Established Creatives Spill The Tea On How To Pursue A Non-Traditional Career

Lady Mandy is a pan African stylist who infuses culture into her own personal identity. Her styling projects have captured the attention of many high profile clients, including Mammito Eunice, Sauti Sol, Grace Msalame and Mumbi Maina.She incorporates beautiful Kitenge prints, bronze jewelry and ankara head wraps into her outfits making her approach to fashion and style both unique and refreshing.

How has your Pan-African identity influenced your career path?

My Pan African Identity is the integral lense through which I approach my creative process. This in turn, allows me to truly collaborate with other gifted Africans.

Many believe the Kenyan Fashion Industry can be stifling to creatives. What challenges have you faced and how have you overcome them?

Finding my own voice would have to be my biggest challenge yet. However, the safety I’ve found in my colleagues within the creative industry gives me confidence in my growth journey as stylist.

How do you empower your clients to express themselves through fashion?

I use fashion as a tool to highlight my client’s best features. I make sure that I give them command over any room they walk into because I understand that clothes matter but more importantly, the client is more than their clothes therefore fashion allows them to fully harness their confidence.

Brian Babu is a household name decorated with achievements spanning from East Africa Stylist of the Year (2016) to Africa’s stylist of the year (2018). He is the creative director of Brian Babu Styling, a boutique styling firm based in Nairobi Kenya with a team in charge of taking up both local and international projects. He has overcome the stereotype that fashion is a woman’s industry and has become one of the most sought after stylists in Kenya.

How long have you been a fashion and celebrity stylist and what big projects have worked on recently?

I’ve been a stylist for 8 years and worked on Live and Die Africa Tour, Coke Studio and most recently, styled the cast of Country Queen on Netflix for their press tour.

You mentioned in a previous interview that you transitioned from a career in financial economics to styling. What inspired this shift and how does your background in finance and economics shape your business?

The monotony of corporate life was uninspiring. Styling offered me different challenges and a continuous learning experience.

Although my background in finance has been of great help when it comes to budgeting, forecasting, planning and management of shoots and client profiles.

What are the main obstacles you face professionally today and how do you handle these challenges when they arise?

Big ideas become difficult to execute when the budget does not meet the scope of work involved. It’s important for me to leverage my invested relationships with stores that allow me to rent items in order to circumvent this issue. Additionally, the lack of access to a large pool of designers is difficult since it narrows my options when it comes to sourcing original clothing to meet my client’s diverse styling needs. I often import or customize pieces in order to avoid repetition.

Many consider styling a financially unstable career. How have you learned to secure the bag throughout your career?

By staying progressive and diversifying my portfolio. I invest a lot of time in research on what is available locally and globally within the fashion market. It is important for me not to limit myself therefore my portfolio stays updated with a range of styling services including films, music videos, celebrities, events, commercials and so much more.

Wendy Wangui, who transitioned from Styling into a career in entertainment marketing, explains that the impact of Covid played a major role in her shift. As a mutificated creative, she now oversees event planning, social media marketing, Dj bookings and curation within the Kenya Music Scene.

What inspired you to pursue a career in Fashion styling and image consulting?

I had a keen interest in fashion from a young age and back then, Fashion design was almost the only career you could dive into. I already disqualified myself when i looked at my sketches YIKES! I was fortunate enough to land an internship at a magazine where I developed an interest in fashion styling.

How do you juggle your different creative pursuits?

By being intentional about how I allocate my time to each project. I make sure I’m highly organized and work on one project at a time. If I have many styling gigs, I simply focus solely on them before taking up work in the entertainment scene.

What advice would you give to young people interested in a non- traditional career?

Go for it! You have to want it badly every day because that is what will help you keep your head up.