Stacey Anne: LA Wardrobe and Prop Stylist

 

By Meredith Corning

Stacey Anne is a well known editorial wardrobe and prop stylist based in Los Angeles with Zenobia Agency.  She has worked with clients from Playboy Magazine to beer label, Kirin, to even more mainstream fashion companies and commercial editorials. Her work’s broad range proves that Stacey Anne is a multi-faceted stylist with great knowledge in the industry.  Stacey Anne gives us some insight into the inner workings of her profession and her passion for the art of photography styling.

What is your background/experience in wardrobe and prop styling?

My experience/background with wardrobe and props styling is rather different.  Most people now come from a fashion school and have this in there background.  For myself, I am a graduate with a photography degree from The Academy of Art in San Francisco.

I moved to Los Angeles to be a Photography Assistant intern and after working full time in a photo studio I realized I like working closer to the styling aspect and not being a tech.  Then I started working at the time with some of Los Angeles’ top Stylists as there assistant.  After three years of that I worked on my own portfolio, went off to find representation and then small jobs over the years became big jobs and before I know it I had a name for myself.

What project are you the most proud of and why?

I get asked this question a lot what project are you most proud of.  To be very honest I am just proud of all my projects big or small.  To be able to be behind the scenes and make drawings and story boards come to life and give people/clients a choice of how they want their concept to be presented makes me proud in myself.

Can you describe your process and a little about what a Wardrobe and Prop Stylist does?

Let me give the process of what happens behind the scenes of a Wardrobe Prop Stylist:

A client, which may be a production company, photographer or a magazine, comes with a
concept, a story, or product trying to be sold.  Along with story Boards, drawings, and color schemes there may also be fabrics or demographics of who they are targeting…usually all of the above.

Then in turn I go out with my team to several wardrobe houses, prop houses, different designers, and Pr firms.  I gather all they would want to see in there ad campaign and story.  Then once that is all gathered, I put my own presentation together so they have many, many choices to see how they want it all to unfold before we start the final shooting.

How do you gain and maintain your clientele?

To maintain and gain clients is always an ongoing project and you can never be lax in this area.  Once you are established you do get projects through word of mouth or if you have a representative, as I do, they get a call and send your work out to see if that is what clients are looking for.  Or just by networking in your field and introducing your self to people who may need your services.

Once you work with some people a few times and all goes well and they like your ideas etc., you usually become their ‘regular’ and they call you for up coming projects.

But with our business you always have to stay fresh and up to date and never ever get to sure of your self.  The oldest saying in our business is, “You are as good as your last job!”  So on ever job you must go overboard on what your client wants and think outside of the box to give them more than what they ask for.

What advice do you have for aspiring Wardrobe and Prop Stylists?

My best advice for an aspiring wardrobe and prop stylist is to be eager, never be shy and if some one you call or email say no or is nasty, keep trying.

Be organized. If you do not know about resources, try and get to know some.  Always ask questions and be polite but driven.  Never say no.

Try and assist a few different people, so you can gain work experience and different ways of doing things. Everyone has a little some different to teach you.  When I started out I worked for some crazy fashion stylists that were wild off the wall and also very serious stylists as well.  But I took it all in and when I was ready to break out on my own, I took a little from all of them.

I was fortunate people were always giving and forth coming to me and I would want to give back to the next on there way up!

TO CONTACT STACEY ANNE EMAIL staceyanne59@sbcglobal.net