Leandra Medine on Superga, Raw Food and Fashion Bloggers

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"This is my third time in Los Angeles—ever," Leandra Medine explains. "My trips have only been three or less days, so I've not had an opportunity to penetrate what real LA is like." Last week, the NY-based mastermind behind the wildly successful blog and persona, The Man Repeller, was in town to launch her highly-anticipated collaboration with Italian footwear label Superga, available now at Fred Segal SaMo's Madison shop.

We popped by to catch up with the very-flexible Medine (seriously, check out that leg lift!), who was sporting a bag by Céline, a festive top by Chloé and extremely man-repelling yet fashion-world-attracting shorts by Sally LaPointe. During our quick convo she revealed her love of white velvet, approval of LA's health food focus and why 'blogger' shouldn't be a dirty word.

Where do you hang when you're in town?
"I've stayed a the Chateau Marmont; I felt very writerly there. I also went to a place called Eveleigh once. Tonight, I'm going to a raw restaurant in West Hollywood. From what I understand, raw food is very accessible in LA and I really appreciate that. I'm semi-raw, actually—it's a health thing. I'm not trying to lose weight. Every other week I do a three-day raw food cleanse. I just want my colon to feel good, you know?

A happy colon is essential. Have you done any shopping here?
"Nope, but I'm really looking forward to shopping at Fred Segal after this event. I hear there's a nice plethora of Isabel Marant and Golden Goose, so I'm definitely going to take a look at that."

You're still on the trendy Isabel Marant train?
"Of course. It's the same policy that I have with being called a fashion blogger. People say to me 'You know, you're not really a blogger anymore because your site is more of a full-functioning site and you have people working for you.' I'm like, 'No, I'm a fashion blogger.' I own the term, because if I don't own the term then somebody else will and it's going to stigmatize the term when ultimately fashion bloggers are the ones who actually work really, really hard. There's nothing wrong with being called one because that's what we're doing, and it's great."

Your support must mean a lot to aspiring fashion bloggers out there.
"I'd like to think so. These are exciting times. It's interesting and funny because it's become so cool to make fun of fashion blogs, but if the people that are really, really good at their craft—the Tavi Gevinsons, Emily Weisses and Scott Schumans of the world—would just own the trade, the stigma would no longer stay married to the term, you know?"

Right on. Switching gears to the collab, are you a longtime Superga fan?
"Definitely. This collaboration came into existence because someone from the Steven Madden side emailed me about a year and a half ago just thanking me for the unsolicited support of Superga. I was like, 'We should work together!' We had a meeting after that and sort of rattled off a few ideas that I had, and here we are. I'm very, very happy with the outcome and hope that we can do this seasonally."

What's your very favorite style from the collection?
"Of course it's the style that nobody bought, which I'm wearing now. I made them in white velvet. I wanted them with gold hardware, but nobody wanted them, so they don't exist. I don't understand it."

Maybe people are afraid of getting white shoes dirty?
"I love getting white shoes dirty! Those are the marks of experience, you know? The spoils of war!"

The Man Repeller x Superga collection ranges from $125-$160 and is available now at Fred Segal Madison. It will be available at Bloomingdales, Neiman Marcus online, Nordstrom online, Shopbop and Superga-USA.com on August 25th.
· Man Repeller [Official Site]
· Leandra Medine's Superga Kicks Come With Man Repeller Fixin's [Racked]
· The Olsens Tap LA's Jessica de Ruiter For Superga Campaign [Racked]