I feel like great things happen when you're not really expecting them to.
It kind of just happened that Barney's was closing down as I was kind of deciding to leave. Something was drawing me back to LA and I knew that I could style differently than those who were in LA because I kind of got my footing in New York. So I was exposed to a lot more than people who lived here on the fashion side.
And you talked about growing up in the suburbs outside of LA and not really knowing about all of these fashion jobs. What was that sort of like for you?
Growing up, my parents did clothing production and so I grew up in the garment industry of LA. I think growing up I knew the hardships and working in fashion isn't easy. And I think I knew that from a very young age. I remember telling my mom, "I'm never gonna get into fashion," because my idea of fashion was always a fashion designer, fashion photographer, or fashion editor and I thought those were the only three things. So in my brain, I was like, "I'm never gonna make it as a fashion designer and I have no desire to open my own fashion brand." I really wanted to do writing and I wanted to be a journalism major. And so I applied to college for all different journalism classes and I didn't get accepted to any of them. So I think moving to New York, you're just exposed to so much more.
So what was the moment where you felt like you were making it?
I think when I first saw my name in print. I feel like that's such a mind-blowing thing. I honestly didn't think it was going to be a big deal. When I was at Barneys, we did print stuff and I was in charge of doing all the photoshoots of our catalog that was mailed home every season. But I think it hits differently when it's your name and it's not an assistant.
So I have been seeing all of your editorial work, and you really blend colors, textures, and fabrics really well. How would you describe your styling process?
I'm glad you said that, because I really focus on color when I'm styling, which I don't know if it's technically the best thing, but I love color. So even if the garment doesn't make sense but the colors do, that's how I would style things. And I always try to blend high and low. I'll mix really high-end pieces or something that's more body fitted with something a little bit more bulky and more casual. I style a lot of the people who are in their 20s, so I never want them to look uncomfortable and too mature for their age. I want them to look like an elevated version of themselves.
How much of your own personal style do you try to put into your work?
A lot, which sounds bad too, because I'm always just like, you have to remove your personal preference when you're styling. But I think people hire me because they see how I dress myself and I think they want that. I try to be conscious of the talent's style, and then I try to mix a little bit of my style.
I feel like you have a signature to your work and that I feel like your colors, your patterns, and everything that you kind of mix into different things. But I feel that kind of just by putting your own personal touch into things definitely makes you stand out.
My assistant just asked me, "how do I find my signature?" And I was like, "I think it just takes time." I think it took a while for me to have my signature.
Where do you get your inspo from?
Oh, my gosh, so many places. My mom's a really big stylish person, so I feel like anytime I style something, she'll give me her opinion if it looks good or not. And then honestly, I feel like Instagram is such a big part. I think during the pandemic, styling really took off for me. People weren’t dressing up to go out, I think they're just dressing for their own style. Also, random everyday people, even if they're not in the fashion industry, just their own style, what they see comfortable, and what they deem stylish for themselves. When I do a shoot, I look back on those inspirations.
What was it like for you during the pandemic in styling?
So I moved back to LA in the summer of 2019, so the pandemic hit six months after, and so I was barely getting my footing into styling. It's funny because I think when the pandemic hit, a lot of editorials moved to LA because there was just more space to do stuff during quarantine. I think my styling really picked up during quarantine and I was doing a lot of quarantine photoshoots where I was styling in my tiny apartment. And then dropping it off to the talent and putting a slideshow together of a style out and then sending it to them. I think it's also just learning how to work with New York when you're in LA. I think it's even the time difference and all the headquarters are in New York. So it's learning how to work with those PR offices and even working with editorial teams. I think it's a lot harder.
Working in the industry I feel like it's really seniority privileged. Have you felt that it's been hard to have your voice heard?
I was always the type of person to be like, "okay, keep your head down and just work hard and be humble." Like, there's nothing to brag about kind of thing. My background is on a corporate level, and I think especially at corporate, it's very about seniority and I think I was very lucky to have mentors and bosses who kind of just saw that I was working hard and eager to learn. They just allowed me to do a lot of stuff which allowed me to move up really high at a young age. When I started styling, there are stylists who have been in the game for 20 plus years that are getting gigs that sometimes I’m like, it would make more sense for me to be styling this talent, she's my age, you know, and has the same style as me. It is kind of tough when you see someone get a job just because of seniority when you know that your taste would be a lot more fitting. So that's definitely challenging. I think it's also challenging navigating a new city that is very celebrity-focused and them having their set style already. I think it's just kind of finding the gaps between this empty space and just finding those spaces and putting yourself out there. There are just so many people who are so good at these jobs that you kind of just need to be like, "Okay, what makes me different?"
And what would you say makes you different?
I think I know a lot at a very young age, and I think I just started very early. I think I have a lot of experiences and I've gone through a lot and I know how the fashion industry works. At a very young age, I think I've been able to use that to my advantage. I think a lot of people my age are just starting out assisting stylists and all of that, and I think the reason why I was able to kind of just start working for myself immediately was because of the relationships I built when I was at Barney's. So that's what makes me different because I think a lot of people who live in LA don't have the experience of New York and working at all these big fashion companies.
Do you have any advice that you would want to give to somebody? What's the best advice that you've received from your bosses?
Learn as much as you can. I would say if you're not going to go to college, assist someone. I think being someone's assistant is literally the best thing you can do. I was someone's assistant for three years and did the grunt work because you really learn. I think when you assist someone, you kind of learn what you would want to be as a boss. Everything I learned from my bosses and mentors, I kind of carried with me being the boss and working for myself. Don't complain, I think everyone has put in their fair share of fetching coffee, packing up samples doing all that. Don't ever think you're good enough because I think there's always going to be someone that's better. Yeah, but learn as much as you can. I'm literally still learning and I'm going to try to learn as much as possible. I think the more you know, the more you can do it, the better. I think everyone has multiple things that they can do.
