Mana Arai

Mana Arai grew up just outside of Tokyo in Gunma. Fast forward a few years and this cool girl is now living in London and working with online retailer FarFetch in content translation. She’s also assisting an East London DJ and if that wasn’t enough - also working in fashion sales. We grab a few minutes with Mana in her Dalston flat to talk about music, culture and childhood dreams of being a tour conductor.

Hi Mana! Thank you for being our Miss November - what's your personal style in a sentence?

70s and Los Angeles.

You’ve been working in fashion for a while now, can you tell us a little bit more about your career up to this point?

When I first came to the UK I was a stylist assistant (but I didn’t like that much!). So I went back to Japan in my summer holidays to do a PR internship - then back to London to work in fashion sales for a Japanese brand.

Now I’m freelance, still doing fashion sales but also working with FarFetch.

When did you realise you wanted to work in fashion?

Well, I really loved fashion from a very young age but I wanted to be a tour conductor. So I was thinking of moving to Canada after graduating from high school - but then changed my mind and couldn’t quite imagine working as a tour conductor any more. So I moved to the UK to study fashion. I changed again half way through… and graduated in event management.

We hear that you’re a DJ too… ?!

Oh no no no… I’m just helping a DJ at the moment. But I’m learning and collecting vinyls - so hopefully one day.

MISS NOVEMBER 3 As someone very clued up about music, what should we be listening to right now?

Volvox and Helena Hauff - those 2 females DJ’s are AMAZING if you like dance music. It’s quite heavy but I’m always watching their boiler room set before going out - gets me in the clubbing mood!

You moved to London from Tokyo - what is about London that keeps you interested and inspired?

People and music. It’s a very different lifestyle in London, a different way of thinking and attitude. I can feel more human and free here.

Also the music scene is fun, there’s so much fresh talent and new music - always a party. People come to the UK to dance. In Japan it was more about image and only younger generations going to the club - in the UK it’s for everyone!