Yes it’s a cliché but when Sita Abellán walks into a room people’s heads really do turn. The statuesque twenty-three year old Spanish beauty, with her now iconic electric blue hair, is part of the hyphenated generation. Meaning that she is a model, a DJ and now, with the capsule clothing line she presented during New York Fashion Week in collaboration with MISBHV, she is also a fashion designer.
Fashion has long been a powerful force in Abellán life. Let’s not forget that it is her eccentric style of dress that got her Tumblr account noticed in the first place when she was still a teenager. And her unique look is what landed her representation from the famed Wilhelmina modeling agency. She has already walked the catwalk for Jeremy Scott and been the face of Dolce & Gabbana. It was also thanks to social media that Rihanna first spotted her and asked Abellán to become part of her kidnapping crew in the video for her infamous “Bitch Better Have My Money” music video.

The Rihanna stamp of approval catapulted Abellán career into the stratosphere. But when you look on her Instagram feed, where she counts over 2oo thousand followers, she describes herself as a techno princess rather than a model (or a designer, or actress). The proclamation clearly shows where her heart is – music.

Unlike other models turned DJs, Abellán was behind the turntable spinning music well before she was walking the runway for leading fashion houses. For her music will always come first. But she sees fashion designing as being very similar to mixing a great beat. It is the visual expression of who she is on the inside, just like music can be an auditory manifestation of her character.

So what does Sita’s music and fashion say about her? Antidote found out.

Antidote : How did this capsule collection with MISBHV happen?
Sita Abellán : Well, I always wanted to design clothing that really represented who I am and I just felt this was a really good time to finally do it. I have been following the MISBHV brand for a few years now and I ended up becoming friends with them [designers Natalia and Kate]. So we talked about it for a while and then we finally just decided to do it.

What was your starting point for this collaboration?
I really was inspired by my trip to Japan last year. I was living there all summer and there were these motorcycle gangs that I would see around. I really loved them and how they looked. So I had this idea to connect to that part of the Japanese culture and how sexy it is to see girls riding motorcycles. So I wanted the girls who wear these pieces to look really sexy. But I also wanted the girls to look powerful and strong.

How was it designing clothing, compared to working as a DJ or modeling?
I have loved fashion since I was a kid and I was always dressing myself up, even when I was very young. It’s true that I like to do styling and before I felt more comfortable doing that then designing. For me it was easier as I have been sort of doing that, on myself, all my life. But in the last few years I had this really strong feeling that I wanted to design something that truly represented me. That people would see it and say “Ok, yeah that is Sita”.

You titled this first capsule collection “Pain”. What was the thinking behind that?
Sita: Like I said this collection is all about my trip in Japan. And it wasn’t painful exactly, but I had a really hard time while I was living there. I had a bit of a culture shock when I first got to the country. But at the same time it was really an eye opening experience. So for me pain is not really about the physical feeling. Its kind of like two faces of a coin. Pain can be both a good thing and a bad thing. For me it represents my experience there and how I felt at that time. The trip really made me grow up. Afterwards I felt more like an adult. I had to go through the pain, the discomfort of being in an unfamiliar place, and that experience really made me mature as a person.

Talking about growing up and becoming an adult, I have to ask…where did you get your flair for dressing? You mentioned you have been creating your own style since you were very young. So I am wondering who had a big influence on early on?
Well my mom always loved fashion. But my style, honestly I don’t know where I got it. Its just comes from inside of me I think. When I was a kid I was always going to shops and buying my own clothing and putting together outfits. I was also always grabbing things out of my mom’s wardrobe –because she had great clothes – and putting together crazy looks and then taking photos of myself.
Speaking of which, when did you decided to start posting those photos online to show off your unique style?
I started with Tumblr and Facebook when I was about 16 years old. And I would take my pictures with a professional camera. Not my phone. I was always uploading all of my crazy photos onto my Tumblr account. I come from a little town in the south of Spain and at first my family had a hard time understanding what I was doing, and who I was because the way I was dressing and stuff was pretty crazy compared to everyone else. But then they realized that this is just who I am, and they accepted me and loved me.

Now like it or not you are part of that whole fashion model/DJ phenomenon that has models spinning music at events and looking good. Lots of people thing that model/DJs are just party window dressing. But you, in fact, were DJing well before you ever started modeling.
Yes that’s true. I have loved working with music all my life. My dream gig would be to play at the club Berghain in Berlin. My favorite DJs in the world, Ben Klock and Marcel Dettman, play there and when I went there, well… it’s just a crazy club.

Your big break came when, out of the blue, Rihanna contacted you after discovering your Instagram account and asked you to be her “partner in crime” in her “Bitch, Better Have My Money” music video. What was that like?
I couldn’t believe it when my agent told me that she wanted me for her video. It was a totally amazing experience. Rihanna is a super nice person. But she is also a bad ass – in a good way. I had a great experience shooting the video, it was really almost a like a short film. And honestly, I would love to act again.

When you are not teaming up with Rihanna, traveling the world to DJ or creating a clothing collection, what do you do to relax ?
Honestly I just like to go home to Spain and be with my family and friends. There is nothing better then being home for that.

I know you are a DJ, but I have to ask, what is your go to song when you sing Karaoke?
I don’t sing so well, but the last time I did Karaoke the song I really loved singing was that one, I forget the name, with the lyrics that say “don’t, don’t you want me, you know I can’t believe you when you say that you don’t need me”. For some reason that song always reminds me of New York. Last year, when I came to New York for the first time my friends and I went to Karaoke together and we sang that song and it sort of became the theme song for my trip and now is forever connected to my memories of this city. [Editor’s Note : The song is “Don’t You Want Me by The Human League]

Let’s talk about style a bit. You, of course, have a unique style. But who’s style do you look up to and admire?
Right now I really love Marilyn Manson and Diane Pernet. I honestly don’t have a style icon. I just really like people who have a strong attitude and personality. That is what inspires me. That is why I like both of them, because they are really original.

So you have this capsule collection with MISBHV coming out, but what is the next big project you are working on?
Next week I am starting a three month American tour. I am going to be traveling all across North American. I think I am going to like 15 different cities. I will be touring with Destructo. I am also working on an album and producing music right now. Its going a little slowly because I have so much other work going on, but I’ll figure out a way to get it done by the start of next year.

And one last random question. What is the emoji you use the most?
The heart. I use the heart all the time. The pink heart or the blue heart but not the red one. I also really like the red smiling devil.