What and who is the Anya Collective?

Welcome to community personal shopping: The Anya Collective explained

Hello! My name is Oksana, the founder and sole operator of this new venture. I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself and the purpose of this community. This marks the beginning of a new chapter for me and my career as I venture into self-employment for the second time and I couldn't be more excited.

Let's start off by asking this - who the heck is Anya? To answer that, I need to step back and explain that I have been working in and around fashion and retail for over 12 years. I started my career as a bra fitter when I was in high school, but I had no idea that it would ignite a passion for helping women for the rest of my life. I spent years in fitting rooms teaching women double my age the power of a well-fitting bra. They say 80% of women are wearing the wrong size, and I'm here to tell you that statistic is true. It became clear to me that most women say they hate bras, but the truth is they hate wearing the wrong bra. Just like women say they hate shopping, but the truth is they hate shopping for the wrong things. There is a lot of power in learning how to dress yourself in things that make you feel good, but sometimes it's hard to figure out what those things are.

The next decade of my life would be dedicated to learning the ins and outs of the luxury industry and helping women shop. I thought I already loved fashion, but diving into luxury retail turned my love into a deep appreciation and fascination for this magical world. To me, the ability to take raw fabric and finesse it into a garment that makes you feel like you can take over the world is quite simply magical. My heart literally skips a beat when I see pink satin Louboutins and feather-trimmed dresses. I found myself relating to Carrie Bradshaw on a spiritual level, and I have bought shoes before food more than once.

Sharing my own love for clothing and sourcing items for others became a big part of my life, whether I was making money from it or not. I found myself sourcing for friends and acquaintances, simply because I love spreading the joy of fashion. I became the fashion fairy godmother out of pure passion, here to make your fashion wishes come true.

This brings us to Anya. She is a fairy queen who has appeared in several folklore tales over the years, known to have long blonde hair and to represent resilience and powerful women. I wanted this community to be bigger than me and something that can grow to represent many of you with a range of shapes and sizes. Anya is a figurative representation of many faces that will appear to give you honest and impactful guidance that will hopefully make your wishes come true. But it all starts with me, the original fairy godmother.

How does this work?

There are many options out there for personal shopping, live shopping, re-sellers, and influencers. Infact, there are so many options it can be completely overwhelming. And this is in addition to the hundreds of brands to choose from and mass sponsored content we are served every day. But what do all of these things have in common? They have a biased opinion because they want you to buy what they are selling. Everything you see is sponsored or promoted to some capacity, because people have to make money.

Now imagine your group chat with your closest friends or trusted acquaintances that you send every purchase you're considering. This is the "do I need this?" chat where you can vet your impulses and get validation you're spending money wisely. This is where you go to get unfiltered and brutally honest opinions.

What I would like to offer is somewhere in the middle of these two options. I am going to do the dirty work for you. I am going to sift through all the noise and test anything and everything so you don't have to waste your money. This is a safe space where you can shop, ask questions, and more. I am going to do this with no sponsored content and no service fees. Instead, this is going to be a monthly subscription to gain access to this community. I like to think of this as crowdfunding personal shopping, so you can get access to tried and tested advice served to an audience, instead of one on one interactions. This is personal shopping with friends.

My promise to you is every opinion and recommendation I share will be 100% honest, with no other motive. Operating with only a subscription fee allows me to think and shop freely with no ties to any brand or payment I have to rely on. It gives you, the community, the power instead.

Thank You

If you have made it this far, thank you. Thank you for taking the time and interest in learning about me and the vision I have. I am excited to see where this journey will take me and I hope you will join me.