Audrey Kitching

Audrey Lynn Kitching (born July 26, 1985) is an American fashion blogger, model, and fashion designer. Known for her "pink hair and Lisa Frank vibe," Kitching has been declared simultaneously a "fashion forward female" and "fashion disaster" by Cosmopolitan, an "It Kid" and "goddess" by Nylon, a "weekend role model" by Glamour, "one of the rising crop of Hollywood Internet stars taking the underground by storm" by the Los Angeles Times, "this generation's new mogul prototype" by Karmaloop, a "girl boss" and "American social media icon" by Indie Magazine, and "one of the original Internet icons" by Bullett Magazine. Kitching has been profiled by Women's Wear Daily ,  Nylon, and other fashion publications. As of December 9, 2015, she has amassed nearly 550,000 followers on all of her social networks combined. Kitching is the owner and founder of an online New Age store called Crystal Cactus. In February 2019, she became the centre of controversy when The Daily Dot detailed allegations of emotional abuse and fraud directed towards Kitching by a former employee.

Modeling

Kitching was born in Collingswood, New Jersey. She began  modeling at 14, after being discovered at a hair salon, initially appearing in newspaper ads. After obtaining a high school GED, she  modeled for aspiring photographer friends, and started her blogging career by posting the images online. She often works as not only  model, but also art director for her photo shoots. In a Metro-mix profile of "Style Why-Cons," she is credited with influencing the fashion industry and altering standards of beauty; she has also been credited by the LA Times as influencing the zeitgeist of fashion.

She has been a spokesmodel for designer Jared Gold, the British shoe company Irregular Choice, the Italian shoe brand Kerol D, and Kohl's Vera Wang.  She has been featured in editorials in countries  from Scandinavia to Japan; she shoots 4+ editorials per month. Kitching (who is mostly vegan, except for honey) has appeared in a national Peta2 "Fur Is Dead" campaign, and one of its public service announcement against animal testing in the personal care products industry. In 2013, she was selected to be Karmaloop's Miss KL of the Month, and in April 2014 she appeared in a campaign for a Ray Ban's collection, which was featured by Elle Magazine. She has also appeared in Vogue Italia.

Blogging

Kitching was a style editor for SpinMedia's now-defunct social media and pop culture website Buzznet, working with the company for over 6 years since they first took notice of her LiveJournal blog in 2006. As of December 2015, she has over 530,000 followers on all of her social networks combined. Her Buzznet page received 3 million page views monthly, in addition to her Facebook which has garnered 170,000 likes, her Instagram which has 256,000 followers, and her Twitter which has 109,000. Often collaborating with brands through her blog, she was chosen by JC Penney as one of five "haulers" to receive $1,000 of merchandise in exchange for blog promotion. In October 2012, her Instagram page was named as a favorite of Milkstudios, who declared that "Some girls look good on the internet, and some girls make the internet look good - Audrey is the latter." On February 22, 2013, she spoke for Buzzmedia at Social Media Week, and in April 2014 she was featured on xoJane as a part of their xoJane Makeunder series.

Design
Kitching has helmed and designed several clothing lines and collections, including her own organic, fair trade luxury fashion brand called LUNA, which was inspired by astrology, positive thinking, ancient ideologies, and magic. She collaborated with Milan-based footwear company Kerol D Milano in 2014, designing a 12-piece vegan capsule footwear collection  featured in Elle Italia.

In 2010, Kitching was one of the designers chosen to work with H&M for Designers Against AIDS. Coco de Coeur, Kitching's former clothing line, was described by Nylon as "astonishing," earning comparisons to designs by Meadham Kirchhoff and Jeremy Scott.

Energy healing and crystal work
Kitching, the founder and CEO of Crystal Cactus, is a new age practitioner who does astrology reports, energy healing, crystal work, and readings for others. In early 2013, Kitching created Crystal Cactus, a line of new age crystal pendant jewelry, holistic spa treatments, and gifts sold in Urban Outfitters. Kitching also performs aura clearings and chakra and karma balancing.

Crystal Cactus and Crystal Cactus products have been spotlighted by Vogue.com, Allure.com, Nylon.com, Refinery29, Cosmopolitan, Urban Outfitters' Space 1520, who referred to her as a "21st century artist, mystic and muse," and Ladygunn Magazine, which called her an "all-around creative and ethereal social media maven" who is spreading positive energy through her Crystal Cactus shop. Nicola Formichetti's brand Nicopanda has also featured her crystals and energy healing. Crystal Cactus has been listed as one of the "8 Best Places On The Internet For Witches".

Miscellaneous

Kitching was featured in a Diesel Twitter campaign in 2015 and spotlighted by MTV Canada in 2014. She appeared as herself in 2008's movie version of Forever Plaid, and from May through August 2008, she was featured in artist Glenn Kaino's Uberstars exhibit at The Andy Warhol Museum, a 21st-century take on Andy Warhol's Superstars, alongside designer Rami Kashou, photographer Dirk Mai, journalist Rose Apodaca, writer/actor and socialite Clint Catalyst, and internet celebrity Cory Kennedy. In March, 2009, she appeared on the reality television series Germany's Next Topmodel in an episode featuring designer Jared Gold along with Clint Catalyst & artist Jessicka. Kitching is also an Aveda-trained hair stylist.

References

Category:1985 births
Category:Female models from New Jersey
Category:American fashion designers
Category:American women writers
Category:American bloggers
Category:Writers from Philadelphia
Category:American fashion journalists
Category:Fashion websites
Category:Living people
Category:American women journalists
Category:American women bloggers
Category:Journalists from Pennsylvania
Category:Artists from Philadelphia
Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers