Sorry to everyone for the incredibly long hiatus! My original goal was to really invest some time into blogging at the start of the year, unfortunately getting pretty sick and starting my winter semester had made it a little difficult.
To start off a fresh year for TheMavric.com. I'm going to start with an interview with Irene De Santis an amazing stylist from Milan that has done exceptional work for both print and online editorials. If you often peruse the internet for fashion inspiration you would have likely seen her work. Some of my favorites are on The Ones 2 Watch, here and here.
Her print work can be seen in Prim Magazine,
Supplementaire Magazine (London),
and international magazines including Vanity
Teen, Deluxxdigital, and the
Italian versions of Edizioni PEM,
Vanity Fair and
WU.
I was nervous when she first contacted me, my first question is why would she want to talk to me? She has an amazing career and why would she want to talk to a stylist from Calgary? But she was crazy nice and had seen my previous posts about loving her editorials. So my next logical step was to ask for an interview! (....well that was more the second, because I would have much rather asked to assist her on shoots, but the Calgary --> Milan travel glitch got in the way)
How did you become a stylist?
I've always wondered, while looking through
fashion magazines who was doing what in a photo. I was always more impressed by
a style, a combination, and the sense of completeness. One day, I was reading a
newspaper and I saw an insertion about a fashion school in Milan and about
fashion stylists, so that’s how I understood what a fashion stylist was and how
they had a collaboration with the photographer to realize a shoot in a magazine.
I called the fashion school and after a competition, I was awarded a
scholarship and came to Milan to study fashion.
What is your favourite thing about being a
professional stylist?
Being a stylist is a hard job, and to be a
professional stylist means to have a strong personality, relate to people that
you want to work with and know who you are, it is “world difficil” where there
is a lot of competition.
But, I have passion, enthusiasm, and even if
it you have to talk with many people you don’t know, having to run from
one place to another, and to work a lot, I love being a stylist. I love creating
outfits for the right mood, and when I see the finished work from the
photographers I am very happy... I say wow! I love the image!
It’s not about the clothing itself, but also
it is important to understand what is beautiful to be photographed,
this is a fashion stylist, because a “normal person” buys to wear,
but the fashion stylist is the fashion and doing it for fashion, it is
different, intuition is very important as a stylist. Something that is also
great about being a stylist is to see catwalks, to meet models and know their
personalities.
Where do you find your inspiration?
I take inspiration from music and cinema. I
love the punk sensibility of the 80’s, suits from the 70’s, the elegance of
30’s and 40’s, and I love black and white and the dark style from the Middle
Ages. Anyway, I also take inspiration from my own life, what makes me tick at the moment;
what is/was around me. Things like joy and pain, sensible and strong, innocent
and sensual, and most of all beautiful, it’s what can spark my imagination. I
love birds and nature, but I am also especially attracted to the personalities
of artists and people, musicians like Depeche Mode, Massive Attack, Bryan
Ferry, Inxs. I just love contrasts in the photography, but I love to be linear
and I want my work to be clean, strong, and elegant.
What is something you always have to have on
a shoot?
In my shoot there is always leather as
material, and rock details. In general every shoot must always have useful things like;
scissors, iron, and pliers. But it is important to always be safe and sure
about everything.
What was the most difficult shoot you have
worked on?
For me it was difficult to work for Vanity Fair magazine, because it was the first time I had the possibility to work
with a big production, big photographer, big studio, and many models. The
timing is different, there is a wardrobe where you can create looks, and there
are so many dresses, shoes, and accessories to choose from. I had to work
closely with the clients and the fashion director because some pieces had to be
put into the shoot.
So it is important to have strong personality.
You can be very good at creating outfits, but it is not that simple, you also
have to manage all the people that are in the studio. For me it was a great and
beautiful experience, and I learned a lot.
How do you choose the people you work with?
I choose the people that have the same style
as me and have similar personality to me, an easy personality, a nice person,
and often I choose people according to my intuition.
What are 5 style pieces you would love to
have for 2013?
A black coat from Victor & Rolf, a Balmain dress, something
in leather from Ann Demeleumester, shoes from Saint Laurent, and a Gautier suit. And because 5 is never enough for a fashionable woman! something from
Gucci, Ferragamo, and Donna Karen.
One piece I am searching everywhere for is that perfect camo parka!!!!!
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