. I got to fly to Las Vegas and Chicago and los Angeles, and we got to meet Oprah and Ellen. It was awesome. I got to dance with Ellen in the green room. That was the most amazing experience because Annie believed in me to go with her. She was like “I trust you, I value your opinion, you have a good eye.” And we meshed well. To me that was really amazing. She influenced me a lot to stay in this field. To work with Celine was just amazing. Second I would say Luko Marion. He’s from Cashmere and gave us the opportunity to make a dress out of bathroom tissue for Cashmere. He liked what I did, he saw my designs, and he saw my collection and said, “I think you’d be perfect for this.” He gave me that break to get involved with something like that. They make you feel like you’ve not done it wrong, you’ve done it right.

(BestFan): You only create a limited number of each design. How do you think that affects your line overall, and how have customers responded to that?

(Suhaila): What I do is made to measure and the reason I do this is because I don’t want to do mass production at this time. Let’s say you were going to a big dinner and you know half of Montreal is going to be there. It’s having more control over what I’m doing, and I find having that luxury, and having the woman feel like she has that one beautiful unique piece so she’s the only one wearing it. If another woman comes and is going to the same gala and wants to buy a dress from me, I’m going to make sure she’s not buying the same fabric.

(BestFan): You donate a portion of the proceeds from every collection to charity. What made did you decide to do this?

(Suhaila): The goal was if we do something like this, I want it for a purpose too; I don’t just want to be designing and making things. So we decided that we would like to open up a school back home for the unfortunate. So we booked out tickets and went travelling, and that’s where I saw the fabrics and the suppliers and the people. And the poverty in the world was unbelievable, so it gave me more motivation to do what I had to do, because I knew if I was going to be making money I could put it to another direction as well. I donate 5% of every piece sold. Because at the end of the day, you’re not going to take money with you, so if you can have a bit of it to share and to help someone else profit from it, I think that’s a really good feeling.

(BestFan): You’ve worked as a buyer, stylist, and a designer. Of all the different sides of the industry you’ve seen, what are some of the most exciting things you’ve encountered?

(Suhaila): Meeting amazing people. I find everyone is a celebrity. There’s a quality in everyone that they’re a celebrity. I love every single person I meet. You know they say when you look at a celebrity you’re in awe? I’m in awe of everyone.

BestFan Quick Questions

Favourite designer?

Christian Lacroix, and Christian Dior, and Tom Ford. Tom Ford, I wish I could wear his clothes. It’s just like sex on a hanger.

Favourite city you’ve visited?

It’s not a city, but Dubai.

Person you would most like to design for?

Every woman that feels like she needs to have a beautiful piece of clothing.

Cookies, or brownies?

Brownies, because they’re mushy and they don’t make crumbs. You’ll never have to clean up the mess.

Lipstick, or mascara?

Lipstick.

Movies, or music?

Movies.

Johnny Depp, or Brad Pitt?

Johnny Depp.

Wedges or stilettos?

That’s a tricky one. Can I say both? Both.

Al Shakour’s lookbook and new collection will be out this winter. To stay updated on everything Suhaila and Razi are doing, check out the Al Shakour facebook page.

The post Bestfan Exclusive: Interview With Designer Suhaila Niazi appeared first on BestFan Blog.

“I love literally everything about her. I love her extreme talent. I love her writing. Her songs come from the soul. She’s incredibly beautiful. I think it’s very refreshing to see, and don’t get me wrong when I say this, somebody who is not looking extremely anorexic. I know for a fact, as much as you do, that the music industry makes kids get sick.”

Dion adds, “She is going to help us, she’s going to help the world. It’s going to be bad when I meet her. I’m going to give her the biggest hug. I’m not kidding.”

The post Celine Dion Praises Adele appeared first on BestFan Blog.

“Some people come in my studio and I’m like, ‘Oh God,’ and you’ve got to fix them up and it’s just hard,” she said. “Some of the people that get deals, you just can’t understand. But then when you work with a Beyoncé or so sadly Whitney [Houston]. . . it’s so beautiful.”

With a list of hit singles under her belt, it’s without a doubt that Warren will more than help Beyonce produce another hit single. We simply can’t wait for it!

The post New Material From Beyonce Will Feature Help From Diane Warren appeared first on BestFan Blog.

Billboard magazine has revealed their annual list of the years top money makers, and country singer Taylor Swift, 22, was named number one, beating powerhouses U2, Lady Gaga and Adele to top the list with earnings of more than $35 million in 2011.

The list was compiled by the music magazine’s editors using data from Boxscore archives of U.S. concert gross figures, Nielsen SoundScan data for album and single sales on physical and digital platforms, and Nielsen BDS data on musical airplay on radio, downloads and online streaming sites such as Spotify.

The rest of the top 10 included U2 ($32.1 million); Kenny Chesney ($29.8 million); Lady Gaga ($25.3 million); Lil Wayne ($23.1 million); Sade ($16 million); Bon Jovi ($19.8 million); Celine Dion ($14.2 million); Jason Aldean ($13.4 million) and Adele ($13 million).

The post Music News: Top Money Makers of 2012 Revealed appeared first on BestFan Blog.

Blake Shelton and Reba McEntire were the lovely and hilarious hosts for this years Academy of Country Music Awards held at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The two kicked off the evening with a cute comedic video of Blake serenading a fake Miranda Lambert who was actually Reba. Then the stunning Celine Dion introduced Blake and Reba to the stage and welcomed all of the fans to Sin City. Blake and Reba seemed to be quite comfortable on stage as they both played off of each others sense of humour, and had some fun cracking jokes at the country stars in the audience.

The first performance of the evening went to the talented Brad Paisley who opened the show with his single “Old Alabama”. Joining Brad onstage was the legendary Alabama who gave the audience a feel good performance and one that involved sexy guitar solos and a strong ‘YEE-HAW’.

Toby Keith was the next performer to step out onto the MGM Grand stage and sing his single “Somewhere Else”. Toby was nominated for Entertainer of the Year and this country boy gave a relaxed and feel-good performance.

Carrie Underwood cranked it up a notch when she performed her hit single “Undo It”. To spice it up a little legendary Steven Tyler shocked the audience and performed a duet with her and then jumped right into the single “Walk This Way”. Their fierce rocker/country collaboration was loved by the audience and will be one of the most talked about performances of the night.

Performing at Mandalay Bay, which was another stage being used for the ACM awards was Sugarland. They gave a solid and entertaining performance of their brand new single “Tonight”. Jennifer Nettles vocals were amazing and Christian Bush looked like he was having a great time up on the stage.

Jumping back to the MGM Grand was Dierks Bently who gave a moving performance, literally, and walked from backstage to the main stage and then proceeded to walk through the audience to the top of the seats where the fans were located. He sang his single “Am I the Only One” and you could tell the fans in the audience were really getting it on!

A very tanned Keith Urban gave an acoustic performance of “Without You” which was flawless! The talented Aussie dedicated this song to his lovely wife Nicole Kidman who was sitting in the audience watching him. With images from his recent video playing behind him, Keith gave a soulful and wonderful performance.

Eric Church took to the stage at Mandalay Bay and rocked the house with his performance of “Smoke A Little Smoke”. With his sexy aviator shades and a comfy baseball cap Eric sounded great and with his hot guitar work he got the crowd moving. He even had a little bit of smoke to engulf the stage at the end of the performance.

Song of the Year- “The House That Built Me”- Miranda Lambert

Taylor Swift’s performance of “Mean” was exceptionally strong as she held all of the anger inside her from people who have told her she cannot sing. Taylor dressed herself and her band in old school clothing that resembled the hillbilly lifestyle.

Nominated and winners for New Artist of the year The Band Perry gave a great performance of their hit single” If I Die Young” on the Mandalay Bay stage. The siblings had strong vocals and the audience loved their performance

New Artist of the Year- The Band Perry

Jason Aldean mixed things up with his performance of “Dirt Road Anthem” which included a small rap verse in the song. Jason is nominated for Entertainer of the Year Award and definitely showcased that he is a multi-talented artist

Single Record of the Year- “The House That Built Me”- Miranda Lambert

The cool and calm host of the evening Blake Shelton also got on stage and sang his new single “Honeybee”. He showed the audience a different side of himself when he sang about honeybees and love dovey stuff!

Album of the Year- Need You Now- Lady Antebellum

Sarah Evans performance was her first time back at the ACM awards, as she took a seven-year break to be with her family. Sarah sang the track “A Little Bit Stronger”, and boy did she prove she is still a strong momma in her hot leather pants and strong vocals.

Best Vocal Group- Lady Antebellum

Miranda Lambert looked pretty in pink during her ACM performance as she wore a tight pink dress, strummed on a hot pink guitar, and sung into her pink microphone. Her “Heart Like Mine” single has been so well received by her fans and tonight she did gave spectacular performance as well!

The most interesting performance of the night went to Jennifer Nettles and Rihanna who performed an incredible duet. A never before seen performance of “California King” was given by these two powerhouse vocalists who sang beautifully together and rocked Mandalay Bay.

Ronnie Dunn’s debut as a solo artist was smashing at the ACM “ All Bleed Red” his first performance as a solo artist at the ACM awards just ended the Brooks and Dunn tour just last year and Ronnie decided to go off on his own, splendid performance with amazing vocals and a strong orchestra band behind him applauded for his stunning performance and all artists in the audience were proud

Vocal Duo of the Year- Sugarland

Martina McBride’s “Teenage Daughters” was well received at last nights award show and she proved that she too is still a hot momma! Martina was able to relate to all mothers in the audience who have crazy teenage daughters like hers!

Male Vocalist of the Year- Brad Paisley

Darius Rucker’s performance of “This Is Music From Our Heart” was simply beautiful. Darius brought out a group of people who have developmental disabilities and are from camp Vanderbuilt. To have them singing with him onstage must have been a dream come true and their performance moved the audience to tears.
Reba McEntire’s performance of “When Love Gets A Hold of you”

Female Vocalist of the Year- Miranda Lambert

The Zac Brown Band and James Taylor performed their new single “Colder Weather”. The performance was a great way to end the show and both artists were truly amazing. The Zac Brown band truly gave a touching and emotional performance and you could see the passion in their eyes!

Entertainer of the Year- Taylor Swift

The post 2011 Academy of Country Music Awards Recap appeared first on BestFan Blog.

At just 15 years old, Shiloh already had a Canadian Platinum-selling single for her single “Operator (A Girl Like Me)”. Now at 17, she’s all grown up with a brand new look and sound. “Can’t Hold On” is the first single off her sophomore album, set to drop later this year. Bestfan had the pleasure of speaking with Shiloh about her new single, album and her journey from the day Edmonton to a international musician recording artist.

(Bestfan): Could you tell us a bit about your new single “Can’t Hold On”?

Shiloh: Originally when I wrote that song I was thinking of Twilight, to be honest. It was between that and another song I wrote for the single and we were listening to it very carefully and I was like, “you know what? This is something the fans haven’t heard from me”. We decided to release that single first and it’s actually received great feedback. Everybody is saying, “Oh, Shiloh is all grown up” and I’m kind of glad that I got the message across that I’m not 15 anymore.

(Bestfan): Your video recently premiered on Much Music and VEVO. Did you help create the idea for the music video and where was it shot?

Shiloh: Yes, I did actually. I was on my way to a fashion show in Toronto for Toronto Fashion Week and I phoned my director, Ante Kovac with an idea and it was kind of an overnight thing. I said, “let’s get 15 guys in black hoodies and one guy in a red hoodie and just go from there, we’ll think about something”. He came up with something overnight and it was crazy, he is an amazing director. There was a lot of improvisation also. It was shot just outside of Toronto on a big property. I don’t even remember where it was, it was two hours out and it was freezing cold cause it was in the middle of the forest. I was really scared out there. I’m not a fan of the dark and aside from all of the lights and the massive crowd, it was pretty scary.

(Bestfan): What can fans expect from your new album and how will it be different from your debut?

(Shiloh): You know what, it’s grown up. There’s a level of maturity about it. I felt the debut was what I was thinking when I was 14-15 years old, and now nearly being 18 I have different views on life so it’s a little more grown up than usual and little bit darker.

(Bestfan): Do you have a title for the album yet?

(Shiloh): I’ve been jotting a couple of ideas, and I don’t want to give it away but most definitely something that will make you think. Something twisted, not sick twisted but a play on words and that you have to really think about and interpret it the way you want it to be.

(Bestfan): You won the second annual Bounce FM Showdown competition in Edmonton and worked with producers Hip Joint. What was your first time in the studio like?

(Shiloh): The first time in the studio was extremely confusing. I didn’t know what to do. I just turned 14 when everything started, but at the studio it was cool and I’ve been in many different big studios since then and still to this day even small studios feels like home.

(Bestfan): Did you always have a passion for music and singing or did you have other dreams when you were younger?

(Shiloh): I had the traditional veterinarian, doctor, dentist dream but I most definitely always had a passion for music and nobody could stop me from singing. My parents would try to keep in my car seat cause I would always stand up and they’d be like, let’s play a song to keep her in the car seat and that still didn’t work. I’ve been rebellious and singing at the same time (laughs).

(Bestfan): How does someone so young and talented stay focused and disciplined?

(Shiloh): I have a lot of great people around me and remind me what I have to do. My Family, friends and management. I’m a very disorganized person and being organized is something that I have to be reminded of but I’m getting better but focus is definitely something I just snap into especially for live shows.

(Bestfan) Who are your musical influences or inspirations?

(Shiloh): I have so many and old school influences and all for different reasons; Michael Jackson for his dancing and he never lip-synced and he is always singing live. I respect it. Celine Dion, who has an incredible voice range and she’s always stayed young. She can hit herself in the chest and still somehow carry the note, which amazes me. Cher, which has sung the same song over and over again for the last 30 years and still haven’t gotten sick of them and if she has, she doesn’t show it. That’s admirable.

(Bestfan): Your personal interests are piercings and tattoos. Could you tell us where you’ve pierced and where would you like to pierce next? As well as what tattoo means most to you and do you plan on getting more and where?

(Shiloh): I recently just took out my vertical labret because it was bothering me and I’m also thinking about taking out my nose ring. I never really found a significance for piercing because I know the reason why I got Tattoos and I’ve always wondered why I got piercings. Then I realized, it was for the style. I’ve had my lip pierced three times, and my septum pierced twice. I’ve had my nose pierced and ear gauged and pierce. I do plan on getting more tattoos, I plan on finishing my sleeve which is the OM symbol with elements of fire, wind, water and air. The most meaningful tattoo would have to be the one on my chest, right in-between my collarbone. It’s a purple cancer ribbon for my grandparents. In total I have 10.

(Bestfan) Which artists would you like to perform or work with in the future?

(Shiloh): I’ve always wanted to work with P!nk because we’re very similar in music style and we would complement each other and also I would like to tour with her.

(Bestfan): Being only 17, where do you see yourself in 5 years from now?

(Shiloh): Definitely on tour, I always see myself touring but I can’t really get away from it. I want to release as many albums as I can because music comes out of my head on a daily basis so I have to put it out somewhere.

Bestfan Quick Q’s

Favorite vacation spot?

I’ve always wanted to go to Italy. It’s incredibly beautiful to me, but I loved Germany. I would have to say Italy, Germany and New Zealand are my three favorite places.

Favorite color?

Purple

Favourite song at the moment?

Yellow by Coldplay

Favorite Movie?

The Notebook. It’s always been my favorite and it’s always going to be. I cried every single time. I also like Remember Me.

Favorite junk food?

It’s gross, but Twinkies are my favorite junk food.

The newly mature Shiloh is going to turn heads by not only showing her talent in singing, but also in music writing. She stays grounded and shows great passion for her music and work and we can’t wait to hear more from her!

-End of Interview-

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The post Bestfan Exclusive: Interview with Shiloh appeared first on BestFan Blog.