LCS Student Success Stories with Angelica Stenvinkel

Today we’re incredibly happy to introduce you to our talented Advanced Fashion Stylist student, stylist and make-up artist Angelica Stenvinkel.
From editorials, to commercials and most recently the famous L’Oreal Trophy awards – she’s done it all. Let’s take a close look into her career and find out how she got to where she is now.

Tell us a bit about yourself

I am originally from Sweden and moved to London about 1,5 years ago. I have been working with makeup since the age of 20, starting as a freelance makeup artist and working my way up to helping companies develop their make-up brands. I have also been giving makeup courses on technique and sales all over Sweden and Norway, for both makeup schools, as well as cosmetic stores and pharmacies.

I have always been really interested in fashion, so I combined my work with studying fashion design which helped me to become a fashion buyer. 

I switched carrier and started to work as a brand manger in a department store in Stockholm. I was responsible for 10 different clothing brands and our main thing was to make sure that our customers saw us as their personal stylist. But after a couple of months I became restless. I loved the buying part and to help customers  but from time to time is really quiet and not much to do.  At the same time H&M called me and I got the chance to work at their head office in the buying department. I started to work with guest design collaborations and had a chance to supervise a collaboration with one of my favourite designers, Comme des Garçons. At that moment I knew I was on the right track. 

2012 I started to freelance again as a makeup artist and stylist. I tried to do as much editorials as possible and combined that with commercials. In 2014 we moved to Singapore and I continued to freelance. After 3 years we moved to London.

When we moved here I knew I had to work really hard to get back into the industry again. With no network and hardly no friends in London, I really had to start all over again. When I found LCS, I knew that it would help me to get back on track again. That in combination with doing a lot of networking myself and putting myself forward for all sorts of styling jobs that came up.

What inspired you to get into the creative industry? 

I have been surrounded by creative people in my family, even if they don’t work in fashion. Since I was little I have always loved colours, different textures and fabrics. I learned at a young age how you can express yourself with different styles.

You are a qualified stylist and make up artist.
What’s your preference?

When I am working for TV commercials I usually do both, and I like it. Its nice to do “a full look”.
But if I have to choose I say stylist. Its more exciting for me now and I have so much more ideas in styling then I have in makeup.

Which course did you take with LCS and how did it impact your career?

I’m currently doing the 6 months Fashion & Personal Styling Diploma.
I choose this course because I wanted to gain deeper knowledge as a fashion stylist and to grow my network in London. Moving to a new country and not having a network is really tough and it feels like you have to start all over again. Through the college I met so many industry professionals which led to paid jobs during the course and I also got friends for life.
When I started to work as a stylist I did it with a “learning by doing” philosophy. Now I feel a lot more confident and I learnt so many tricks about styling, as well as the business side of things, here in London.

Tell us about your recent job for the L’Oreal trophy awards

I got the chance to work with this amazing makeup artist/hair stylist Martin Carter ( I met him through college) and his creatives at his salon Mr Face. They had to send in the images for L’Oreal Colour Trophy competition and I helped them with styling. One of the images made it to the southern regional final and when they had their big show we won with our second look. We are now in the Grand final!
We work really good together as a team and we have so much fun.

What have been your most favourite project so far?

I must say to work at London Fashion Week. I worked with A Cold Wall, (LFWM) Pam Hogg and Paul Costelloe. I have been working at many shows at Stockholm Fashion Week as a makeup artist, but that was so many years ago. It was really nice to be back again. I love the atmosphere backstage and see how everybody is working as a big team, it can be really stressful but when the music is playing out loud and the models start walking down the runway you just feel so proud.
I got goosebumps at one of the shows. And to work with such different brands gives you so much experience and inspiration.

Another experience was a 2 weeks commercial job, working on a cruise ship. We were cruising in Holland and Belgium and shooting both onboard the ship and on different locations. It was the biggest job I ever had as a stylist and I had to bring 40 looks and dress 4 models everyday.
I was recommended from a person I met through the college.

Your editorials are out of this world. Where do you get your inspiration?

From everywhere and usually where you expect it the least. One photo shoot we did for the college I was inspired by Africa. That came up in my mind because I had a meal that reminded me of a meal I had in Senegal years ago. After that I went into a Zara store and I found this amazing pattern dress, and all I had in my mind was that I should use it as a african head wrap…
It can also come from a magazine, a designer, street art, the colour of the sky, buildings, from travelling or people on the street.

In your opinion, what are the winning qualities of a successful stylist?

Except from basics like be able to see peoples body shape and have an eye for colours, quality and putting clothes together you have to be open minded, love to meet new people and be a team player.
You need to work hard and see yourself as your own brand and your company. And you want to be that company that people want to work with and be recognized as friendly and professional, right?
Don’t be afraid of failure and never ever think that you know everything, because you learn new things all the time.

And lastly, what advice would you give to our LCS students?

Make the most out of every class and ask the lecturers as much questions as possible. They are very experienced and will help you to succeed, so really have that in mind. Always do the best you can, because in the end you do it for yourself. Be a team player and share your own experience with other students.

Trust your gut feeling.