Interview with an extremely talented Hungarian fashion stylist: Illés Anett
This month we had the opportunity to have a chat with an extremely talented Hungarian fashion stylist: Anett Illés who started her career as an event planner.
Download this article in PDF for free here: VIBES Oct 2017 Interview with Anett Illés fashion stylist
Anett Illés, fashion stylist
Vibes: Tell us a few things about yourself. How did you end up in the world of fashion styling? When and how did you get in touch with fashion and creativity?
Ancsi: I used to draw my graphic designs for dresses and I submitted my ideas to various calls for tenders and I made styling out of my mother’s old clothes. I cannot pick out a single piece of work but I believe the „firsts” are always the ones you remember the most.
Fashion stylist: Anett Illés
Vibes: What is your definition of a fashion stylist?
Ancsi: Nowadays styling is extremely trendy in Hungary although there are many who simply don’t have an idea of what that actually means; once they start working most of them are astonished to discover what the job actually consists of. For example it contains a lot of physical work and much less glamour than they originally thought.
Of course there are lots of different features that depend on the genre: in case of a fashion shoot the stylist and the photographer are working together and they define not only the concept but the lighting and the background; in an advertisement the stylist focuses only on the clothing.
The director gives the instructions about the atmosphere or mood she/he wants and the stylist implements the director’s vision with clothes and accessories.
(and that is also part of the job of the stylist…) If it is an interior shoot, the stylist has to collect the props, the items, the objects, and he/she defines the composition. So styling is a rather complex concept.
Vibes: Do you follow the trends of fashion on a daily basis? Where do you find your inspiration?
Ancsi: This job calls for excellent organising skills, you must be ready to bring fast decisions and you must be an expert who knows all the fashion trends going back several centuries.
It is absolutely necessary to have up to the minute information concerning domestic and international trends on a daily basis. You may find help while browsing the Internet and reading international professional journals on the latest trends in fashion industry.
Fashion stylist: Anett Illés
Fashion stylist: Anett Illés
Fashion stylist: Anett Illés
Vibes: What kind of qualities does a stylist have to possess? What kind of advice could you give to someone who just graduated as a fashion stylist?
Ancsi: You have to have a feel for it but connections are also essential. A stylist has to be easy going, approachable, good at communicating and at adapting to change. A shooting for an ad can take days so it is really important to be able to co-operate well with the team. In such cases good mood can also be an important factor.
If you can play by those rules and you have the talent you will find your place in this industry.
Vibes: What kind of projects were you involved in recently? Do you have a dream project that you would just love to do if you had a chance?
Ancsi: If we are in Hungary we have to come up with themes or subjects that can be implemented locally. It is not up to us to decide when it is okay for us to do something; we must adapt to the shops. In some cases you have no more than three days to get your act together.
Hungarian designers are very talented. If you just look at the size of the country, you will realise that there are lots of talented people around. I really like their work; there is something special, something uniquely Hungarian that you cannot see anywhere else. Every project is a dream project and all of them are special and charming but what I am really crazy about are wild ideas and creativity.
Fashion stylist: Anett Illés
Ancsi during work 🙂
Fashion stlylist: Anett Illés for Elle magazine
Vibes: What is your greatest personal challenge in being a fashion stylist?
Ancsi: Time. If only days would be longer than 24 hours and there would be time for every little detail. However, I am not complaining, I am a member of a great team of professionals who can solve anything anytime and the other team members also have BTL background.
I have to disappoint everyone who thinks that the gigantic buildings of TV companies are like enormous malls that are overflowing with beautiful dresses and accessories.
Good-looking pieces of clothing are rarely owned by the TV channel or the presenter; they are usually rented and when their brief moments of glamour and fame are over the clothes are cleaned and returned to the fashion store which sponsors the channel’s program. Dressing the different actors who appear in the programs is a lot more complex task than you would think.
Just because someone happens to be a good presenter or actor they do not necessarily dress well or create their own personal styles.
Since they must rely on their looks in order to achieve what they want to convey they can fail easily if their clothing is not right.
That may happen because the dress or clothing does not fit her/his personality or it simply looks bad on the person. What often happens is that people will only remember that she /he was dressed poorly, and they tend to forget how good they were at what they did. Naturally, their talent won’t be lost but people will no longer judge them on the merit of their talent. Unfortunately failures and things that go wrong are much more likely to be spotted then success. That is why mistakes must be avoided because they could be fatal.
Fashion stylist: Anett Illés
Fashion stylist: Anett Illés
Vibes: How would you describe yourself, that is Ancsi, the fashion stylist in three words?
Ancsi: What I really like about my job is the fact that there is not a single stylist who could say ’I know everything’.
I love to see things change from season to season; even if the fashion of the 60s and the 70s come back, there is always something new as well. I never get tired of it, I just love love it. I want to keep on doing this as long as I can. The most important requisits are humbleness, lots of coffee and crazy ideas.
Fashion stylist: Anett Illés
Fashion stylist: Anett Illés
Fashion stylist: Anett Illés
Fashion stylist: Anett Illés
Vibes: Budapest as well as Hungary as a whole has undergone many major changes recently as far as fashion is concerned. What do you think are the causes? Where do you think we are compared to Paris, Milan:…?
Ancsi: I believe that it’s extremly difficult to make a living out of anything in Hungary. To get by on what you love often seems impossible. Unfortunately most people would rather give up their dreams, sell their souls and spend long years in jobs without any perspective that make their life miserable instead of believing in themselves and fighting for their dream job.
Icons are influencing me as well, I do love to add something new to my outfit, for example today I am wearing woven chinos pants with a Breton striped top and maybe I should have combined my attire with an elegant jacket, but I chose a sporty top instead to avoid being extremely rigorous.
I just love the refined taste of French magazines. You can learn a lot from them, you can get some inspiration by watching how they manage to come up with something different, something new despite the fact that they are working on the same topic. It’s fascinating to see how they always manage to reinterpret a sporty project that has been done a million times before. You can get a lot of inspiration from those magazines.
Fashion stylist: Anett Illés
Fashion stylist: Anett Illés
Fashion stylist: Anett Illés
Fashion stylist: Anett Illés
VIBES: What’s next? Any future projects? How do you see your career as a fashion stylist?
Ancsi: In recent years the styling of video clips, talent shows and commercials have become extremely popular besides motion picture styling and fashion shootings, consequently there is a great demand for the styling of celebrities and TV appearances as well.
I would like to learn all those basics but fundamental skills from professionals while participating on as many shootings as possible – either on a paid or TFCD basis.
Vibes: Can you give some hints about the must-have trends of this autumn?
Ancsi: The beginning of the school season, chilly mornings, post-vacation depression, and hideous Monday mornings… Come on, stop being so negative! Change your attitudes a little, don’t be so tragic about the start of school or the fact that we don’t have any more holidays at work until Christmas.
Let’s look at the good side of autumn. This is the time when we can start bringing some variety into the way we dress, there is once again a system in our daily chaos, we can pull out our favourite leather coats from the wardrobe and it will be great fun to start cooking in the kitchen, yet we still have some time before we have to say goodbye to our summer clothes and our summer moods.
It is always exciting to realise that a new season is approaching because we always tend to get carried away by the new fashion designs, collections and colours and we easily forget that we are moving aways from the previous season of the year; we forget, because we are already focusing on the new one.
Belts, velvet shoulder pads and pantsuits will be making a comeback this autumn. Huge shoulder pads in vivid colours. Accompanied by high-waisted trousers.
A flash of shoulders with a difference, yellows, flowers and stripes as far as the eye can see, including a truly distinctive design at the waist. Those are all included in the special features of the autumn season ahead.
VIBES: How can Vibes readers find you?
Ancsi: My email address is illess.anett@outlook.com. You can find me also on Facebook at : https://www.facebook.com/illes.anett.75?fref=ts
VIBES: Thank you 🙂
During shooting 🙂
Ancsi after shooting 🙂
Fashion stylist: Anett Illés
Fashion stylist: Anett Illés
