FASHION STYLIST HANNAH BECK
British fashion stylist and art director currently living in London and working all over the world.
Your greatest inspirations or influences?
I actually studied photography at university rather than styling so I think my knowledge of photographic history and art plays a huge part in my work. My aesthetic is quite romantic so I love the work of photographers August Sander, Irving Penn, Sally Mann, Peter Lindbergh and Rafael Pavarotti . I've always a hunger to learn about anything that is different to what i know and have experienced, even as a child I remember spending hours pouring over books with pictures of children from different countries and cultures.This is something that has become prevalent in my work over the years- it's so important for me to learn through my work, to inspire others to see things in a different way or create something they can relate to. I intentionally create work that looks at humanity, history, religion and culture because my friends, my family, the city I live in and the world I've travelled is a melting pot of different nationalities and walks of life and I want my work to represent that.
Tell us a bit about your creative process?
I find that as a stylist you drive the direction of the shoots as you know what the trends are and what has been on the runway. If a photographer comes to you and says 'I want to do a whole shoot with polka dots " and you know there's hardly any polka dots in the shows that season... things can get tricky. I normally have an image i want to create in my head and then I'll start researching and reading which helps me start to create a visual moodboard and by the time i've finished that i've got at least 6-7 different images in my head that I want to do. I can then sit down and look at the shows and see what I can make work, what shapes will lend themselves to the story, what textures will give it depth, what colours will work with my model.
I definitely work in a very narrative way, I like to create a character and a story and think about what they would be doing or wear as that character when I'm pulling the clothes.
How has this year changed your creativity?
I think as an industry everything has slowed down but I actually think that's a good thing. For me I worked on some of my favorite projects last year and they came about because I had more time on my hands which meant the level of detail and thought I put into each image just created better images. There's a fine line between doing the right amount of big commercial jobs which pay the bills and doing the editorial jobs which I love and can be creative with. When all the commercial companies stopped shooting last year due to Covid it meant I had more time to think about my personal projects, shoots that I really wanted to create and spend days researching.
Who do you consider to be an icon of our time?
Thats a difficult one for me because so much of who I am as an artist or creator is looking back at history so many of the people who are iconic for me are not of our time. However I think there's been an incredible shift in the industry over the last few years with people such as Campbell Adyy and Rafael Pavarotti creating what is for me really iconic work because its deeply rooted in their culture and who they are as people and showing that it has a place in the fashion world.
instagram @hannahbeckstylist