There are about four million boring fashion blogs, most are retarded, done from emailed press releases and blog surfing. They’re full of the celeb stuff you’d find on Perez Hilton, rants about some £2000 shoes, and a load of bum-licking copy about some designers you’ve never heard of and definitely will never care about. Odds are, if the blog’s not from New York, Paris or Milan, said writer will also be deluded about the global significance of whichever designer it is. However, Diane Pernet’s A Shaded View of Fashion is very different, it’s a crazed encyclopedia of fashion. Diane travels the world’s fashion junkets picking up on just about anything fashion related and just about every half-decent fashion designer she can find, posting endlessly about her discoveries. It’s an unhinged Rubik’s cube of trends presented to you by a woman who lives beneath a veil. We had a chat.

Diane, Gareth Pugh, and boyfriend - looking normal

VICE: Hi. So, you’ve got a massive blog, but beyond that, your glasses, and the thing on your head you always wear, people still know jack-all about you. But everyone is curious.

Diane Pernet: My look has evolved, I’ve worn black since the late Seventies, it’s a personal statement. I write, I travel, consult and make films. I edit my blog, A Shaded View on Fashion aka ASVOF. I make films, and I am the co-editor in chief for ZOO Magazine. ASVOFF my fashion film festival has travelled all around the world from Riga to Tokyo, Seoul to Mexico City, London, Rome and to the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.

Didn’t you used to have a label in New York or something?

I had my own label, under my own name for 13 years. Then I moved to Paris, designed costumes for a few films, worked as an assistant producer on the Canadian Broadcasting Company’s Fashion Files, was a fashion editor for four and a half years for Hong Kong’s Joyce Magazine before it folded after China took over. Then I wrote a style column for Elle.com called Dr. Diane, moved to Vogueparis.com for about three years and then opened my own blog in 2005 before I started the film festival.

Why did you leave NYC?

I left at the end of 1990 because the city had basically gone to hell. It was like Blade Runner. AIDS had killed off more than half my neighborhood, the homeless were taking over the streets, crack, drugs and crime were epic and basically I was living to leave, so finally I decided to move to Paris. It took me four years to eventually move. New York was my life and it was where I had my business, but I have no regrets.

When and why did you start a Shaded View of Fashion?

I launched A Shaded View on Fashion to report on things that I found interesting around the world. The world is always what has interested me, not just New York, Paris, London, Milan but all over the planet. I’m on a mission to find that creativity and promote it to inspire and to be inspired at the same time.

Diane and Taz Arnold

Was it hard at the start?

When I started my blog I did something called life blogging which involved a Nokia and life blogging software. I would report from wherever I was instantly posting it to my site. After a few years of doing that and super high phone bills, I stopped. I thought it was a bit of a gimmick. I use my digital camera now and post from my computer.

Diane and bondage-obsessed art star Arākī

What’s the most fun time you’ve had with A Shaded View of Fashion?

Probably the best was a month ago when I went to Tokyo and met Arākī and he took me and my friend Akiko to his favorite karaoke bar; maximum capacity - 15 people. A lot of exciting things are happening outside of the major capitals: Artists and designers in Tokyo, Sao Paulo, Mexico City, Korea, Romania, Thailand, Rome, things are happening everywhere. I cover as much as I can. Next month I’ll go to Poland, I’ve never been there.

Thanks very much, keep travelling, bye

DARYOUSH HAJ-NAJAFI