How to Excel as a Fashion Stylist: Article

Adele

No, so I basically, I studied design. I studied fashion and textile design and then at the end of these courses, I then decided I wanted to specialize in accessories. So I did something called a license in France, in accessories. And then when I finished that, I did a Master in Accessories and I had a specialization in Shoes. And then as soon as I finished school, I actually started working as I was still in school, and the day I finished I then started working full-time for a company, but not as an apprenticeship or an internship, just like for work. And then when I was doing that my friends were always like asking me, can you help us choose clothes? Can you come shopping with us? And I was always like, yeah, for sure. I’ll help you. And then one day someone was like, could you style a shoot for us? And I was like, well, no, that’s a hobby. You know, I go shopping with people, but that’s not a job. My job is actually being a designer and I design accessories.

And then she was like, look, if you don’t do that, then I can’t do the shoots. She was an art director. I can’t do the shoot, so you really need to help me. So I did the shoot and then the week after somebody contacted me and said, hey, the photographer of this shoot gave me your contact and I have this, and then the week after it was like really sudden. And I was like, um, why not? And then I realized, actually I can make money and I can travel the world. And I also had this thing where, you know, when you study to be a designer, you think you’re going to change the world of fashion. And you think that you’re going to design new things all the time. And then when you arrive in a fashion house and you get asked to design, you get asked to copy a lot.

And I had this thing where I was being asked to copy handbags the whole day and I thought it was just really boring. So that’s, that’s how I switched to styling. And then I started doing consulting with clients because I have this background in design and this background in styling, then the two combined kind of make a natural, it’s like a natural step to do consulting and that’s how it started. 

Muaz

Oh, perfect. So it’s, it’s great to have this validation that you’ve got this innate skill that you didn’t realize, but it looks like your friends realized you had this skill and they saw it before you. 

Adele

Yeah. And actually, when I was in fashion school, one of my teacher’s used to say, you know, you should work in a magazine when you’re finished at school, you’d be really good at that. And I was like, but what, what even do you do when you work in a magazine? You know, like styling is not a job. Like putting clothes on people is not a job because when you start like you think about styling, you think it’s only this. But then once you know the job you realize it’s so much more than just putting clothes on people, you know. 

Muaz

So, what is your process? So like when it does come to styling, cause you’re absolutely right… A lot of people to an extent they oversimplify what styling is. So in your mind, so when, when you think about styling, what does styling mean to you?

Adele

I think styling literally is to identify and find the DNA of a style. I work a lot with musicians, so I do a lot of music styling. It really is understanding the client, understanding how the client wants to feel, because also a lot of times people are like, I want to look cool and it’s like, what is looking cool? You know, it’s, it’s different. You could wear white t-shirts and feel cool and then you can also wear white t-shirt and feel so uncool. So it’s kind of like the psychological work behind where you have to listen to the client, identify their needs and how, how to make them feel good. Because at the end of the day, the clothes are here to make you feel good. And then it’s kind of like doing a research of images and research of archives to understand where you can bring that, bring that styling too. And then once you’ve done that and you’ve identified what kind of styling you want to do on the person, then you will start doing requests. And then once you do the request and you get answers about different types of clothing and different types of brands, then you evaluate and you adapt. Because obviously not every brand is loaning to every person. And then it’s also working a lot with upcoming designers and there’s also that whole like sensibility around materials and colours and touch, you know? So there’s a lot of that. 

Muaz 

So like when you get a brief, when it comes to styling a particular client, so you mentioned that you take their insights into, for example, what cool might mean? So does the brief also include things like what kind of market that they want this to be cool for? 

Adele

This is more applicable towards commercials. So for example, something like a commercial for like an e-cigarette for example, and that commercial is going to be on billboards in Asia, in China, in Russia, in Europe. Each billboard is going to have to be different because the models are going to be different. The type of colours that the clients react to, what the target that they have reacts to is different. And also some, like for example, in Asia, they like the models to be more covered, in Russia it’s going to be more girly, in Europe it’s going to be more alternative. Like, you know, each market has a different way of reacting.

So the styling needs to be adapted towards the target of the client, but also towards the countries that it’s going to be in. 

Muaz

Right. So for a country, is this something that the client comes to you with? And says because I’m from you know, Russia. So that’s why I’m expecting it to be more, more feminine or, or is this something that’s based on your own research and your own techniques?

Adele

No. So for example, if a client comes and they explained that they have billboards going in different countries, then we automatically assume that each country is going to have a, each side of the world is going to have a different vibe. 

Muaz

Right. 

Adele

They don’t necessarily come, like if the client is Russian, they don’t necessarily come and say I want it to be girly. But the reality is the Russian customer, the Russian woman customer, likes glitter a lot, they like color a lot. The Japanese customer likes things that are not so glittery and are more about like peat material, you know, there is a different way of seeing what’s cool and what’s not cool for each market. So you also know and adapt because for example, if a Russian client comes to you and they explain, we want to do this commercial, then you also have to have a look at what kind of commercials they’ve done before. Why has it worked? Why has it not worked? All of that? 

Muaz

I guess a lot of these countries are so different sometimes with how culture affects them and how they perceive culture. It’s probably quite complex to research into and determine where, where an ad is playing, what is considered appropriate for a particular country. 

Adele

Well, the good thing is that when we do an ad obviously it’s not just myself, you have like a creative agency, you have the commercial agent, you have the art director, there’s a whole team behind it. So it’s not me just thinking, oh, it should be like this, or like that, it’s a process of back and forth with the client, with the agency, with the creative and we all take part in that. And also the agency helps a lot, the creative agency, the art director, they are very clear in towards what they want in general.

Muaz

Right. So it’s not like you can come up with an idea and run with it? 

Adele

No, you can sometimes, but not always. You give your input. 

Muaz

Because they might come and say, oh, we can’t do that because you know, we’ll insult this particular group of people. So it’s about this back and forth, but sometimes you would want to take that and use it in a constructive way. So it’s this conversation that you have back and forth within the team to create the appropriate image that you feel is respectful to the culture, but also represents the client appropriately. 

Adele

Exactly. And it also has, it has to appeal to the target that they want to appeal to. And that’s the main thing. But I think there’s that whole element of how do you create a commercial inline with what a client wants with being respectful? Because obviously I live in England, I’m French. When an Asian client comes to me and there is the agency and everything, I can’t… I can’t say that I know exactly what the Asian client is waiting for and is expecting. So this is why it’s so important to work as a team, with a team that will identify and make sure that the client is happy with the final product and the final image.

Muaz 

So on the day, in which since we’re talking about ads, the actual ad is being filmed or when they’re taking photos for the particular ad. So, how does that particular period work out from a styling point of view? 

Adele

So we often have a fitting before the shoot day. So those fittings will take place to make sure that the clothes that I’ve prepped and everything that we have, it’s actually in line with what the client wants. And it’s also a way to make sure that this textile or this colour is going to work on screen, or it’s going to work with different textures that are in the background, you know, stuff like that. So the day of the shoot, we arrive, we set up everything. Models are in hair makeup. I go through all the clothes with the creative. I go through the clothes with the photographer. I go through the clothes with the clients. I start putting the clothes on the models. Then we get the model in, on set. We do a few light testing. We check that the colour works. And then we check that the art director is happy with what the model is wearing. That it works with the photographer. And then we show the picture to the client and the client gives us feedback. If the feedback is negative, then we go back into styling and we change, or we add accessories or yeah, we adjust whatever needs to be adjusted. Then we shoot, then we do that the whole day. Once the shoot day’s over, we then pack up everything, go back to my studio. We then go through all of the clothes and we start preparing what are the returns… So the returns on the clothes that have not been worn, for the stores. And also the returns in showrooms, because showrooms are loaning cloths, so we just need to pack up all of that. And then there’s a messenger who comes and picks them up. International returns, go back with DHL, FedEx, and all of that… which have a special place in hell for me, because there’s always problems. And then I have a great team who works with me and helps me do all of that. There is nothing that I do just by myself most of the time, because I have regular clients, I have regular music clients, commercial clients, fashion, and I need to, you know, divide and conquer.

You need to have a team that works with you and helps you around everything because you can’t  do everything by yourself. 

Muaz

Right. So based on what you’ve said, it sounds like there’s quite a large skill set that needed to be successful as a stylist and as a director. So if you were to look back, are there particular skills that you think are key in this particular role, or even if you think about if someone was almost like starting out… So if you were talking to yourself, when you were appearing at your friend’s photoshoot, as a stylist, you know, what advice would you give to Adele? 

Adele

You know, it’s funny because the advice that I would give myself 12 years ago is very different to the advice that I would give to someone who starts now because 12 years ago, when I started, and also when I started as a designer, there was this kind of hierarchy where, you know, your boss is your boss. And when you start, you need to learn and we used to work a lot for free and we used to work endless hours and that was normal. And now it’s, it’s very different, you know, like they’re rules that have been put in place. People don’t work for free like that anymore. And there’s a lot more of regulations and stuff like that.

My first shoot, when I showed up, I already showed up. I was supposed to shoot 4 looks, and I showed up with 30 looks. And I still have this thing where I always want to have loads of options. And that’s why clients book me there. They always say she has a lot of options. So she always has something that works. And that’s like a joke with my assistant, is always like, I think we’re going to need more options. The advice that I would give someone who starts now is first of all, it’s not because you have a big Instagram following that you’re going to be a killer stylist. Because between 12 years ago, and now social media has developed a lot. And people often think that you don’t need the experience and that you can do a great job. So I think my advice would be, work a lot. Don’t work so much on your followers, work on working, absorb all of the information and all of the help that you can get, do all the internships that you can get, be silent. What, when I say be silent, don’t take shit, but just like, you know, be on the jobs and observe everything around you. Don’t just observe the stylist, observe everything. That’s what I mean, when I say be silent, observe and you know, imprint. I don’t know how you say, like absorb, absorb everything.

Exactly. Don’t believe what you see on social media. That’s not real life and just work your ass off. Don’t look at the hours and take every opportunity that you can take. I think that would be my advice, but don’t take shit. 

Muaz

So the secret is to work very hard.

Adele

Sometimes people are like, oh, well you are now here because of luck. And I’m like, no, I’m not here because of luck. I’m here because I worked so hard. I think people sometimes assume, you know, even someone like, I don’t know if you know this blogger called Chiara Ferragni? 

Muaz

Right. I have heard. Yeah. 

Adele

So she’s, I think she’s the biggest blogger in the world.

I worked with her a few years ago and we were talking and you know, she turned into a proper CEO and a business woman, and people assume that it’s just because she was posting looks on herself, of herself on Pinterest at the time and Polyvore, and it’s like, this woman worked so hard and then she created her clothing brand and this and that. And it’s like, it’s work. It’s not luck. There is an area of luck as you say, but the luck is 5%. The work is 95%. And then surround yourself with positive attitude and positive people and be patient. 

Muaz

Absolutely. So how do you think, so I guess this is quite relevant to these days in, in days of like social distancing, assume the role of a stylist has probably needed to adapt as well? From your point of view, what has the impact been? 

Adele

So the immediate impact that I’ve seen is I used to do a lot of styling for concerts and tours, and that is gone. And the styling that we now do for TVs or Birch or concerts are very different. What has changed a lot as well is before, you know, people were like, I want to look like a freaking pop star and I want to look crazy. I want to do crazy looks, like, I mean, we missed out on all of the summer festivals, for example, doing the looks for the festivals is always the funniest. Like you do all the glitters and you know, those crazy things for Glastonbury and stuff like that. And that, that is gone. 

But then… there is a lot of, kind of like loungewear that has emerged from that. So everybody wants to look relaxed, like they’re dressing themselves at home. So I would say like, in terms of shopping, for example, loungewear has like, I think it’s gone up by like 56% or something like that. People want to be more comfortable. People want to be more natural, a lot more natural.  I worked on a job lately and there was this study about generation Z and they were showing that like, almost half of generation Z will prep a look up to a week in advance for an event. And they will like research a look and like, you know, they kind of have, Instagram is kind of like a general mood board for their life in general. That was kind of like your online life, and then lock down has kind of like pushed real life into online. So the online and the offline are now very blurry and it’s the same for styling. You know, like everyday styling is mixed with performance styling. It’s just a different way of seeing everything.

But in general, you know, before you were offline, when you were home and now you’re home and you’re online, Yeah, that’s the difference.

You can find Adele online at:

• Website: www.adelecany.com
• Instagram: @adelecany

You can listen to the whole interview podcast over on our podcast page or by clicking here at Being a Stylist.