Interview
with Amine Jreissati
While working behind the scenes, stylists play a key role in
building striking brand identities and fashion narratives.
ForWard meets stylist Amine Jreissati to shed light on what it
takes to become a visual innovator.
Forward: While being able to adapt their styles for clients, brands etc. we
can always feel the signature of a stylist. How would you describe your
personal style?
Amine
Jreissati: I would say that
just like my own personality, my shoots are often full of paradoxes. A clash of
aesthetics, shaped yet unpolished, clean yet messy. It could be through the
hair, the outfits, the make-up, the attitude or even the context. There must be
life in the story I tell, some imperfections that give it a soul. A shoot is a
story, and a story with no emotion is simply boring.
F: From
where do you draw your inspiration?
AJ: From anything and everything.From the streets, from art,
from imperfections, and from beauty; even ugliness inspires me.
F: How do
you build an identity for a brand or a shoot?
AJ: If am building a brand identity or
working on a first campaign for a brand (which happened to be the case with a
Lebanese designer for whom I created the first campaign ever), the major
challenge is to translate the vision of the designer in one image. To create
desire. To create an impact. It’s not a story, it’s more of a vision in one
single image.And the process to get to that images is the equivalent of
hours of brainstorm, of trials; it’s a huge team sharing ideas; then you take
the best out of all and bring it to life.
F: Styling
requires fashion visionaries. What does it take to be ahead of one's time in
this field?
AJ: I think that nowadays, we are not very
much ahead of time. Everything has been done, redone, reinterpreted and
revisited.We are more in the present than in the
future...Everything is trendy, seasons don’t really exist anymore. What’s
out today, is already outdated tomorrow. So what’s important today is to be
able to propose a vision of how to wear stuff, how to mix them, how to make
them alive and adapt them to your own personal style.
F: What is
your creative process when working on a shoot?
AJ: Every shoot is different. Challenging
in its own way. And the process I have for each shoot depends on the project
itself. Sometimes the model inspires me and I build the concept/story around
her.Or if I have a certain concept in mind, I then find the appropriate
girl for that specific concept and develop it.Not to forget that it’s always
a teamwork. Obviously, one should take the final decision, but what’s important
is that the photographer, stylist, hair and make-up should all be aligned in
terms of vision.
F: Which
Styling tip would you give to the readers of ForWard?
AJ: Honestly, I think that every person
should dress the way they feel comfortable.That’s how they create their
own style.If one doesn’t have his/her own style it means s/he still
didn’t find himself; he or she is somehow lost.So my advice would be to
follow what your body needs and what you feel mentally or physically
comfortable in. And balance (in term of colors, shape, etc.) is very important.
Finally, attitude is the key to all.