Spotlight is a regular series where we feature a prominent person in the style scene. This month we speak with Annie Atienza, a Shanghai-based wardrobe stylist and image consultant.
Annie Atienza was working in a hedge fund in New York until the 2008 financial crisis gave her the opportunity to reassess her career. After a two-and-a-half-year program on image consulting at the Fashion Institute of Technology, Atienza has since been working with private clients in the US and China to assess their wardrobe needs, producing photo shoots for brands like Apple and Beats by Dre, and styling runway shows for designers at Shanghai Fashion Week. In this interview, she tells us about the most important skillsets for her line of work, as well as what it was like to create the red carpet look for Beijing-born singer GONG Ge for the 2017 Golden Melody Awards in Taiwan.
Tell us about your background and how you became an image consultant and wardrobe stylist.
I have always loved fashion; I remember spending hours pouring over my grandmother's earrings and brooches at an early age. I realize now that I'd always been building looks around a particular color scheme, or playing with a particular statement piece at the core of a look. I actually used to work in the financial sector. In 2008, when the market crashed, I decided it was time for a change and I went back to school at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. Three years ago, my husband and I moved to Shanghai and it's been exactly the change we were looking for.
Are there things in finance that are applicable in your current line of work?
One thing that I always remember is the high-pressure environment [in finance], because you're working with other people's money. With commercial styling, for example, clients have budgets and they're expecting high quality products out of the TV commercial or photo shoot that you're producing with them. You have to approach every client with an absolute level of respect and professionalism, and make it apparent to them that it's just as important to you. The business of fashion is a very serious thing, even if sometimes people think that fashion can be a bit frivolous.
Commerical styling for Dulux Paint, with photographer Geoff Ang
What skills are most important for your job?
I am extremely detail-oriented and clients tell me they appreciate this. Flexibility is very important as well because you never know what you're walking into on a set, so you need to understand quickly who the key players are, whose creative voice is at the top of the food chain, who you need to listen to, while still maintaining your own authority. Finally, I'll note what I call the 'fairy godmother' factor, or the importance of being able to rally team members together, to help clients feel calm while maintaining excitement, to allow models to feel confident and comfortable. The longer I work as a stylist, the more I realize that this skill is the cornerstone of the role I play.
How would you compare your roles as an image consultant and wardrobe stylist?
As an image consultant, I focus on the science of an individual's body and face to help them identify the non-verbal message that they want to deliver through their clothes, and then digging into their wardrobe to make sure there are workhorse pieces that they can mix and match and carry them through their daily needs. For wardrobe styling, I need to put on my 'visual language hat' to understand what the client's needs are and to collaborate with a team of creative folks to create beautiful images, whether it's for an editorial or commercial shoot or working with designers on a runway show.
What's the most memorable project that you've worked on?
Recently I was hired by Sony Music to dress GONG Ge, who was nominated for Best New Artist at this year's Golden Melody Awards in Taiwan. His team needed me to create a week's worth of looks for him for various interviews and performances leading up to the main event, and of course, for the red carpet and ceremony too. It was a pleasure to work with someone at such an exciting peak in his performance career.
How did you prepare for this gig?
I listened to his songs and worked with a translator friend to understand his lyrics and target audience. GONG Ge also shared his expectations with me; he talked about people that he wanted to look like, and people he didn't want to look like. I also looked at what past nominees wore on the red carpet to understand what's expected of him. We've continued to work together after the awards, most recently at a press event with Tmall and Abercrombie & Fitch in Shanghai, and there will be a couple more gigs over the next month or two. It's nice to be able to build an ongoing relationship with a client. After his big week in Taiwan, he told me that having a well-curated wardrobe allowed him to relax and focus on his performances and interviews. As a stylist, you can't ask for more than that.
For more Spotlight posts, click here. Find out more about Annie Atienza here.
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