1) WHAT GOES BEHIND STYLING A HIGH FASHION EDITORIAL?
“From being the Fashion Director and starting Harper’s Bazaar in India, I can tell you it entails a lot. We are conceptualising and selling trends for everybody. It is for everybody who picks up the magazine and looks forward to what to wear. The responsibility is huge. We try to portray fashion with models but also let the masses know that they can wear these outfits as well. It is a lot of hard work because you are featuring and conceptualising the entire issue.”
2) HOW IS CELEBRITY STYLING DIFFERENT FROM EDITORIAL STYLING?
“They are both very different. Editorial styling is a dream world. It is what people imagine and what they want to see themselves in. While celebrity styling, we face a lot of issues because they are real people and not model sizes. Yes, there are tantrums sometimes and not. But it depends on what suits them. It is great that we have designers like Falguni Shane Peacock who can come up with magic overnight for celebrities and have dressed people like Beyonce, Jlo, Paris Hilton to everybody, In celebrity styling you are styling a real person to be larger than life. While styling for an editorial, you are styling for what a person aspires to be.”
3) WHAT IS THE PROCESS OF STYLING AN EDITORIAL?
“We come up with a concept and story board. From our story board, whether it is a warrior look or fairytale etc., we look for an apt location, make-up artist and photographer who can give justice to the vision. Then we choose models who can portray the part or Bollywood Stars who can do justice to the idea of the cover.”
4) WHAT ARE SOME TIPS THAT YOU WOULD WANT TO GIVE TO BUDDING STYLISTS THAT WANT TO MAKE A CAREER IN MAGAZINES, CELEBRITY STYLING ETC.
“Start from scratch. Don’t try and make quick gos. Learn and learn and learn. Be hungry and very hungry for it. I still go back to school and I have been in the industry for 20 years.”
5) FOR PEOPLE WHO WANT TO INVEST IN COUTURE PIECES, WHAT WOULD BE YOUR ADVICE?
“I don’t like people who just have the money and don’t know what they wear. There are a lot of people who are nouveau riche and they buy a lot of couture. They don’t know the worth of it and the detailing/ time it took to make that one piece. For me, a person who cherishes and actually has the knowledge of couture should own couture.”
6) A MYTH ABOUT BEING A CELEBRITY STYLIST YOU WANT TO BREAK?
“It is very different being a celebrity styling in India as it is to abroad. When I started, there were about 5/6 stylists in India. Now everyone wakes up and is a celebrity stylist. It is sad but it is true. Abroad, stylists know the person and they see what is best for the person. Here, there is a new stylist born everyday.”
Credits-
Photography by- Abheet Gidwani
Clothing by – Falguni Shane Peacock
Hamper Courtesy- Sova, Decleor, Moroccan Oil
Beverage Courtesy- Black Water
Calligraphy By- Dancing Pen & Co
Desserts By- Toujours
Decor- Fiorella India