A few months ago, we had the pleasure of hosting a stylist search contest here on Fashism. We chose one lucky Fashist with a keen eye for style to attend the Style for Hire workshop and train with world famous style expert Stacy London. We decided to catch up with Stefany Mohebban (aka Mosdefany) and hear about her experience.
1. What is your current profession? Are you already a stylist, or is this something you have been wanting to get into?
I have always been the go to for fashion advice for my friends and family, without ever pursuing it as a career. I am currently a textile designer, but the two are very closely related since it takes a lot of knowledge about fashion, fabric, trends, and color to be good at either.. so it feels like a natural companion to my current profession as a designer.
2. How did you hear about the contest? Where you a Fashism user prior to hearing about the contest? How did you hear about Fashism?
I believe I had joined the site not too long before I heard about the contest, and it was via twitter.
3. What was the workshop like? Can you walk me through it?
The workshop was great! After being treated to a lovely breakfast both mornings, we sat in a spacious room in a boutique hotel in Manhattan, where Stacy London lectured about all aspects of styling. In between her “lectures” we would get into groups and practice what we had just learned via different exercises, in order to get us more comfortable with the material. Each group had a monitor who’s job was essentially to screen the potential stylists for talent and capability. There was a lot of note taking, and a lot of answered questions. We had a blast. We got to know the other stylists during the exercises and meals. It was a great environment to be in because everyone had similar interests as you, yet, we had all come from different backgrounds. We had a chance to get feedback and just share knowledge with each other, in a non competitive environment.
4. What was the most valuable thing you learned?
Stacy is truly a fountain of knowledge, and as she went through her power point presentations, I realized that many of the things she spoke about, were things that I already understood and knew on some level. She had just found a really clear and concise way of explaining them and making them applicable to almost any situation. As a whole, the experience was one big learning curve for me because It increased my confidence in my inherent eye for style. It also made me realize how important being connected to others who do the same thing as you truly is. So networking really became a crucial aspect of the workshop, along with being able to put words to ideas about fashion and style which I already understood, and how to apply them once I am faced with clients that have different needs. A really important aspect of the workshop was also learning about different body types and how to dress them. How to make a woman feel beautiful no matter what her shape and size is. And how to make your wardrobe an investment, by making smart purchases that will last a long time.
5. Who did you really enjoy meeting?The entire Style for Hire team was truly a pleasure to spend time with over the course of the weekend. Every woman really stood out as someone knowledgeable, fashionable and personable. Stacy London was clearly one of the highlights. She is extremely energetic, charismatic and quite a lovely person to be around. Stacy’s assistant Zoe was also really great to talk to, especially because we share a passion for textiles, so we ended up having quite a bit in common.
6. What was the highlight of the workshop?
Meeting fellow stylists and just learning all these great bits of info about the trade, and feeling like you are part of a bigger whole.
7. What are your next steps now? Will you be able to use what you learned to further your career?
I am absolutely going to use what I learned and being a part of this network towards a career path. I love interacting with people, traveling, making others feel good about themselves, and styling really lends itself to these things.
8. Is there anything you would like to see at future workshops?
There was so much to learn and so little time to squeeze in all the activities. I believe they did a wonderful job at dividing the time into learning, and the hands on aspect. It also felt like everyone was given a chance to shine and showcase their talent and knowledge throughout the weekend, so really I can’t think of much I would like to see differently!
