Amber and Her Flash Trash

I get to meet loads of extremely talented and successful people through wielding my camera, but never have I met someone so young and accomplished as Miss Amber Atherton (she is 19) who I met up with last week at Albion Caff in Shoreditch. Over orange juice (her) and latte (me) we talked about her modelling career (she is signed with Premier Model Management but has been modelling since she was littlie), her studies (she is in her first year of a three year Fashion Management degree at London College of fashion), her role as Style Editor at Beyond Black Magazine, her recent stint interning at Hermes and her upcoming internship with Vogue UK in the fashion features department. Oh yes, and then there is the possibility of some tv presenting, and her successful online jewellery boutique: My Flash Trash. Phew! You exhausted yet?

The daughter of an airline executive (her dad) and an entrepreneur (her mama), Hong-Kong born Amber started her boutique while she was still at boarding school, buying and selling pieces of jewellery she had sourced from around the world. In 2008 she established My Flash Trash which sells unique, handmade jewellery which Amber hunts down on her travels and through countless hours spent on the internet. She brought along two of her favourite pieces for our little catch-up: the pretty perspex pink and orange necklace (above) from Lua Lua, and the vertebrado necklace from Spanish designer, Ines Susaeta (bottom collage on top of the novel by E.M Forster, currently her favourite author). Whoops, and the pretty bangles are from Heirs & Graces (bottom collage top right).
Amber loves jewellery, as you would expect, and adores a good handbag and shoe: Chanel and Christian Louboutin being key words here! She mixes those investment pieces with vintage and high street buys. I was salivating over her Chanel tote when Amber informed me that she also had a beloved black 2.55 which got stolen recently. She was remarkably okay about it...... I would still be utterly miserable (particularly as I like to cart my whole life around in my handbag).

Amber is incredibly articulate and focused but also very, very sweet and funny. It is impossible not to like her and I just know that she is destined for success in whatever path she chooses. Plus she took me to Shoreditch House after coffee so she gets an extra scooby snack from me :)

Love, love, love that Yves Saint Laurent purse: