Super Style Me – Bec Cole

I first discovered the work of Bec Cole when I was at VAMFF earlier this year.  Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival is always a treat as it combines the week long excitement of the runway with a cultural taste of Melbourne itself, and it truly is a wonderful delicatessen of fashion experience.

On one of the last days, through the haze of my exhaustion I could feel my interest pique when I saw Bec’s work, and made a mental note to myself as I do to remember to contact her with a view to highlight the obvious dedication to her work when I returned home.

Bec is one of the highly talented, hard working stylists, and passionate devotees of the Australian fashion industry, who travels far and wide to bring us the wonderful smorgasbord of visual delight that only such a stylist can.

A kind of creative hero if you like. I feel we tend to forget the amazing creative minds and teams who sit behind the creation of the collections of fashion designers. Personally, I believe it is so important to remember to applaud the work of these dedicated professionals who work tirelessly behind the scenes.

Very loudly.

Enjoy xx

LM

What do you believe is the role of “the stylist”?

BC

A stylist is a visual translator….helping a designer, art director or editor achieve a look, story and campaign brief. It’s helping create a visual reality….This can be anything from dressing talent, liaising with designers to designing sets and alternative worlds.

I have a background in set design, so I love seeing a whole vision come to life….this includes not only the wardrobe side of things, but the propping, set design….even the casting of the talent /  models. It’s helping everything come together visually to tell the whole story.

LM

What attributes do you believe are important to be a great stylist?

BC

I think you have to be a practical dreamer…..be able to see the vision in your head, but know how to achieve it technically. 

I do tend to revert to my set design training and costume designing a lot, as I think in “ Characters” and “worlds “ a lot if that makes sense. It’s not just a one dimensional exercise.

I also think having the ability to work with different personalities and be able to take personal preference /  likes /  dislikes out of the process at times helps, especially when you are working to a specific brief and someone else’s budget. Having a healthy sense of reality is a must to….to enjoy the work and not get to caught up in pretence. Have fun.

LM

What has been your greatest learning experience?

BC

I’m still learning and hope this never stops! But I can say, as a creative….it’s very easy to be your worst critic and be overly hard on yourself. Believing in yourself and your talent is important…..being kind to yourself and also knowing that you’ve got good people around you.  I’m constantly grateful for the amazing people I work with, have become great friends with and who have nurtured and supported me.

LM

What is your opinion about the rise of the fashion blogger?

BC

Blogging is indeed an art form….and I do admire the dedication and time that goes into it. Personally , I don’t enjoy writing or blogging as much as creating imagery, but who knows….never say never!

LM

Do you believe that they add value to our fashion industry and why?

BC

I think there is value there….I like to see what other creatives are doing.

LM

How important do you believe social media is for your work?

BC

I look at it as one way of reaching people, just like a great agent, website etc. It’s just the way that things are headed….but at the end of the day, the quality of work that I’m producing , working on or part of is more important to me than a picture of my shoes though. But social media is a great time killer and guilty pleasure for sure.

LM

Are you fan of fashion bloggers receiving endorsements, brand allegiance and payments for their posts?

BC

I’m kind of on the fence here….if it’s providing results for designers and retailers I’m all for keeping our Fashion Industry thriving.

LM

How competitive is your market?

BC

It’s a fairly small community of advertising and editorial stylists. I like to think that there is enough room for everyone. Concentrate on what you are doing…it’s a perspective thing. If I loose a job, it opens the door for another. I genuinely love seeing what other stylists are doing, a bit of healthy competition is a good thing.

LM

Do you choose to work with specific people or do they choose to work with you?

BC

Goes both ways…..you definitely have teams, creatives that work better together than others. There haven’t been that many times I’ve felt there have been clashes, but when there are, I tend to acknowledge that I won’t thrive and be able to create my best work…and it goes both ways. Creativity and communication go hand in hand…some people speak the same language as you, some don’t.

LM

Do you feel that people respect your chosen career?

BC

I think some do….a lot don’t realise how much goes into it. The mental and physical aspects of the job….as well as trying to work to tight budgets and timelines. Styling can be quite all consuming…..

LM

What advice would you give to up and coming stylists?

BC

Assist…..there is nothing like working and aligning yourself with a stylist to work out if it’s really for you. It’s rewarding but hard work.

LM

Do you believe that working as a freelancer is challenging?

BC

Any sort of freelance work can be challenging, not having a regular working schedule….or knowing what the next job is can be stressful…it’s managing it and being pro active. In quieter times working on personal projects is a great thing to do to keep creativity flowing.

LM

Do you believe that the Australian fashion industry supports its local designers? Who is your favourite Australian fashion designer?

BC

I think a lot of the big international fast fashion companies like ZARA and H&M are certainly causing some concern. This is where Magazines, Fashion Festivals, stylists and industry leaders need to get behind our designers. It’s also helping our designers grow and expand….I make a conscious effort to wear as much Australian designed clothing as possible. I think funding and backing Australian designers is essential and think a few of our big retailers are getting there with this.

LM

What do you think consumers could do to better support our home grown brands?

BC

Buy more Australian labels….I know sometimes this is a cost issue, but where possible shop locally.

LM

What is your view about fast fashion?
It has it’s place….but I do worry about the impact it’s having on a bigger scale. To our planet, but also to our Fashion Industry….I’m also conscious of the working conditions of people who make these clothes. It’s a never ending cycle of supply and demand, but consumers are becoming more ethically conscious.

LM

Where would you like to see yourself in five year from now?

BC

I’d love to work on my own book….I’ve been lucky enough to work on two already with photographer Robyn Lea…but to do my own on inspiring fashion, destinations and people would be amazing. Having a background in Film and Television, costume designing a Film would also be goal I’d like to set myself. I’ve production designed and styled a few short fashion based films and TVC’s but a feature film would be amazing.

LM

If you could style anyone or be a stylist at any event, what would that be?

BC

I’d love to style Tilda Swinton … I find her remarkable. Great actresses and beautiful fashion are a great combination!

LM

What is your greatest criticism of the fashion industry in Australia?

LM

What do you love most about Australian fashion?

BC

Australian Fashion has a certain freedom about it … this could be climate driven or the fact that as a country we’re quite young compared to Europe and North America. We are also quite isolated and removed from Europe so we’ve developed our own sense of style and fashion.

LM

Yeah!  That’s what makes Australian designers and creatives %*&@$…ng awesome!

Until next time,

Jade xx

Check out Bec’s work on Instagram & Facebook …

And don’t forget to buy Australian labels!

Accreditations |

Stylist | Bec Cole | Instagram | Facebook

Photographer | Sam Bisso | Sam Bisso Instagram | Sam Bisso Facebook 

Photographer | Benn Jae | Benn Jae Instagram 

Photographer | Andrew Richey | Andrew Richey Instagram | Andrew Richey Dot Com

Hair & Make Up | Victoria Martin | Victoria Martin Instagram 

Hair & Make Up | Karissa McLaren | Karissa McLaren Facebook |

Hair and Make Up | Coco Productions | Bernadette Fisers | Bernadette Fiser Dot Com 

Hair and Make Up | Blanka Dudas | Blanka Dudas Instagram | Blanka Dudas Dot Com 

Producer | Brooke Harward

Designer | Suzanne Harward

Thanks To |  Coco Productions | Hart and Co.