Kinvara Balfour

Kinvara Balfour is one of Europe’s leading fashion, culture and style experts. As a ’consultant of cool’, she advises major corporations around the world on what is happening in the world of fashion, beauty and popular culture. Her instinctive insights into what’s hot, and what’s not, and her infectious energy and charismatic style make for well-loved speaker who consistently excites and inspires her audience.

Kinvara is currently developing a fashion-based docu-series for TV in USA/UK. She presents Fashion In Conversation at the Apple Store, a series of live interviews for Apple in London/New York with global fashion superstars including Anna Wintour, Zac Posen, Mary Katrantzou, Anya Hindmarch, Natalie Massenet, Manolo Blahnik, Marchesa, Proenza Schouler, Sandy Powell, Livia Firth and Tom Ford. Directed, produced and hosted by Kinvara, the series airs globally on iTunes to over 500 million and is a hit with fans of every age.

Kinvara has worked in almost every area of the fashion industry. Having won the Lloyd's Fashion Challenge out of the whole of the UK at the age of 17, she began her career assisting the competition's judge, Vivienne Westwood, in her design studio. Next came a role as assistant to London couturier Tomasz Starzewski, and then as a fashion assistant at Condé Nast. Several years as Style Editor at the Saturday Telegraph Magazine followed, where Kinvara gained a reputation as one of Britain's most instinctive young writers.

In 2004 Kinvara was appointed London Editor for daily email phenomenon DailyCandy.com (with 4 million subscribers worldwide). A cult hit in USA, this was DailyCandy's first international edition and Kinvara launched it to mass acclaim. In 2009, DailyCandy was sold to Comcast for a reported US$125 million. Kinvara went on to advise the launch of various tech start-ups including Keynoir.com (from PROfounders and Brent Hoberman, founder of lastminute.com). In 2012, she launched a major new blog platform for Time Out under its new ownership by Oakley Capital. In 2014, Kinvara co-directed the launch new tech start-up StyleCard of which she is now Founding Partner.

Kinvara trained as an actress at Central School of Speech & Drama and has written several plays. Her first, Dazed & Abused, was staged in Edinburgh, London and New York. In 2013, she performed in the experimental stage show You Me Bum Bum Train. She is an advocate for London’s Royal Court Theatre.

Kinvara has spoken at events around the world for clients including Jimmy Choo, Pantene, Max Factor, Wella, Philips, Olay, Clairol, Gillette, Coutts, UBS, Value Retail, Citigroup, Beymen, Canon, Richemont, IKEA, BFC Fashion Forum and V&A Museum.