Kristen Shirley

Kristen is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of La Patiala. She is a luxury expert specializing in travel, fine food, wine and spirits, watches, and jewelry. Before founding La Patiala, Kristen was the Luxury Editorial Director at Elite Traveler magazine and spent six years in the fashion department of ELLE magazine. She is a freelance writer, editor, and stylist for some of the world’s top publications, including Forbes.com, Bloomberg Businessweek, Departures, Robb Report, Nobleman, Business Insider, Watchonista, and World of Fine Wine. In the course of her career, Kristen has styled fashion shoots, written countless features, and conducted interviews with designers, chefs, winemakers, master distillers, and hoteliers, as well as fashion, watch, jewelry, and travel executives. Kristen holds the Applied Jewelry Professional certificate from the Gemological Institution of America and earned the Level Two Award in Wine and Spirits with distinction and the Level Three Award in Wine with distinction from the Wine and Spirit Education Trust. Kristen studied at international high schools outside of Frankfurt and London before graduating from Georgetown University with a bachelor of arts in French. During university, she studied abroad in Paris, attended classes at Université Sorbonne Nouvelle, and learned Italian and Spanish. When she isn’t traveling the world for a feature, her favorite place to be is on a beach with a glass of Champagne.