How I Became A Stylist
My journey as a stylist started about 6 years ago. At the time I was a PR Manager and Store Manager for a concept store called Mahani.
This is where I started dressing influencers/celebrities and advising them on the best outfit combinations.
I’ve had the opportunity to dress Jessica Kahawaty who was a presenter for Yahoo Maktoob at the time. She would come in regularly to get styled by me and the Mahani team.
I’ve had the chance to dress Abdullah Alkaabi as he was attending the Chanel Cruise show.
One day, Miraslova Duma walked in the store and I assisted her to pull outfits.
I enjoyed these styling sessions a lot.
It’s not until I started working at MMG Eventz in 2015 as an events manager, that the journey towards becoming a stylist really began.
My job was to organise luxury events such as fashion shows, product launches, brand events, anniversaries, etc…
The same agency I worked at also represents international photographers, stylists and hair and make up artists.
Sometimes the clients would request a full production for a video or photoshoot so I would organize that too. My first photoshoot production was a Dior advertorial in Arabian Watches and Jewelry Magazine with photographer David Wang, Teresa Karpinska as a stylist and a model, all from MMG. My job was to put together a team that could execute the shoot as per the client’s needs and take care of the whole project. This is basically how I started building relationships and later friendships within the agency, which later allowed me to start doing test shoots and build my own stylist portfolio.
Fast forward to end 2018, I am now 4 years in my position and I reach the point where I feel the need for a change and I want to go for my first passion: FASHION.
I struggled to admit it to myself. See, I’ve always wanted to become a freelance stylist but this also meant that I would have to throw away everything I was ever taught by society, my peers and my parents, which was to; have a salary and security. It was a real process to overcome the fear of being a freelance stylist but eventually, I did it.
I had a conversation with the owner of the agency, who is also a great friend. She basically told me to stop holding myself back, to believe in myself and go for it.
I did just that and resigned from my position. (Which was a common agreement with the management and probably the healthiest decision I had made in a very long time.)
Today it’s been exactly 6 months and it’s a beautiful journey already.
I have more freedom, control over my time and I get to choose the projects I want to work on. Pure bliss!
It’s not always glamorous behind the scenes though and that’s also one of the reasons why I decided to blog about my journey, I want to look back and remember it ALL, years from now.
I also want to share my experience with others who are looking to change careers or maybe are just curious about the profession.
This blog will be about what goes down behind the scenes. The madness, the laughter, the fatigue and how I cope or don’t. Haha.
From the production process of a photo/video shoot, to the final result on your screens or magazines. I’ll share as much as I can.
I’ll probably write one or 2 posts per month, let’s see.
I’m now excited to see where this new adventure will take me next but in the meantime, I’m enjoying the moment.