Today we’d like to introduce you to Daniella Mangakis
Hi Daniella, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I jumped around a bit at school until landing on fashion design, and went back to school in my home state of New York to study at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. I was always altering my clothing and was drawn in by the tactile craftsmanship of designing and making clothing. I was hired full time out of school in the City, but soon discovered grinding my way up the corporate ladder and spending most of my days in an office behind a computer wasn’t what I had imagined this career choice would take me.
Disheartened by the traditional manufacturing practices in the fashion industry that I was seeing in my career at that time, I vowed to stop buying anything new. It wasn’t a hard choice because the only fashion I could afford in the market lacked quality and style and was extremely unethical to produce. So I started exclusively buying second hand clothing at thrift stores, eBay and estate sales. Soon after I inherited my grandmothers eclectic closet of fashion treasures, and thus Brooklyn Archives Vintage was born, my first venture into having my own business. What started as a side hustle selling vintage online turned into a full time job after I was happily laid off for the 2nd time after the company I worked for went out of business. I started shooting and styling my vintage and created a website where I was also renting my garments to other stylists. I was selling at the top vintage trade shows in New York City and for a short time had a studio in the East Village.
Business was good, but it was tough running even a small business all on my own and I was loosing steam. I got my first taste of being on set while working as a production assistant at Spring Studios where they host anything from New York Fashion Week to Netflix productions and beyond. I loved the excitement and energy of being on set, how tangible, visual and hands on it was, and I learned a lot about what it took to produce huge fashion shoots. I’d see the stylists on set and could imagine myself in their shoes, and I was already doing it for my own brand. A friend at Spring gave me a list of contacts of producers and I started hitting the pavement sending intros to companies, until one, Barneys New York, asked me to come in and style their shoots. The rest is history as they say, I cut my teeth styling on set working with the most beautiful and unique fashion that exists. I made lasting relationships with my co-workers so even when Barneys went away, I was being pulled into different places by friends from Barneys.
Having been born and raised in New York, Long Island to be exact, and then living in the City for about 8 years, I felt like I needed a fresh start and circumstances made the move to Los Angeles a very easy choice having connected with clients very quickly out here. I love the variety of work I’m able to do here, from fashion and beauty campaign shoots, to commercials and celebrity styling. I’m both as wardrobe and prop & set stylist and still work in New York and all over but I loved being based out here right now. The weather and proximity to nature basically everyday has been life changing.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Definitely not! As I mentioned I jumped around a bit in school and even early in my career, but looking back I see all the common threads that lead me to where I am now, and I’m grateful for it all. One of the toughest parts was when I went back to school at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, I was in an accelerated design program that was an intensive with all design classes, and I was commuting from Long Island. So for a year, every second of my free time until wee hours in the morning I was doing design work. Even when I got a job out of school and was then living in the City, my job hardly paid anything so I was really just surviving, which hampered my creativity. But I knew I would and could evolve beyond that.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m both a wardrobe stylist (mens and women’s) and prop and set stylist, and its been about 50/50 for both. I also photo art direct coming up with the visual story for a shoot.
I started in wardrobe coming from the fashion design world, which felt very natural to me. I loved being able to work with clothing in a new way that was still very visual, tactile and tells a story about who the person is, whether its a model for a campaign or a celebrity which is more personal. I specialize in vintage and eras from of all my time sourcing when I had my vintage store, and still take interest in now, wether its for wardrobe or props. You’ll rarely see anything new in my home or closet.
In the prop and set world, I love being able to create and set a scene and have the story and people exist within it. When I’m art directing, again, it comes down to the story and creating to overall visual narrative for a shoot which I also really enjoy. They all fall within the same threads of storytelling. In general, I love utilizing old and new world elements, which makes whatever story we’re telling feel more rich and authentic.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
I think I was pretty shy and retreated into my own world a lot! I felt this is when I could really dream and create. But as I got older I would paint with my grandmother who was a self taught artist. She nurtured my creativity and was my earliest mentor. She’d also take me to estate sales which is where I got my first experience sourcing eclectic items.
Pricing:
- Contact Me!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.daniellamangakis.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/daniellamangakis/
- Other: Email: [email protected]
Image Credits
Photographers: Steve Warren, Toma Kostygina, Claiborne Swanson Frank
