ANDREA KEE
Fashion Stylist
“WE GOT THE COVER SHOT IN LESS THAN 10 TAKES . THAT’S AN IMPRESSIVELY SHORT SPAN OF TIME TO ACHIEVE IT”
Tell us about your foray into styling and your current job. I was formerly the fashion editor of a magazine, a position I held for five years. I knew I didn’t want to tread on the path of becoming a magazine editor, so I thought to myself—maybe I could give freelancing a shot. If it doesn’t work out, I can always fall back on getting another fulltime publishing job. I had sort of established a name for myself already after those years at Female mag, and I was comfortable enough financially to try out freelancing. It’s been almost four years now... and counting! What’s your work philosophy?
Always dress according to your body shape. I always say, it’s all about enhancing / concealing. There are things about our bodies we can’t change, but we can always choose to flaunt and flatter our best features! Do you have any pre-work rituals? How do you gauge or research on how to dress someone? It all starts with the personality’s body shape and personal style. Especially for shoots with Malaysia Tatler, I do my best to adhere to the personality’s style as much as possible while enhancing their best features. It’s also important for me to know what he or she thinks is their best feature, so we can both flaunt it, conceal their least favourite feature (like tummy, arms, legs, etc) and consider their coverage level too! How do you put the personality at ease, and how do you connect with them? For starters, with social media platforms that are so readily available for us to do our homework (read: ‘stalk’) nowadays, it makes our research process much easier. That way, not only do I get to gauge a personality’s body shape, personal style, best features and coverage level, I also get to spark conversations about their latest happenings to make them feel at ease with me on set. Usually, if they’re uncomfortable with an outfit I’ve chosen for them to wear, I’ll ask constructive questions: which part would you prefer to conceal? What is it about this dress that you’re not comfortable with? What colour do you prefer that complements your look better, etc. And I immediately work on finding an alternative dress that ticks all the boxes above. It’s IMPORTANT to have options for those justin-case scenarios—which almost always occur! Describe your experience with our cover star, Nadiah. When I was on set with Nadiah Wan, she was a breeze to work with. Prior to the shoot, I was already briefed via email with very constructive and specific pointers on her personal style and her preference in outfit choices. That made my job so much easier! We got the cover shot in less than 10 takes (she’s photogenic)— and that’s an impressively short span of time to achieve it! Yes, it usually takes longer than that. What do you consider to be a successful shoot? When everyone’s happy with the outcome! And when I say everyone, it includes the client, the personality, photographer, hair and makeup team, plus of course me included! What did you think of our July 2018 cover shoot? It reflects Nadiah’s exact personality—intelligent, soft-spoken and elegant. Exactly what we intended to achieve. How would you describe this cover shot? Quietly elegant and exuding intelligence.
How would you describe yourself ? Occasionally I’m a madman behind the scenes, but in actual truth I’m an absolute gentleman. For the creative process to work, we have to channel that little bit of crazy in us, it’s the fire and passion that keeps us going and churning out new ideas. What has been your work philosophy? Work hard and play hard. Do you have any pre-work rituals, or steps that you take before you start work? I usually watch a couple of YouTube videos before I start work. It helps me to de-stress and maybe even find some additional inspiration for the shoot. I rely on YouTube to keep up with the latest photography tips and tricks, so to speak. It’s one of my daily routines actually. Other than that it’s just chill time for me, until the shoot starts. That’s when I get creative and put what I’ve learnt to good use. How do you gauge or research on how to take the best photo of someone? I’ll usually chit-chat with the personalities before we start shooting to find out a little bit more about them. What better way to know someone than to bridge the gap with conversation? What do you consider to be a successful shoot? The priority would of course be my client’s satisfaction, but it encompasses everyone actually. If everyone is happy with the end result then it’s a successful shoot. What did you think of our April 2018 cover shoot? It was great! Aidil and Suhaili were definitely a pleasure to work with, and it was interesting to deal with the dance poses, particularly trying to create the movements that you see in the shots. Describe this cover in three words. Excellent, fantastic and romantic.
“IF EVERYONE IS HAPPY WITH THE END RESULT THEN IT’S A SUCCESSFUL SHOOT”