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 INGO
NAHRWOLD
FASHION STYLIST
HAMBURG, GERMANY
Ingo's career
started in 2001, assisting established fashion stylist
for 2 years. In 2004 he successfully began to work
for international magazines such as; TUSH, L'Officiel
Russia, QVEST, Vanity Fair, and GQ. His unique
work is in high demand, splitting his time between
Hamburg, Berlin, and Paris.
Exclusively Fashion Magazine:
Can you tell me what made you want to become a fashion
stylist; and why did you choose this career?
Ingo Nahrwold:
To
be honest it all started when I was a child. I was always
fascinated by fashion...dressed my little sisters Barbie
dolls and loved the style in 80s music videos, the
batman series with Adam west from the 60s....He-man and
She-ra.. Amazed
by the costumes and the characters they created the
moment that really made me want to work in fashion was George
Michaels' video "too funky" in 1992 the überwomen....the
amazing costumes....everything was just wow and from that
moment on I decided to work in fashion.....first I
wanted to become a fashion designer.......but I had no
interest in going to school again...so I started to work
in a Club Wear Shop in the red light district.
In 2000 a friend was going to a party with a fashion
show and asked me if I and a friend would like to organise, that's the only thing I knew from "high fashion"
was magazines......and the TV shows I collected since
1993 on video style with Elsa Klensch fashion
television by Jeanne Beker the pulse and stylissimo on
MTV.
A
real fashion show was new for me. The designer came, we
made the show and it was a huge success.
Sunday morning, after a long party night, he asked
me and my friend to come over to Milan to work for him.
I was like yeah, right old man, what a funny
joke! Two weeks before the men’s shows in Milan I
received a phone call saying that flight and hotel is
booked....so we ended up in the big fashion circus.
A year later,
still working in the shop, but already going all the time
to Italy where I was assisting him, with doing castings,
etc. I decided to start to create a portfolio and
doing test shootings.
It was the year 2001 and at the 11.9. the
economies went down.....it was the worst timing to start
a freelance business and assist other stylist.....no
work ,no jobs, no money...everybody was suffering!
After a lot of hard work, in the worst
situations, I ended up where I am now!!
EFM:
You have an agent; what advice can you give to a new
fashion stylist who’s starting out on how to approach an
agent to sign them on?
IN:
Difficult, I guess everybody should find their own
way.
You have to trust your agent and he has to believe
in you., of course sometimes u have problems with
them and arguments regarding style, etc. but I guess
u should always be strong and believe in
yourself....and sometimes they are right with their
critics.
Sometimes you don’t see that your work wasn’t
that good or too strong for clients, at the end its
a job and u want and need to make some money, so
listen to what they are saying!!
EFM:
It seems like everyone wants to be a fashion stylist; do
you think that
it is even harder now to become a
fashion stylist?
IN:
I think it’s very hard right now, economies are
crashing, the budgets are low and there are far too many
stylists around and like I said before, it’s a job!
The client gets what he wants!
Of course it has to be your own style in a way,
but you only did a good job when the client is happy and
books you again!
The personal style is only half of the rent.
I guess it’s more a personality thing; the whole
team has to like you.
For example, when you are on a trip for two weeks
or in the studio and the atmosphere is shit, and then
it’s going to be a long, long horrible job!!
I guess the time is over that you play the diva on set
you have to work hard and every minute! It takes a long
time to build up the name.
EFM:
Describe your personal style?
IN:
You have to describe my style!!
What do you see?
EFM: The photos you
provided, I see sophistication and sexy.
EFM:
It has been said, that in order to become a fashion
stylist, you have to assist an established fashion
stylist, basically with ‘no pay’. What do you think
about that and why is it important to train under an
established stylist?
IN:
I think in every job you have to learn.
Also, when you work as a fashion stylist, I think
the "no pay" rule is kind of unfair, of course, there are
jobs (editorials) where you have to pay everything.
The crew, the catering, sometimes the models, the
location, but there are also money jobs, at the money jobs. I always
pay my assistants.
I know how it is to have no money and the
beginning is really, really hard!!
I guess it’s really important that you do that.
I realized that you learn more when you really
want something!
You have to be open for everything and absorb
everything like a sponge and this business have some
rules you have to learn!!
It’s like every other job, learn from the
beginning step by step.
Also, style wise, it is good to assist, to see what other
people are doing, .how they see things! Learn from
them and find you own interpretation of that!
Don’t be scared of making mistakes!!!
EFM:
Before you launched out on your own, who did you assist,
and what did
you learn from him/her?
IN:
I was assisting a few German stylists and I learned how
to behave on a set, how to talk with clients and to
treat my assistants better than they did :-)
Most of the stuff I learned by myself.
When I look back there were so many things I
would change now, but it’s good to make these mistakes!!
EFM:
What advice can you give to aspiring fashion stylists?
IN:
1.Work hard!!!!
2. Always believe in yourself.
3. Be always nice and patient!
4. Look at what other people are
doing.
If you haven’t seen something and you think that could
be an idea, always remember “there must be a reason why
you haven’t seen that!!!"
Interview by Rochell “E” James
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