Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Celebrity Fashion Stylist - Olori SWANK Covers 'Edge' Magazine


Fieeeeeeeerce! 'SWANK is the NEW BLACK!'

If you follow me on Twitter, you'll see my neverending love for celebrity fashion stylist - Olori SWANK - she knows the ins and outs of Fashion like no other. Just moments ago, I saw this post on Olori SWANK's blog and I screeched with excitement, lol!!

Stylist to the stars - Keyshia Cole, Dawn Richard, Karrueche Tran, and a few others. Olori SWANK graces the cover of 'Edge' magazine - shot by her friend-actor-photographer-model Lance Gross for this special edition.

With her signature blue hair and crazy goofy facial expressions (which I love) SWANK speaks on who she is, how she started, how social media has helped her, how she got her blue hair and sooo much more. Peep some of the highlights that I loved from this exclusive interview with Olori SWANK! 

And for those of you that don't know what 'Olori' means, it means Princess - which she is, in her own right! 

Olori SWANK is most certainly a black girl killin' it, in what she does and I am very proud of her... This is definitely a good read for aspiring stylists out there!




On who is Olori SWANK:
I am a stylist. I am a friend too many. I call myself the antisocial socialite because I know a lot of people but I don’t hang out with anyone. Most of the time. I’m at home working on something or spending time with my siblings.
Process she [Olori] takes when creating a look for a client:
When working with a new client I always research them. That’s my most important step. I try to find out everything about them. I look at all their old press and pictures. I analyze everything that I find. That helps me decide what I want to create for that person. Of course, I talk with them, find out what they like and what look they’re going for and why they called me specifically. I need to know what they think I can do for them. After I figure out what works , I take that and continue to build and make sure that all that prior information is in the forefront of what people see.

Best way to make professional styling a career:
I would love to say intern, assist or shadow someone but that’s not how my story started. I never got to intern for anyone. I had to learn everything as I worked. There’s only a handful of stylists who are really part of the game which means there’s not many interning positions available. If you can’t find someone to work under and learn from, I would suggest doing workshops and then going into business for yourself. I have a workshop called  Lesson in Swank. I’m sure there are others. Sign up, take notes and start on your own.
On how social media has helped her [Olori] and how important it is to a budding stylist:
Social network is ridiculously important. Look at me and Keyshia Cole, for example. I ran into her at a store in Atlanta and she approached me about my hair. I didn’t think to give her my card or anything. A couple of days later I saw that she had started following me on Twitter. She sent a message and a conversation later she told me she was doing 106 & Park and wanted me to style her for it. I’ve been working with her ever since. There’s a number of people I’ve met on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram so I would not count that out.

On her [Olori] signature blue hair and whether it was intentional:
No. My hair was an accident. I wanted pink hair with purple highlights and when the girl finished, my hair was blue. I cried! I was catching a flight two hours later to go on tour with a client and there was nothing she could do to turn it back in that small amount of time. She promised she would change it when the tour ended but when I got to the first stop on tour, everyone loved it. This was six years ago and NOBODY had blue hair, that’s really why I cried, I thought people were going to think I was crazy. But when everybody said they liked it, I pretended like it was my style and my hair hasn’t been any other color since then.
Important steps to building your brand:
The key to building a brand is consistency. The difference between mediocrity and greatness is consistency. Be consistent with your work. Constantly strive to be the best at what you do. And be consistent with your name on everything, that goes for social networks too. I am Olori Swank on everything that I do. I don’t make it confusing for people. Wherever they see me, the image of my name is burned in their brain.

Her inspiration(s):
I am inspired by anything and everything. I’m easily inspired but not easily influenced. I can be standing outside and a series of cars drive by together and that will inspire me to do a color scheme based on that. Or in the wintertime, homeless people inspire me with their layers. I’m like I know you’re homeless and I actually feel bad for you but I just love the way you’re working your layers. I’ll go home and create a look that’s homeless chic. The leaves, when they turn colors, inspire me. I take inspiration from everything like a sponge.

On what she [Olori SWANK] wants her legacy to be...
I just want to be known as the best who ever did it. 

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