'I was an editor and decided to start the blog because I wanted to cover whatever I liked without restrictions from advertisers,' says Pernet, who was in Hong Kong at the end of last year as part of Joyce's 40th anniversary celebrations. She used to be fashion editor of the now defunct Joyce Magazine, as well as contributor to Hong Kong's WestEast Magazine.
She's dressed in a floor-length outfit in her usual black, with her towering black beehive covered by a veil, making her seem a head taller than everyone else. As we sit down to talk, Pernet peers out from under her cat's-eye sunglasses and her blood red lips curl in a wry smile.
Pernet gained notoriety because of her skill in 'discovering' young creative talent on her blog. Its free and edgy style offered people something raw and fresh. She not only introduced fashion designers but also artists and architects, and was a breath of fresh air to many fashion fans. Pernet's presence at shows caused a stir, because there's an aura of mystery about her. People wanted to know more and went to find out online.
'It was just kind of fun. Blogging is more work for journalists, but not more pay. The thing is you have to feed it every day. It's like a little monster. I never go to sleep without making a post - at least one,' says Pernet.
A fashion designer of 13 years, Pernet lived in New York in the late-1980s before Rudy Giuliani's clean-up made it a safer city. Her career did not progress smoothly even after she moved to Paris and turned to journalism, working for Elle.com and VogueParis.com. Then she started the project that catapulted her into the fashion limelight. Like many revolutions of the digital ilk, it also changed how the fashion industry interacted with the public.