stylist and image-maker with many years of experience. «The most ambitious stylist of Russia» according to the All-Russian Society of Stylists.
You are the «biggest stylist ever»! Can you tell us what inspired the creation of the Style Club?
The Style Club started on May 1. Before that, for two and a half years, I had been putting out different online projects, a style magazine, and guides every month. They were essentially presentations with clickable links to create a closet capsule. A person could go through them and get applied style information. As I studied the feedback, I realized that people have always lacked support in the form of live communication, and our club provides that. This is a style community for people who want to develop and change for the better. They are united by one goal, share their images, help and give advice. Of course, there are stylists in the club who represent a professional point of view.
What prompted you to share your personal journey to transformation through style? Was this path difficult and thorny?
The sincerity of people who approach in different cities of the country and the world and thank them for their knowledge and inspiration. At this moment, you realize that the mission – to help people become better – is feasible when you show yourself real. «Take it off immediately!» – do you remember such a TV program? In my youth, I always followed the transformation of heroines with keen interest. Apparently, even then the heart suggested the path to vocation. But it was thorny. First – higher legal education and 8 years of work in the field of law. One day I decide: «not mine». So in life there was training as an image-maker stylist, constant practice and already professional activity.
How do you think style affects your confidence and self-esteem?
100%. Today you can appear in a feminine and delicate image, and tomorrow in a bold and playful one. And in both cases, feel flawless. In this sense, nothing makes a woman more beautiful than her confidence that she is beautiful.
What specific changes in your personal style have had the greatest impact on your self-esteem?
The main thing is a successfully emphasized individuality. I learned from my own example: if you can change something – change it, if you can’t – accept it. Because it’s a bad strategy to endlessly look for flaws in yourself. The good one is to enjoy the reflection in the mirror, learning to emphasize the advantages and hide the features.
What are some common problems people face when it comes to their personal style?
The most common is improperly chosen clothing. Girls look for flaws in their figures, complexed on this account, choose baggy images of gloomy colors. As a result, absolutely no longer like themselves. If the clothes were originally chosen correctly, the effect would have been just the opposite.
How does the Style Club help to overcome these difficulties?
In the Club, we analyze with concrete examples and in real time how, with the help of the right styles, color solutions, the use of prints, you can adjust the nuances of appearance: large hips, large breasts, full arms – anything. You can ask for advice and share your opinion, and some members of the Club even began to meet in real life. A supportive environment is very important.
The book is a powerful tool in the right hands! How does a Style Book help with style transformations?
It’s like a multi-volume encyclopedia of style. In each issue, readers find knowledge, shopping and inspiration. At the request of the audience, there are always a lot of dressing capsules, in different styles and for different situations. All have catwalk trends adapted to real life. There are already traditional headings with style secrets. The main advantage of the Book is that you can always go back to it, re-read and revise. To ultimately make sure: you can be stylish at any weight, with any figure and with any lifestyle.
How do you help women define and express their individual style?
For me, every member of the fair sex is unique. I know stylists who say that fashionable clothes are only for slim women. No, and again no. I am sure that everyone can dress stylish. The best helpers in this are correction techniques: proper fit, cutting, proportionality, introduction of color, playing with details… We learn it. An individual style is made of all this.
It’s a popular myth that only women need a stylist. How often do men come to you and what is their main request?
Everyone needs a stylist. I have a female audience, and their husbands, mothers, sisters and daughters turn to me for men. They ask for advice, for example, what to wear to a wedding as a guest, or what to wear to the prom. So in the same style book appears sections of images for the events «For her and for him. And for the little gentlemen, of course.
How do you fight the misconception that style is superficial or frivolous? And do you fight it?
I rather use my own example and try to stimulate the desire to change. There are many things in life we may not know how to do: speak a foreign language, ride a motorcycle, dress stylishly. It takes discipline to learn everything. In that sense, my blog and online products are a regular training of observation and a deep dive into the world of style. People come in and «light up»: «I want to do that too!» They start looking, learning, incorporating techniques into their closet. When style is perfected, life begins to play with new colors. It’s awe-inspiring.
What common misconceptions or myths about personal style do you want to dispel with your work?
For example, that a stylish closet cannot be comfortable. Years of my work have shown: today everyone can create their own comfortable capsules. For a businesswoman they will consist mainly of business suits, shirts and laconic shoes, for a mother on maternity leave – of casual clothes and flat shoes. But in both cases it will be a relevant set of relevant and stylish things in which the person is comfortable.
Can you share tips for maintaining an individual style that is timeless and unaffected by short-lived trends?
Some of the first enemies of style are pretentiousness and unkemptness. Overstuffed details, an abundance of rhinestones, sequins and feathers, lint and scuffs are the way to cheapen the image. «Elegance is the only fashion that doesn’t go away». In the words of actress Audrey Hepburn, it’s hard not to agree. So bet on a long-lasting closet investment. We choose a classic cut of products, laconic accessories and well-groomed appearance. These are eternal trends.
