“I didn’t always want to be a fashion stylist, I didn’t really know what that was” Alizé confesses. When studying at Kingston University and uncertain on the direction her creative skills would take her, Demange never imagined that she would be seeing her work plastered on billboards and magazines.
Her journey has been a malleable one. After realizing that fashion design was not for her, she got her first styling internship through a friend where she finally found her passion. From networking and doing collaborations, Alizé grew her private clientele before going back to uni to attain a degree in Fashion Marketing. As her creative network grew, she made the scary decision to become a full-time Freelancer and built her impressive portfolio of popular publications and celebrities. Although the journey has been strenuous at times, her most recent project has proven it all worth it.
The Maya Jama X Pretty Little Thing capsule range launched in June 2018. Alizé is proud to have been heavily involved throughput the entire process as she consulted Maya from conceptual stages, ensuring everything reflected her true personal style- which she has ofcourse now championed after building their two-year working relationship. “I definitely see it as a career highlight as a team and as an individual. It’s something that I have always wanted to do- to be able to work on a collaborative collection and style a campaign and becoming an international thing with such a big brand. It has been an amazing experience for me and has opened my eyes to see what else is possible for the future”.
Thanks to Cerf and Kahn, the Internet has given Creatives an incredible platform to share their work, and connect with like-minded people on an immense scale. I asked Alizé her current thoughts on the industry where she strongly responds “Sorry to be cliché but, what a time to be alive! We are living in such a cool time in the UK especially-Primarily for music, which translates heavily into fashion. When I was younger, the music within my community was not making any money. It was not mainstream. It was never assumed to amount to anything successful if you chose to channel your “urban roots”. I don’t like the word urban but I think that is the most generic word to describe my community- all of that has really changed and it is a very beautiful thing to witness.” There is no denying that there still being a very long way to go in terms of diversity, but she continues to say that “there are more people looking like me”.
ALizé continues to provide tips on becoming a Celebrity Fashion Stylist- “Its definitely about work ethic and consistency. You are going to have to work very, very hard, it’s a very hard job. You can’t really fall off, there is no time for that. The more that you are going for it, the more you are going to get back from it and definitely through assisting and shadowing, you are going to have to learn the trade from crappy admin to the glamorous shoots. You are going to have to be in it to win it”.
When she isn’t styling, Demange enjoys putting on workshops for young people who strive to do what she does. “I found it really hard to get into this industry when I was younger” she goes onto stress that she felt she didn’t belong in the space she was striving to reach and now wants to be an approachable contact herself for the next generation.
Alizé is very hot this summer and isn’t planning on cooling off anytime soon. Within the midst of enjoying her accomplishments, she is planning her next venture, which we will certainly be keeping our eyes peeled for.
Follow Alizé on Instagram
Words: Shanna Bent