Check Out Irina Van Verseveld’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Irina Van Verseveld.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My creative journey into styling began first as a fascination with clothes and fashion at a young age and as a custom designer in my teen years. As a teen I loved looking through fashion magazines and watching a lot of MTV, getting inspired by both high fashion and music artists’ style, I realized the available fashion options around me where I was growing up were so limited, I decided to design my own clothes and eventually started getting requests from friends and orders from friends of friends, and so on. I always had an understanding that great fashion design doesn’t automatically guarantee a great final look on a person, that styling is what will either highlight a design beautifully or weaken its overall appeal. So after honing my eye for silhouettes and details for a while and after several years of full time motherhood I was ready to naturally expand into fashion styling as soon as time allowed. I was already balancing motherhood with some private personal styling clients and emerging music artists, so as soon as I had more time as my kids got older and more independent, my creative vision and story telling extended further into styling editorials for magazines, celebrities for red carpets and press appearances, brand campaigns & Ecom, album covers and music videos for music artists, content styling for influencers and even a couple of fashion shows!

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
To be perfectly honest I don’t know anyone who’s ever had a completely smooth road to their dream or career goal. I think there are always some challenges along the way as well as ups and downs, and naturally so as we navigate the ever expanding learning process, growth as well as any changes in the specific industry. For me personally the smoother part has been a certain respect and recognition of my talent/styling work in the form of compliments, praise and admiration, however the less smooth part of it so far is having a certain stability to the inflow of clients, offers and requests, and in a wider sense, establishing a better understanding in the industry and people or companies inquiring about the services that styling and image consulting work is valuable, important, it can be stressful and challenging, therefore it deserves fair pay just like any other important service. I think many people have a misconception that stylists don’t have to do that much work, that they somehow magically have all types of outfits and sizes ready to go and all they have to do is bring them and put them on the clients, and obviously that’s not the case. There’s a lot of research, preparation, time as well as knowledge and experience that goes into each styling project. So negotiating appropriate fair rates has been one of the challenges that I’ve faced and know other stylists share as well. For some reason we are often asked to do the work for free as if it’s not that big of a deal or we don’t need to make a living, which I find confusing. But overall my journey as a stylist has been a joyful one, I love fashion, I love creatively ‘playing with clothes and accessories’, I enjoy the people and the brands I work with and the connections I make along the way.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m a fashion and wardrobe stylist, specializing in red caret/celebrity styling, music artists styling and brand campaign styling. I’m known for my signature styling blend of elegance, edge and slight whimsy. I work with both womenswear and menswear, and I pull and build looks for different occasions such as red carpet appearances, press tours & junkets, athlete tunnel walk looks, special occasions, personal wardrobes, executive wardrobes, brand campaigns and more.
What sets me apart part from others is I tend to gravitate towards high quality natural textiles such as silk, cotton, wool, linen and so on whenever possible, that helps my clients look their absolute best while making more conscious fashion choices for our planet. It’s not always possible, but I take great effort in that approach. My wardrobe styling and image consulting services are also available to anyone who’s looking to upgrade, elevate and/or change their current wardrobe or overall image in any way.

Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
Entertainment and fashion have always been a great source of comfort and escape for people. The fashion industry will be there as long as people need to dress themselves in clothes, even though approaches to styling may change. I see the entertainment industry expanding and reaching new levels of viewership and as long as there’s an entertainment industry – there is a need for styling all the talent that’s involved. Some brand campaign styling will eventually move to AI generated versions however those will still need to be guided by someone with understanding of fashion, trends, color theory, shapes, fit, silhouettes and so on. But I believe physical styling and dressing services for red carpet, premieres, special occasions, weddings, editorial, press, etcetera will continue to be in demand in the next 5-10 years.

Pricing:

• As a social for your readers I’m happy to offer a 1 hour personal style/image consultation with a few helpful pointers for $99
• For brand campaigns, red carpet styling or other special projects please reach out for quote

Contact Info:

• Website: https://irinavanverseveld.style
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wonderzuzu
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wonderzuzu
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/irina-van-verseveld-357b7b369
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@wonderzuzu_style
• Yelp: https://yelp.to/jqBENzYb6I