I♥NY

Twelve Questions for Susan Breindel

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 18:03:00 -0400

Meet Susan Breindel, an expert New York City stylist who specializes in beauty advertising. As an apparel and fashion consultant and contractor, Breindel has compiled an extensive client list over the course of her career, including over thirty major brands and twenty five major directors. During our conversation, Breindel shared all the ins-and-outs of what it means to be a freelance stylist. I’m very excited to have had the chance to speak with her.

Q: How did you start out in the fashion industry?

A: After college I decided to work part time in my mom’s small young designer showroom. I was prepared to work with delinquent teens, but was kind of influx after traveling to Europe. I was embarrassed to tell people I was working in fashion. Back then, to me it had a very superficial connotation and it was not yet in the forefront of every part of our culture. Stylists used to come in (the showroom) and borrow clothes. I thought that looked like more fun and then I could be independent from my mother, so I started assisting.

Q: Can you describe some of the current projects you’re working on?

A: Over the past 10 years, I would say I mostly do beauty advertising; mostly television commercials for Clairol and Pantene and I used to do a lot of CoverGirl and L’Oreal. But I have done easily over a hundred print or television campaigns for beauty products. Nowadays I am less in demand with things being so celebrity driven. I also have private clients which I enjoy tremendously.

Q: Who are some people you have worked with in the past, and how have they been influential to you?

A: I mostly assisted one television commercial stylist named Annie Blevins who is no longer styling. However, she had been a fashion designer and she had a good eye. She trusted me and gave me a lot of autonomy quickly and I used to do some of her jobs when she was double booked. I have always been a very fast learner and fast on my feet, but I never had an ambition to be a stylist or love fashion. I truly fell into it. It suits me in that it is a creative business. It is very project/deadline oriented and I am good with that. Also, I am a good communicator and I can intuit what clients are going to like.

Q: What are some of your strengths as a stylist?

A: Well some of the above I just mentioned. I am very good at gleaning or extracting what I need to know in order to keep my clients or commercial jobs on trend, but not trendy! Also, I am a perfectionist with work which is good and bad. I am not really a delegator. I feel that I must do a lot of things myself for them to truly be done well. I must work with highly organized people. I would say I am very down-to-Earth. I do not really consider myself to be a “fashion person.” I have other interests and love forming relationships with others. I actually enjoy looking at interior magazines more than fashion magazines.

Q: Weaknesses?

A: A huge weakness is that I am not good at promoting myself or networking at all. I actually hate it and avoid it at all costs. It is a huge drawback.

Q: How do you separate your own personal aesthetic from styling for clients?

A: Of coarse I bring my own aesthetic to each client or project, but I am excellent at sizing up in a few minutes where I would take a person with their style and figure type. This is something I can say I’m exceptional at!

Q: What are some of the biggest challenges you face as a stylist?

A: For me like I said promoting. I find it to be very stressful work. Also, all the buying and returning for advertisement jobs is kind of disgusting to me. It seems so wasteful and even unfair.

Q: Can you describe your most rewarding project?

A: Well I volunteer regularly for Dress for Success, a great organization and I feel that I am helping woman in need and making them feel good. Also, I do find my private client business very rewarding. The women are so elated with results and I respect them, so I feel good when they look and feel great. The advertising is sometimes really rewarding also. Of coarse I always like to do my best but I sometimes love particular clients and have more fun with them.

Q: I know you have worked in many types of media outlets (Television, Advertising, Print, etc.). What type do you favor the most?

A: I like aspects of all. For me at this point in my career, I like the combination, but I mostly remember the experience of the people I am collaborating with.

Q: Where do you see yourself 5-10 years from now?

A: I honestly don’t know. I am 53, so not very young for this business. I would love to try my hand at something different but I am not sure what. Hopefully, something where I have a partner, another creative, collaborative business.

Q: In your opinion, what types of things stand out on a resume?

A: For me personally, I always gravitate towards someone with some kind of art history or interesting liberal arts background, who has traveled and is interested in culture, and is a fun or humane person. I guess nowadays people often have fashion backgrounds from fashion schools and maybe that is the way to go.

[Frankly I must have add.. I hardly can get through reading a resume. I am way more intrigued that someone your age took the time and had the nerve to ask a practical stranger such thought provoking questions, honestly. That says way more about you to me than what school you went to! But I am sure good schooling can be super advantageous.]

Q: Any concluding advice to someone who is interested in a career in styling?

A: Being open and having a great work ethic is the first advice I can suggest to anyone starting out in any field. Being a good anticipator. Then getting all the experience you can get from different kinds of personalities and talents (I wish I had done more of that), are such a great ideas. You can learn so much from each person, good things and also even what you do not want to be like.

To view Breindel’s online portfolio, or to contact her for more information, please visit: http://susanbreindel.com/.

This past Monday (April 9th), Belgian designer Raf Simons was...

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 22:18:34 -0400

This past Monday (April 9th), Belgian designer Raf Simons was named Artistic Director of Christian Dior, succeeding Galliano as the chief designer. Galliano was dismissed from Dior in late February of last year, after being convicted of anti-Semitism.

The new Artistic Director studied industrial design and began his career as a furniture designer. His first menswear collection showed in Milan in 1995, under his own name. He started designing womenswear collections in 2004. And in 2008, he expanded his collections to include accessories. As Chief Designer at Dior, Simon is responsible for Haute Couture, Ready-to-Wear, and Women’s Accessories. Simon is known for his innovative, minimalist designs at Jil Sander, and he is associated with launching the bright color trend.

In an interview with The New York Times, Simon discussed his excitement about designing his first collection at Dior: ‘Of course, I haven’t been in the archives yet, but for me the strongest impact is the first 10 years of Dior and how to link that to the 21st century. Mr Dior was very innovative during a short time span. And it was in the middle of the 20th century, a period I am very interested in, whether it’s linked to fashion, architecture or art. So I find it very challenging to rethink couture.’

Simons’ first collection at Dior will premier as soon as this upcoming July, during Paris Fashion Week.

For those of you who aren’t aware, I’ve been doing...

Sun, 08 Apr 2012 23:27:16 -0400

For those of you who aren’t aware, I’ve been doing an internship all semester long at Anthropologie, Rockefeller Center. I wanted to take this opportunity to share what we (the visuals team) have been working on recently.

At Anthropologie, its time for the annual Earth Day inspired windows. This year, the company is partnering with the Wyland Foundation to raise awareness of the decaying health of our oceans. It is estimated that over the next thirty years, sixty percent of coral reefs are suspected to either vanish, or suffer irreparable damage.

This year the window displays were constructed from all recyclable materials including: cardboard, bottle caps, styrofoam, wood, skewers, tooth picks, and light bulbs. It has been a long process, and has required the effort of the entire visuals team to complete. Also in honor of Earth Day, our store is having a huge volunteer event where associates can spend Saturday, April 21st cleaning up two local beaches. I’m very excited for the volunteer event.

Overall, I feel incredibly lucky to have obtained an internship at the company flagship store. I work with the best of the best display coordinators and merchandisers. I was lucky enough to work on many different aspects of the Earth Day windows. Our windows are already attracting attention. We had a visit from a professional photographer last week who works for DDI. Our windows are going to be featured in an upcoming issue of the retail industry news magazine.

Everyone, if you are at all interested in visual merchandising, please take a few minutes to stop by Rockefeller Center and check out our windows!

Japanese artist Hiroshi Sugimoto, partners with Hermes in a...

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 15:54:35 -0400

Japanese artist Hiroshi Sugimoto, partners with Hermes in a limited edition silk scarf collection.

Hermes: Collaboration of Fashion and Art

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 15:53:40 -0400

Hermes Creative Director Pierre-Alexis Dumas has announced a limited edition scarf collaboration with Japanese photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto. The team of two paired up to select twenty of the artist’s polaroids to be printed on silk twill fabric. The line will be produced in very limited qualities, according to WWD. The collaboration is part three in a series of Hermes projects aimed at combining fine arts with fashion and textiles. Projects such as these innovative partnerships continue to separate Hermes from its competitors, as the best luxury brand.

I consider Hermes to be the number one luxury brand for multiple reasons: the first being that Hermes has remained a family owned corporation throughout the ages. Unlike LVMH and PPR Luxury Group, which are controlled by business executives seeking to take over and exploit the most marketable luxury fashion brands in order to make a profit, Hermes has remained a family owned brand.

Another great aspect of the company is the Hermes production strategy. Hermes produces the vast majority of their products in-house in order to control production and ensure quality standards. Unlike the hand-made products of the past, many of today’s most sought after products are produced in third world countries where labor and production costs are cheaper. This has resulted in a significant reduction in quality, and also an increase in mass production throughout the fashion industry. Another quality of Hermes that sets the company apart from other luxury brands is their growth strategy. The Hermes family has continued to control the majority of stock ownership in the company. The company strives for steady, organic growth based on classic product offerings. Hermes has avoided infiltrating new markets through franchises, and has maintained company ownership of retail boutiques. Mimi Tompkins of U.S. News & World Report referred to Hermes as “one of Paris’ best guarded jewels.”

Over time, Hermes has continued to differentiate itself from other luxury brand tycoons. Limited edition collaborations with the fine arts realm serve as a was for Hermes to cater to a rich niche market which still holds high quality as the number one value when shopping for new products. One can tell that Hermes is the greatest of the luxury brands simply by looking at the characteristics of luxury: Hermes products are rare, and of the upmost quality.

While sitting in a cozy coffee shop on 14th Street and...

Sun, 11 Mar 2012 16:50:43 -0400

While sitting in a cozy coffee shop on 14th Street and enjoying a cinnamon spice latte, I stumbled upon a photograph of Violaine Bernard, Fashion Director at VELOUR Magazine. To be entirely honest, I’ve never browsed through the pages of a copy of VELOUR, or heard the name ‘Violaine Bernard,’ but after seeing this image I was instantly inspired to learn more.

As it turns out, VELOUR is a British magazine, with a passion for photography and images. The magazine features content on fashion, photography, film, music, people, and lifestyle. VELOUR online resembles that of a blog. Posts read from top to bottom: title, author, and date of submission, followed by a large image accompanied with a caption or article. I love the style of the website. It is very in-tune with the increasing popularity of blogging and social media. One interesting thing I saw during my research was that a subscription to VELOUR only includes two issues. I can only assume that each issue includes both beautiful images and articles with great content.

After a while spent perusing the internet, it was quite a challenge to find biographical information on Bernard. However, she did come up in many online articles. Bloggers appear to love Bernard, as she is featured in many street style blogs simply due to the way she puts her outfits together. Bernard has been the Fashion Director at VELOUR since April of 2010, after Jason Wu. I completely admire her style and would love the opportunity to learn more about her position at VELOUR. I would like to attempt to contact her for an interview, but I feel it may be overly ambitious. It can’t hurt to try, right? - “Only those risking to go far will ever know how far they can go.”

Photo

Sun, 26 Feb 2012 22:42:57 -0500

Oscar Fashion

Sun, 26 Feb 2012 22:41:06 -0500

There was a lot to be admired on the Red Carpet this year.

Michelle Williams looked stunning in a burnt orange Louis Vuitton gown. She’s one of my favorite celebrity personalities and I always love her Red Carpet choices. Her brooch and choker necklace were perfect accents to her strapless dress, and provided the right amount of sparkle. Overall, she looked incredibly elegant, and unforgettable.

Sandra Bullock was also a favorite this year, wearing a black and white backless Marchesa gown with jewels at the waist and shoulders. She is completely stunning at age 47.

In my opinion, the worst-dressed actress to walk the Red Carpet was Viola Davis in a floor-length, bright green Vera Wang gown reminiscent of a bad prom dress. Both the cut of the bust line, and the rhinestone detailing combined to create an extremely unflattering strapless bodice. The bottom of the dress is a combination of pleats and ruffles that looked messy and unfinished. I felt disappointed to see such a beautiful actress in an unflattering dress.

One event I can’t leave out was Sacha Baron Cohen’s disgraceful interview with Ryan Seacrest. Cohen described his military attire, and then proceeded to dump an urn’s worth of “ashes,” or pancake mix, all over Ryan’s suit. The event was definitely a distraction, and Ryan struggled to keep his composure during the interviews immediately following the event.

BTS photo from the Nicki Cozzolino show!

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 18:26:18 -0500

BTS photo from the Nicki Cozzolino show!

Nicki Cozzolino AW 2012 Runway Show

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 18:24:28 -0500

For this week’s blog post, I wanted to share my experience volunteering for Fashion Week. In a blog post earlier this month, I spoke about participating in a model pre-casting for 3VPR and really enjoying the experience.

Last Saturday I received a call from Emily, an employee of 3V, asking if I was free on Monday evening to help out with the Nicki Cozzolino AW 2012 runway show. Of course I replied: “yes, I would love to help.” On Monday I went straight from my internship to the venue for the show, located at 80 Essex Street, Manhattan. My job title was Backstage Assistant/Photographer, and my responsibilities were to assist the Backstage Manager with anything she needed until the start of the show, and also take behind the scenes photographs and photograph during the runway show. From the time I arrived until the start of the show, I took pictures, checked in models, contacted modeling agencies inquiring about missing models, and assisted the Backstage Manager in prepping the space and other volunteers. The show started around 8pm, and I got some amazing pictures of the runway and models. Nicki’s collection was beautiful and I felt lucky to be able to meet her in person and participate in her show. Overall I think the experience has taught me a lot about Fashion Show Productions, and I’ve discovered it may be a field I want to pursue in my career.

Mercedes Bens Fashion Week: Monique Lhuillier FW12 Pictures from...

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 13:23:29 -0500

Photo by: Matt Hafley

Photo by: Matt Hafley

Photo by: Matt Hafley

Mercedes Bens Fashion Week: Monique Lhuillier FW12

Pictures from our Saturday evening at the Lincoln Center!

Tibi Review

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 13:12:00 -0500

(Tuesday, February 14, 2012)

This week is such an exciting time for fashion students. Being in New York during Fashion Week and having the opportunity to see and help out with shows has been a dream come true for me. This brings me to my blog post for this week: my first ever review of a fashion show. Enjoy!

Tibi: Fall 2012 RTW

This season, head designer Amy Smilovic showed an incredibly tailored collection, rooted in menswear inspiration. The majority of the collection was black, but it also featured white, ivory, navy, and dark green. There were three prints: a large dark plaid, a cream and black pattern, and a white and navy bird print which closely resembles the print featured in last Fall’s MiuMiu collection. The majority of silhouettes were boxy, with tailored, clean lines. There were a few flowy pieces to contrast with the more-structured silhouettes. Some Spring trends I noticed throughout the collection were dropped waist, printed pants, and high necklines. Model hair and makeup was styled natural and nails were painted white. Accessories were minimal. Some common elements throughout the collection were long sleeves, turtlenecks, and cropped pants. Overall, I truly loved the collection. There were many great versatile pieces, and I love the idea of mixing the masculine Tibi pieces with contrasting feminine pieces. I loved the collection and felt very lucky to witness the show from the Lincoln Center!

Pictures from the 3VPR model pre-casting!

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 13:10:41 -0500

Pictures from the 3VPR model pre-casting!

3V Opportunity

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 12:57:13 -0500

(Monday, February 6, 2012)

This past weekend, I volunteered to help with a model pre-casting event for 3V Public Relations. I heard about the event through an email from our Program Director, Emily Aldredge, and I thought it would be an easy way for me to gain more experience and also a great networking opportunity. Arriving on Saturday morning I was a little intimidated, but after twenty minutes or so I let my guard down and got to do some amazing things. I was asked to be a photographer for the day, so I was responsible for all photographs of the models. I was also asked to take behind the scenes shots for the company’s social media websites. Aushim, the owner of 3V, asked if I would be interested in volunteering again. Of course I said yes, and am now waiting to receive my confirmation to help out with the company’s biggest show during Fashion Week. I’m so excited, and if there is anything I have learned from this experience, it is that you never know who you’re going to meet/what opportunities you might stumble upon, so take every chance you encounter. You may end up at Fashion Week!

Photo

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 12:54:59 -0500

Hello

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 12:52:58 -0500

(Friday, January 13, 2012)

Hello to my fellow classmates and friends! I’m really excited to be starting a blog. On top of our class assignments, I’m hoping to use my blog as a way for me to document anything exciting that happens throughout this semester in the city. That way its a bit more personal, and hopefully more creative. So read and enjoy if you wish!

Its Friday evening, and I’m very excited to say I made it through my first week. I’ve started my internship and classes and things have gone incredibly smoothly. I’m very excited to be living here and truly looking forward to these next few months.

Here’s to NYC!