A passion for fashion and music

[attach]1085[/attach]Coko Galore isn’t afraid of a little colour.

In a city where shades of black and grey garments are fashion staples, the indie singer/songwriter’s rainbow-hued wardrobe adds a touch of fantasy to all the blandness.

It’s as if she lives in brightly coloured world of girly dresses and boyish Converse sneakers.

“Yeah, I get looked at a lot,” the 28-year-old says over coffee at the Green Beanery recently. “People can look all they want.”

And they do. More than a few java junkies eye Galore’s fashion choices up and down.

But does she care?

No.

That confidence is evident on Galore’s January release of her debut album.

Titled, I Am the Show, the record features a variety of catchy, electronic and pop tunes based on self-expression and the ills of the music industry.

Her single, “Those Girls”, which was released to Canadian radio stations this fall, explores the theme of not having to be perfect to fit in and feel good about yourself.

“It’s ok to dress up and to like clothes and pretty things, but it doesn’t mean that’s who you are,” says Galore, who is clad in one of her favourite purple dresses, coordinating Converse sneakers, white sunglasses and hot pink fishnets on one of her hands.

“Those Girls is really about myself, and comparing myself to tall, thin girls and the fact that I’m not like that, and it’s ok.”

Still, her fashion doesn’t define who she is.

Galore, whose real name is Corinne Brou, is aware the photographs in such fashion bibles as Vogue and Elle are airbrushed.

And that the models, who strut down fashion runways are usually unattainably thin.

The midtowner refuses to follow trends, instead choosing to wear what looks good on her body type and what feels comfortable.

Galore also chose to include songs about the cattiness and backstabbing she says she witnessed in the music industry during the two-year recording I Am the Show.

“We’re all just starting out so we should be helping each other out but it wasn’t like that,” says Galore, whose says the bitchiness and power trips she experienced didn’t detract her from her love of music.

The fact that she’s older than most who are starting out in the music industry also grounds her, Galore says.

She feels she’s taken more time to experience life.

“I don’t see why there isn’t room for me (in the industry),” says Galore, who supports her singing career with jobs teaching English and web editing. “I don’t need to have a million fans.

“One hundred thousand would be fine.”