Leading style guru and self-made Christchurch business woman, Angela Stone is about make her mark in the fashion and beauty world, with plans to expand her styling school Styleyou here and abroad.

With over 25 years fashion and styling experience, the former international model is fast becoming the go to fashion expert for media comment, with regular appearances in print, online, and broadcast media. Stone will also be featuring during NZ Fashion Festival coming up this month and is in talks with a major publisher about a new book publishing deal, as well as being wooed by television networks.

To top it off, Stone is in the process of expanding her successful Christchurch and Auckland styling schools Styleyou, with a major focus on growth in Auckland initially. Styleyou offers stylist training for budding stylists, or men and women who want to gain personal styling and presentation skills.

Christchurch born Stone has long been a fashion icon in the South Island through her styling business Angela Stone Consulting Ltd and Canterbury Runway. Through these ventures Stone has been the driving force behind the Christchurch fashion industry for the last decade, with events such as Lindauer Best Dressed at Addington Races, Fashion in the Fields at Riccarton Races and NZ Cup and Show Week, along with annual showcases of seasonal fashion collections.

With the recent tragic events in Christchurch, Angela says the time is right to make her move beyond her beloved home region. “I love Christchurch and like so many other Cantabrians, my heart is breaking for this city that I have called home for most of my life, but I am a fighter and I’m not going to give up my passion for styling – Auckland has been beckoning me for some time, and with the uncertainty in Christchurch, it seems like the opportunity time to take a leap with my business”, Ms Stone says.

Next month at Fashion Festival, Stone will team up with Mods Hair Paris in Ponsonby offering free presentations on how to become a fashion stylist, and she will hold workshops with Mods on the hottest looks for winter 2011, and how to wear them.

Stone says her secret seems to be in understanding how to reflect a person’s inner beauty in their outer self.

“I don’t believe in taking a look and forcing it to fit a person even if it doesn’t suit them, just because it’s en vogue,” Stone says. “It’s about getting to know a person, and helping them to see their own beauty, and then finding an individual look that truly enhances that beauty,” she says. “We are blessed with a wonderful selection of fashion to choose from in this country – there are just so many options for creating a look that is unique to each person and really brings out their personality and that’s what I strive to do.”

Once the New Zealand market has been conquered, Stone and her business advisors, including agent Andy Hayden, have their sights set on taking her brand global, growing it to encompass all aspects of lifestyles, styling and personal development – “look out Oprah and move over Martha Stewart!”, says Stone.