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Mihaela Radulescu,the #emphatetic woman

Who is ALISIA ENCO? ALISIA ENCO is me. ALISIA ENCO is you.

I wanted to see around me a lot of creative women who are not afraid to express their personality through their outfits and thus I chose 5 ladies who wear the ALISIA ENCO brand and who identify themselves with the attributes of the ALISIA ENCO woman, attributes I have presented in a detailed manner in the article ”Who is the ALISIA ENCO woman? It’s me. It’s you” to inspire you to think freely and make even bolder fashion choices!

I invite you to ”discover the ALISIA ENCO woman” in a series of interviews with the 5 ladies who chose to wear the ALISIA ENCO brand, to inspire us through their professional stories and through their creative fashion choices which I will present here weekly!

In the first ”Discover the ALISIA ENCO woman!” interview we will meet Mihaela Radulescu, Innerout owner with 15 years experience in advertising (as Client Service) and branding (brand consultant at Brandient). At present she is involved with personal branding and reputation management for the company she runs, a company which mainly addresses small and medium entrepreneurship and helps them define and articulate their value, as a main promotional tool.

Mihaela Radulescu is wearing ALISIA ENCO’s white shirt with burgundy collar and cuffs from the Creative Business collection. You can find it here: http://bit.ly/Creative-Business-burgundy

Mihaela Radulescu is the #empathetic woman!

How can we build a strong personal brand through the outfits we wear?

Mihaela Radulescu: Although the personal brand means more than outfits, I must admit that the way in which we choose to dress, the visual mark our attire makes speaks volumes about who we are and also provides us with clues about our likely choices. Clothes and accessories, colors and combinations, the dosage between too much and too little reflect an image of us.

What does a creative outfit mean to you and how do you use creativity to create your business attires?

Mihaela Radulescu: First of all, a creative outfit defines a person first of all when she is relaxed and knows her value. A creative outfit does not come from someone who intends to shock, to break boundaries, to make a resounding statement about herself – it’s moreover studied effort. I call „creative” an outfit which makes a declaration of... self-value. Having a creative outfit means to go out of the clothing pattern of the field you work in. If a woman banker plays more loosely with colors, preserving at the same time an impeccable cut and quality material, this does not mean one would elude credibility and self-assurance but would enhance her personal charisma. If any kind of consultant chooses to respect the white shirt, it does not mean she has to wear it in a boring fashion with no personal mark, with no artifice of style.

Creativity means reinterpreting an item of clothing or one entire outfit to create a personal statement to tell the world that a certain color represents you, that you like a certain motif or that today you felt like putting on this particular accessory. The outfits must be our organic extension, they are what we are every day without fear of being inconsequent: the style, the personal constancy will show through all details, through everything. The best kind of creativity is the one which reflects our own personality authentically. The more we strive to copy others and to identify with other people and act according to their expectations, the sadder the result.

What are the elements a brand has to accomplish to appeal to you, someone who works in this field?

Mihaela Radulescu: First of all, he or she needs to have an authentic speech which should show he/she wants to project on the outside, that there is no gap between what he/she is and what he/she wants to appear to be. Then he/she should tell an interesting story about himself/herself, to have something  memorable and personal to say.

Tell us the story of an item of clothing from your wardrobe which had a major influence on your life or career!

Mihaela Radulescu: There is no item of clothing which changed my life or career, I think this is rare. I am not the woman of a single statement dress and I can’t be faithful to a single perfume. My wardrobe blends smart and casual, business and holidays, a walk through the park with a design presentation. They are all equally part of my life and of my day (I often have to change for a completely different activity during a day). For me wardrobe is a versatile tool which serves my personal and different goals.

Why did you choose to wear the ALISIA ENCO brand?

Mihaela Radulescu: I am vulnerable to ideas and concepts. If a business concept appeals to me, I follow it and somehow make room for it in my life. I liked the idea to break clothing brands patterns of the classic business shirt, to offer business women creative alternative around that classic shirt. I liked Alice the founder, with her exuberant energy and innate creativity. I liked the name too, it has something in it, a strong resonance which will make it famous.

What does the type of shirt chosen by you express?

Mihaela Radulescu: I have loved cherry-red for years. Or anything which derives from burgundy-red. The bright color of sleeves, collars and delicate, feminine pattern with stylized, almost invisible roses. I think this too contributes to the creativity of items of clothing come to think of it: the fact that it does not reveal itself at first, that there are details which are not explicit at fisrst, details you notice afterwards, which you discover upon careful consideration, it makes you touch it somehow and interact with it. After you get the chance to know it briefly from the presentation on the site, „the best is yet to come”: when it is delivered you receive an impeccable box in which you find packaging which rustles delicately, a letter-manifesto which is addressed to you and last but not least, a shirt from a flawless material with perfect finishes. In short, this brand does not deliver only a product – the shirt or the tie or the scarf – but an experience of the brand itself. I like brands which respect my intelligence, which cultivate my tastes beautifully and which have to offer more than in the beginning. I like brands which surprise me. Even a little.

This was the first „Discover the ALISIA ENCO!” interview, a series of interviews through which I set out to bring you closer to the ALISIA ENCO creative universe, to present women in whom I found the qualities and values on which I built this brand and inspire you to make bold choices, in business or in fashion.

Follow us to know the other ALISIA ENCO women and dare to be creative every day!

Alice Botnarenco