Stylist Biki John on How To Cinch That Stylist’s Assistant Position!
There is not a day that goes by when my inbox is not inundated with applications from students/ex-students who want to assist me full-time or gain some work experience in styling by working with me. It seems that despite the hoopla being made about the recession and the repercussions that has had on the fashion industry, this hasn’t seemed to have cooled the ardour of stylist wannabe’s.
I believe one of the key reasons for this is the media’s recent interest in stylists which has made the profession even more popular than before. For instance uber stylist to young Hollywood Rachel Zoe’s reality show “The Rachel Zoe Project” has been a massive hit resulting in two seasons with a third in production. And RJ Cutler’s documentary- The September issue- sprung an unlikely star- the stylist of all stylists- Grace Coddington (creative director of US Vogue). Also this year’s Brit Awards was completely dominated by female artists and the main focus didn’t seem to be on their vocal talents but what they were wearing and who they were wearing. The fabulous outfits worn by style mavericks like Lady Gaga, Florence Welch (from Florence and the Machines), La Roux aka Elly Jackson, Cheryl Cole and Natasha Khan of Bat For Lashes- had everyone asking ‘who’s their stylist?’ Throw in the media’s growing obsession to capture celebrities looking their best and worst with ‘witty’ captions like- ‘sack the stylist’ or ‘get a stylist’ etc- and you get a truckload of boys and girls begging to get a slice of the stylist’s pie. However that’s the problem, everyone seems to want a piece of the pie and quite simply there is not enough pie to go round the masses, so how does one put themselves ahead of the herd? When applying to that stylist who could give you the experience that puts you in good stead to achieve your dreams- how do you stop that CV from being put in the shredder and thus ripping apart your hopes and dreams?
Based on the number of applications I have received through the years and the ones I had to send myself way back when, I’m about to give you a few golden tips. I have to stress that my opinions are subjective and I’m not saying that ‘my way is the only way’ to go about things, so take from my advice what you will.
Research, research, research- when applying to assist a stylist/editor, make sure you know the job you are applying for, the responsibilities the job involves and tailor your covering letter and CV to show this. I remember when I used to intern, most of what I learnt was from what I managed to overhear whilst eavesdropping and I’ll always remember an editor bitching about a work experience application she had received and she said something like, ‘this girl is applying for a job in a fashion magazine but in her CV, none of the jobs she has listed shows that she has the skills that would be applicable here. I don’t care that you spent x amount of months working in an old people’s home!’ Now I have to stress here that when applying for a stylist assistant role, it is not imperative that you have worked in fashion IF you can make the skills you have accumulated from your non-fashion related job transferable to the stylist job. For e.g. if you have interned in a law firm, (having done the research to see what a stylist’s assistant does) you could say that ‘I believe that the work experience I have gained from working in x law firm would be beneficial to you because I have learnt how to pay close attention to detail which will come in handy when I’m writing up credits, I’m punctual, have advanced research skills and I am a very fast learner’ etc etc.
‘Passion for fashion’- this point is somewhat linked to the first. I have received so many covering letters where people have stressed to me how much they have a ‘passion for fashion’, how they keep up to date with the trends etc. However more often than not, this is not what a stylist is looking for when choosing who s/he can trust to bring along to help for an important shoot. Yes, it is good to show that you are passionate about the job you are applying for BUT you must go beyond this because your passion does not tell the stylist if- s/he can trust you to arrive to a shoot at 7am on a weekend in the armpit of London, your passion does not tell me that you will be able to credit a shoot during the actual shoot whilst dealing with a colossal amount of designer clothes, different pr’s, jewellery, shoes and other accessories, the fact that you keep on top of trends does not tell me that you know how to use a steamer or iron or that you are handy with your A-Z’d and are willing to traipse all round London carrying heavy press bags before and after the shoot.
Don’t copy and paste in haste- Yes, it makes sense that you send as many applications as possible to increase the chances of being snapped up for an assistant job. However when I’m reading a covering letter it is always obvious to see the people who have applied in a rush/ or have sent one standard letter to all the stylists under the sun. When I used to apply to stylists I always knew that it wouldn’t hurt to massage their egos. So instead of giving the ol’ generic – ‘I really like your work’ schpill’, I went the extra mile and studied the stylist’s website/work, made a note of what I specifically liked about their work, the names of the editorials I liked the most etc and found a way to incorporate those facts in my covering letter. And why is this important? It shows that you have taken the actual time to get to know the person you want to work with and trust me (if s/he is half decent) they will appreciate this.
Save the jokes for later- some people seem to think that because fashion gives of the illusion of being fun and cool that they should send out ‘wacky’ covering letters to get a stylist’s attention. I once received an application from a student and as the subject heading she had put in bold ‘GIRL WILLING TO DO ANYTHING TO WORK WITH YOU TO GET INTO FASHION’. A word for the wise, it’s better if your covering letter does not reek of ‘eau de desperado’ and also it’s best to show your ‘ker-azeee’ sense of humour after you get the job and have become ‘bezzy mates’ with the stylist. Although I did snigger and open the girl’s email, I knew from the caption alone that I would never take her seriously and with my job I am dealing with clothes, shoes, jewellery etc that are worth hundreds of thousands of pounds- which is no joking matter. And whilst reading the girl’s covering letter all I could think was- ‘what if I take this girl on for that swim suit editorial and for a ‘joke’, she decides to push the model dressed in her thousand pound garb into the pool?!’ Yes, it may seem far- fetched but if in your CV you show that you are cheeky, fearless, unpredictable…
Get the stylist’s name right- this point should really go without saying but if I received a pound for every time I have been called ‘John Biki’- well, by now I could have retired a very happy and wealthy bunny. Mistakes like this to me are beyond careless and are inexcusable, when I used to apply to jobs with stylist’s that had unusual/unique names, I always took the time to do the research to make sure I got their names right. If I could do this, so can the rest of the would-be stylist assistants. And remember that one of the responsibilities a stylist’s assistant has is to write up credits for shoots where you have to list the designer names, prices and descriptions of clothes accurately.
If at first you don’t succeed- it is very likely that when you send in your application that you may not get a response, however what you choose to do from then on will determine whether you have the chops to stay in an industry rife with rejection and where emails are often ignored unless you are a ‘big wig’. My advice would be to keep on applying and sending reminders to the people you have applied to. However this must be done with common sense- this is not the time to rival the actions of Joseph Stefano (Psycho) or Hedy Carlson (Single White Female).
Give all the relevant info in one go- I once read an application where the person put at the end, ‘I can forward my CV if you want to read it’. Needless to say I never replied to that- when applying for a job it is your responsibility to include everything that is relevant to get that job. And especially when you are applying for this kind of job where so many people are willing to work for free to get a foot in the door- more often that not you have one chance to make a strong lasting impression.
Greetings! – I once received an application where for the subject title the person put ‘hello…’. This sort of casual heading should be avoided at all costs-remember that you are applying for a job here and your subject title should reflect this and also it’s best if your subject title does not make the reader think they have entered spam central.
