Exclusively Fashion Magazine: You have an established career as a fashion stylist; can you tell me your very first stylist job?

Beagy Zielinski: My 1st job was actually at a magazine that I was the fashion editor for. I styled all of the shoots at first to save budget, later because I loved doing it.

EFM: What is the most exciting thing about being a fashion stylist?

BZ: To be honest it is all exciting. Being able to create art with fashion is exciting, the fashion shows, parties & traveling to amazing locations is exciting and getting to work with and be inspired by some amazing artists is exciting. I love it.

EFM: Are there any lessons learned in this line of career choice?

BZ: Many… Its not a 9-5, this is a job that has no holidays, no end of day (unless you are in the union), no “this isn’t part of my job description”…etc This is a job that you do because you truly love it. You really have to love the good, bad & the ugly because when it is good it really is great but when it is bad it can make you want to give up if you don’t really love it.

EFM: There are many aspiring fashion stylist out there; can you tell me what a typical day  is like for a fashion stylist?

BZ: Every day is different, you have to be pretty organized. How your day will play out really depends on if you are shooting that day or if it is fashion week or if you have showroom appointments…Someone is always having a trunk show, or wants you to come by and see the collection on the days that you are not shooting. Then there is always the prep for shoots, which is filled with showroom appointments , phone calls & emails to showrooms…etc

EFM: What business advice can you give to starting a career as a fashion stylist?

BZ: Assist , test to build your portfolio and network as much as you can!

EFM: There are many avenues in going about becoming a fashion stylist; what have you found to be a good way of getting into this business?

BZ: Assist a stylist that you can learn from. That is a great way to learn what it takes, get a different artistic point of view & an amazing networking opportunity that you may not otherwise get.

EFM: I’m dying to know a little more about your fashion studio L ‘Armoire du Styliste; can you tell me where the concept and idea came from?

BZ: The idea came from just not being able to find certain things that I needed to style shoots the way I wanted. I got frustrated and said “Fine! I’ll do it myself” and opened the showroom. One of the things that was always hard to come by when I was shooting  for European magazines locally, with no shipping budget, was European designers. So when I started my showroom the 1st batch of designers I went after were some of the UK’s top designers. That’s how it started. As it grows it fills a number of other voids as I encounter them.

EFM: Does L’ Armoire du Styliste provides a crew for the fashion stylists?

BZ: No. L’Armoire Du Styliste is a clothing rental atelier. We provide both current & archived  clothing, shoes & accessories for stylists to rent for photo-shoots.

 EFM: After a long day, what do you do to relax?

BZ: Go for a long walk with my dog. I love to walk, and especially in the summer walk for hours, much to my dogs dismay.

EFM: How important is it to get experience as a fashion stylist?

BZ: Without experience, you have no portfolio. Without a portfolio you will not book any jobs. It's as simple as that. Clients want to know that you can do something before they book you. If a swimwear client looks at your book and there is tons of couture, but no swimwear in it, they are not likely to book you. Your book has to cover all areas that you want to be booked for, before you get the booking so shooting as often as possible is important.