Sorina Fredholm

This month we’re in full party mode as we celebrate 4 years of sunglasscurator.com! During this time we had the chance to interview and write pieces on some of the most creative & interesting people in Bucharest, our hometown and inspiration city. From interior designers, to bloggers, fashion stylists & editors, IT girls, photographers and so on, all shared our passion for eyewear. Amazing Guest Curators with great style and above all: interesting stories.

For this summer 4-year anniversary edition of our Guest Curators series we focused on health and wellbeing as part of a lifestyle that we believe in. Thus we invited for a chat one of our favourite influencers, the editor in chief of W by World Class, healthy living promoter and IT girl Sorina Fredholm.

Sporting a dazzling charisma, an amazing energy and the most interesting fashion sense, Sorina is a great example of smart beauty. With an interesting background that involved signing autographs ;), she is a woman that we admire for the passion with which she lives life!

We had the pleasure to spend a great afternoon with her, strolling and exploring Bucharest; babbling along the way and gathering wisdom bits and bobs on healthy living, shopping, married life, dogs and self esteem. Without much further ado, meet Sorina Fredholm!

You’re an advocate for healthy living. What are the main ingredients for such a lifestyle?

The food you eat to be clean, whole and pretty, stay active by working out and try different sports and feed your soul with beautiful things and lot of love!

Describe how an usual day looks for you.

I wake up around 8 am, I start the day with a boost of energy from my signature green-smoothie + coffee and I get ready for the day. I either do yoga at home in the morning or work out in the gym at lunch time or late afternoon. I don’t like training in the evening, by that time I feel a bit exhausted and rather relax at home and spent time with family & friends. For lunch, if I am in the office I usually bring my food from home. For me what I eat is very important and I also love cooking, so the ideal meal is made by me. Otherwise if in town, I have lunch in one of my favourite places, never just grab anything on my way. If there is no time for lunch break, I usually have a healthy snack in my bag that will keep me full until my next meal. During the day I have meetings and work on my projects. In the afternoon I go out in the park with Kaila, the love-of-my-life lab :) and in the evening, together with my husband, we spent time either at home, watching a movie or having dinner with friends.

What is the perfect mix between sports and nutrition?

Eat healthy and stay active 90% of the time, this should be your healthy normal life, your daily routine. And the rest, go crazy :) but do it because you consciously took that decision, not based on stress or emotions. You should not regret your “cheat days” but enjoy them. This is how healthy and balanced you should live.

Sport is obviously a big part of your life. Do you have a favourite exercise routine? Are there trends in sports too?

I fell in love with sports only 10 years ago. Before I was not doing much besides being just an active person. I started with classic workouts in the gym, then I tried different fitness concepts, everything from very energetic like interval training, to more static and feminine ones, like Pilates.

Nowadays I mostly prefer yoga which I have been practising for the last 2 years and I like it so much that I am now taking a 200-hour yoga course to become an instructor and by the end of the summer I will be able to teach it. I also like to run, mainly on the treadmill, with Red Hot Chilli Peppers on very high volume. It’s a kick of energy!

All of this are trends, new styles in fitness, some live longer than others, some you try once and get you hooked, others even if they are popular they may not be for you. (e.g. Zumba for me…I would never see myself dancing like a maniac on latino :) But best is to try and decide for yourself which one fits you best. So yes, definitely, there are trends in sports.

You are the editor in chief of W by World Class. Is it a challenge to mix fashion and sports? What’s your selling proposition to convince more people to adopt a healthy lifestyle?

Elsa Schiparelli said it best: “Never fit a dress to the body but train the body to fit the dress”.

What’s your background, i.e. how did you manifest this amazing career?

I graduated PR and Communication, and in my first day of work I found out that I was accepted in a music contest, so I quit and moved to Bucharest to follow my childhood passion. For almost 2 years I sang in a band, recorded an album, had concerts, it was a very fun period! After I started working in advertising and built my own advertising agency, launched W by World Class magazine and blog, and during all this time became very interested and conscious about what I eat, how I train, how I live in general and the rest kind of came naturally.

In the age of social media we put ourselves in the spotlight 24/7. Pressures and constant comments on body image are not only the problem of celebrities anymore. What advice do you have for women and young girls nowadays?

Best would be for them to try to live a healthy and balanced lifestyle. That brings out the beauty in you, the power and the self confidence. Then they will not have to prove anything to anyone any longer because they are happy and satisfied with themselves.

What advice do you have for someone starting to live a healthier lifestyle, right here, right now?

Don’t take yourself too seriously, don’t consider this as a burden, see the fun part in it! And put realistic goals, not to get disappointed. Follow a plan, track it and ask for help if needed! Stay connected with people you look up to, get motivation and inspiration from them!

Your husband is born in Sweden and you often travel there. What can you tell us about the cultural & lifestyle differences between the North and Easter European countries?

I was very impressed first time I went to Stockholm, first by the beauty of this city, it’s breath taking and after by the cultural and lifestyle impact it had on me. Everything seems to work there, and good! And everyone seems to know what they want and what to do. And I like that security. In the beginning when I travelled, I felt more at home outside the country, because of this security. In comparison to the moment I was coming back home and all the struggle began: queues, angry taxi drivers, crazy traffic, lack of respect etc. And on the contrary, my husband likes the “colourful” lifestyle in Romania and hates the order back home. So I guess it’s good we have a bit of both, so things do not get too boring or too crazy :)

Kaila, your dog, is a true sweetheart and we love how she is an active member of the family. When and how did she enter your world?

She is a Labrador retriever and yes, she is very active and healthy! She eats salmon, vegetables and fruits and has daily training. She actually lives the same lifestyle as we do! We got her when she was nearly 3 months, initially as a Christmas gift for my mum, but after few days I knew I couldn’t give her any longer. She is the love of our life :)

How would you describe your style and what are your fashion obsessions at the moment?

My style is a mix of emotions and depends on my mood, it can be androgenic-minimalist, boho with a touch of rock’n’roll or french-chic. But now I am obsessed with 90’s grunge, I guess it’s the high-school melancholia.

Fashion is going trough a revolution, as designers speak against the high pace and exaggerated demands of the industry. Do you feel like something is changing?

In fashion always something is changing, from trends to it designers and influencers. The pace is very high and I believe very difficult to keep up with if you are not very talented and hard-working.

What place do sunglasses have in your personal wardrobe. Do they start or complete an outfit?

They complete it, especially when it’s sunny :) I don’t wear too much jewelries, so I consider the sunglasses my favourite accessories.

Tell us which are your favourite pairs of sunglasses for SS16 from our curated gallery of styles.

Too many, for sure all the ones I picked for the pictures. But I found in particularly very cool the ones from Kuboraum.

We have a challenge for you: pick a pair of sunglasses and build a scenario surrounding it. From scenery, to action, fashion & music; imagine who he/she is, what he/she would be wearing? Where would they be? What would he/she would be doing?

She is a 40 year old artist that lives in Paris, she has short blonde hair and dresses in black. She walks the streets of Marais, on a sunny day, wearing a leather jacket and a pair of Kuboraum sunglasses, in search for inspiration for her next work.

Photos: Alexandru Rosieanu for sunglasscurator.com