Hello and happy Monday! How was your weekend? Mine was good! Busy, but good. Hope yours was amazing! I’m super excited about this post, because today I am featured on The Model’s Office, a lifestyle blog which covers fashion, wellness, travel and beyond, all seen through the lens of Adela Capova, a NYC-based model and founder of the site. She might look familiar to you guys from her spotlight feature on Your Soul Style. Adela captured the most beautiful photos on a brisk day in the West Village, and followed up with asking brilliant, thought-provoking questions that facilitated a wonderful journey down my personal path towards SOUL and STYLE.
Thank you so much Adela for the wonderful images, introspective questions, and super kind words. Thank you for articulating the philosophy and vision behind Your Soul Style so beautifully. Be sure to follow Adela along on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, for tips on nutrition, fitness, fashion and so much more.
A quick teaser of the interview below, but click here for the full read which includes advice on how to build your network as a stylist, what I’m inspired by, styling tips, and 5 key pieces every woman should own…
Q&A WITH THE MODEL’S OFFICE
ADELA: What do you love about fashion, how did you get to it?
JENNY: There is not a time in my life I can remember not loving fashion. Even at a very young age, I was thoughtful about presenting myself to the world, and always used style as a vehicle of self-expression. While other kids were scraping their knees climbing trees and riding bikes, I was creating my fashion identity. I am not interested in fitting in and conforming. I use what I wear to establish my individuality. I love knowing that I can tell someone about who I am, without uttering a word.
My official fashion career started in college. I interned for major fashion brands during summer breaks and after graduation began freelance styling. A few months in, I landed a full-time role as an assistant stylist for the tween catalog, Alloy. I will never forget my boss at the time, who taught me all of the technical styling skills that I still use to this day.
ADELA: What was your dream job when growing up?
JENNY: Styling. Always. I can’t tell you how many endless hours were spent putting together my barbie dolls’ ensembles. I was totally consumed.
ADELA: How does your regular day look like when you work on a photo shoot? How much do you need to prepare for it?
JENNY: It takes a lot more preliminary work than people think, especially when working with a specific brand. I spend most days strategizing with the merchandising and in-house creative teams to ensure what we put together represents the company from a creative and brand positioning point of view, but also considers the business perspective. Key items, inventory levels, production timelines, delivery dates, color stories, monthly concepts, marketing – all of it needs to be accounted for. When you are working with a brand, the most important thing is selling clothes and the bottom line. On the editorial side, the pre-planning is more story focused, artistic and conceptual. Collecting the clothes, which can come from varying agencies and showrooms around the city is the most cumbersome part of the job. Once the shoot is done, the clothes then need to be returned. The work that goes in on the days leading up and after is what takes the most time (and is the least glamorous).
Click here to read on…