How I Got Into Styling

There are an abundance of careers in this world, but the last thing I expected for myself was to pursue fashion in my adulthood. The fashion industry is so diverse, with the dedication of designers, photographers, and efficient management teams bringing visions to life. Living in the city influenced my outlook on life. The immersive culture in art and fashion is centralized in the east coast, especially New York City. I hope the ideas I pour into my work will not be at loss and can have an impact on the influence of future fashion generations. 

Growing up, I went to schools driven with the principle of entrepreneurs and engineers. My high school was devoted to a class of over-achievers and leading scientists. I initially wanted to also pursue STEM, seeing my friends and family directly influencing the outlook I had for selecting a career. I was good at all the mathematical problems, but it wasn’t my ambitions. The interest I held for myself hibernates in the depths of art and culture, especially individuality and style. I was gravely infatuated with trying new trends on the market. I used to spend hours reading articles about the biggest influence in fashion and the resurfacing cult styles. I also went on Youtube and Tumblr to find inspiration for looks I wanted to recreate. In school, everyone was very positive about my outfit choices. They always expressed well to my style and even encouraged me to pursue fashion. I felt like it was a shallow career and I didn’t want to fumble with such a risky career. 

It wasn’t until I went to college for chemical engineering that I realized I wanted to go into fashion. At this point, instagram was growing. The social platform connected me to a diverse group of people in the creative industry. Often, photographers would host meetings in the city, which gave opportunities for creatives to connect. I was able to meet fashion consultants, photographers, filmmakers, influencers and aspiring models. I got into modeling for a short period of time, where I would often concoct my own style and took photos with it. I shared my looks on instagram and other social media platforms, which caught the attention of many people who wanted to work with me. 

I spent a short period of time working on a brand project for my friend. She wanted to adopt her own vintage line into an online store and asked for my corporation. I worked with her for the first three months, developing ideas on how to produce shoots and finding resources to bring the vintage shop to life. Choise Vintage embraced the era of the 70s. Most of the inspiration were rooted from high-contrast 70s aesthetic, filled with sunshine and youth. I spent time creating mood boards that combined style with moods. We even composed our instagram that way. Marketing Choise was difficult, since we didn’t have that many people to market to. Most of the internal marketing was through words of friends and pop up flea market sales. Eventually, we decided to put Choise on hold for the sake of working on other personal projects. Choise, although, did bring me closer to understanding the role of a stylist, allowing me to reach a small audience and creatively composing outfits for an aspiring vintage brand.