Career Talk : Becoming a Fashion Stylist with Natasha Indira

It takes a lot to be working in the creative industry, including the fashion industry. We need continuous studies in expanding our knowledge of the current world trend and many more. Especially for me, who would like to be a fashion stylist, I need to be ready before jumping into the real field. As day by day passes, I am getting closer to achieving my dream. Moreover, to be a fashion stylist is not only about playing dress-up. There are a lot of points to put in mind. With this, I would like to broaden my knowledge. I recently had the opportunity to reach out and talk through with a 6-years experienced fashion stylist, Natasha Indira. She has experience working in magazine labels and a fashion retail company. Through this conversation, she shares a glimpse of useful insights relevant to my future career as a stylist.

Dear Natasha, thanks so much for taking the time for this interview. First, I'd love to know how you got to work as a stylist.

It began during my uni year. I majored in Fashion Design and was required to complete my internship program. Commonly students of fashion design will be completing their internship in a boutique or designer's brands. However, my interest and love of editorial photoshoots have led me to apply to several top fashion magazines at that time. I was called by GADIS, one of the famous teenage fashion magazines in Indonesia back then, and started my internship as an assistant fashion stylist and assistant fashion writer. Since then, I found my passion as a stylist and continue to work for over six years now. The most recent one is in a fashion retail company, Pt. Bobobobo, as a lead fashion stylist and visual merchandiser for BOBO Tokyo.

Can you mention several lessons you've learned so far throughout your career?

I used to be an idealist person. Later, I realize that working in this industry with an idealist mindset will not work well as you are working with and for somebody else. Instead, try to always look into the market we are targeting. RESEARCH RESEARCH & RESEARCH. This way we will know the trends that they prefer or adore. We could also look up to styling inspirations from brands and icons that influenced these markets the most. Read some books and magazines, or if you are not a book person, look into Pinterest, Instagram, and other social media platforms. And also to always challenge ourselves to experiment with new things. This is crucial as we might develop attractive styling or trends. Always motivates yourself to be a better day by day by expanding your knowledge. With enough experience, you will sharpen your styling skills. You might spot anything that is missing or might not go well in your styling during the shoots.

What's the most fun and challenging part of your job?

Fashion is a part of my life. I love dressing up and editorial photoshoots. With this passion, I always found every step and moment is delightful. The person who usually dressed her self up or dolls can implement her concepts into creating an attention-grabbing visual that people admire. We can explore a new idea that is very challenging in the right way. Once the editorial shoots result came out great, there is self-satisfaction that cannot be described. However, there is a challenging factor in this job. A fashion stylist is working with and for somebody else. So we need excellent communication skills and understand each and every client. We also need to adapt to working spontaneously, especially in a fast-paced working environment, as sometimes there might be an unexpected incident.

Out of all your works, do you have a favorite shoot?

Yes, of course. I would say this is the most memorable shoot. It was when I began to work in Pt. BOBOBOBO. I remembered it was the first fashion campaign I have ever involved in. I even remembered all the styling and concepts. I was on cloud 9 when I saw my artwork displayed in one of the most significant retail companies' homepage and physical stores.

Some of Natasha's favorite artwork (@nattindira)

How do you keep up with the fast-changing fashion trends? Which trend do you love the most?

Make a habit of researching, either through magazines or digital platforms. It is crucial in this industry as it helps to broaden our knowledge of the current trend and demand. We can also research by observing people's preferences when buying clothing or how they dressed up for specific occasions. A trend for vintage-inspired fashion has recently come back to the fashion scene with puffy sleeves and ruffles. However, this trend is something that I have adored for quite a long time. I also began to change my preference to pastel-colored clothing from dark-colored clothing.

You have a distinct style, how would you describe it?

I would say that I tend to change my fashion depends on my mood. But, if I had to describe, my looks go from vintage-inspired, edgy, chic, and gothic. I tend to mix and match with pieces of different styles to create my unique twist.

image from @nattindira

You seem to be loving mixing colors in your styling, how do you like to mix them? List your five fav color combo.

Well, there are no rules in mixing colors. You will begin to learn more in mixing colors through experience and research. I look up to a lot of inspiring fashion influencers or brands. To be honest, all you need is trust your guts and always be confident to experiment. Hmm, Black-White for sure. Hahaha. It is the best color combo. But other than that would be Purple-Green, Purple-Red, Yellow-Blue. These are the colors that I frequently used in my styling recently.

You have mentioned to look up for inspiration several times. Can you share are some of your favorite muse or icon?

It is hard, hahaha. There is definitely not one specific person. I personally seek inspiration from international brands the most, like SUNNEI, OTTOLINGER, Cecilie Bahnsen, and many more. These brands have different personalities. It is difficult to mention one by one because many brands inspire me throughout my careers. However, for fashion icons, I currently love Reese Blutstein (@double3xposure) and Kailee McKenzie (@kaileemckenzie) with their chic and edgy style, and some Copenhagen based influencers with their pastel-colored fashion, like Anne Johannsen (@annejohannsen) and Emma Moldt (@emmamoldt). There is a lot more on the list, but these are the ones that I look up the most recently.

Share some essential advice for those who want to be a stylist in the future?

First and the most important thing is to broaden your knowledge about this creative industry, from fashion, arts, trends going on, and everything, cause this might be helpful for you. You should also create portfolios so that when meeting with clients, they can see your outcome. You might gain more points as they can consider recruiting you if you match their criteria. If you are just about to start, try by collaborating with different people, like fresh graduate photographers, fashion design students, and many more. This also helps to broaden your social network. Last but surely not least is to be confident and always motivate yourself to be better and better each day. Working in such a creative and competitive industry, you cannot expect to create the same product every day, which will not last for a long time.

Overall, the talk was very fun. I get to write down several important notes. Through this interview, Natasha emphasizes on reminding to research inspirations from everything, including regular fashion found on the streets, magazines, and digital platforms, commonly from Instagram and Pinterest. It can also be from well-recognized brands or designers or fashion icons. Moreover, we are working for a client or specific targeted market, so we need to have a broad knowledge of trends to precisely reach the market. These trends are not limited to only fashion, but also arts, music, lifestyles, and many other factors. I tend to lack confidence when I need to implement my idea, so I highlighted that as a fashion stylist, we need to be confident and experiment with new concepts to sharpen our skills further and get out of our comfort zone.

Check her out @nattindira