2024-04-15
Support four-legged friends: AKROPOLE shopping centres are launching a charity campaign with the animal shelter Labās mājas
On 21 September, the Akropole shopping and entertainment centre hosted Fashion talks. For six hours well-known Latvian stylists, fashion experts and celebrities discussed and shared their experience of fashion, style and its importance, as well as appraising the latest fashion trends and their incorporation into your daily wardrobe. A day packed with lectures and masterclasses was concluded with a special experts’ discussion “What don’t stylists tell you?”. Anita Altmane, Žanna Dubska, Renārs Zeltiņš and Maija Armaņeva revealed the secrets and tricks of style and explained what is important to stylists’ clients – what they expect from such consultations, the difficulties that stylists encounter in the course of their work, how to make the consultation an effective and pleasant makeover experience.
Stylists are often asked question, such as – how can one find the very best items among store offers and is it necessary to spend a long time walking around stores, devoting a lot of time to find pearls of style? According to stylist and fashion designer Anita Altmane: “I offer my clients meaningful long-term advice, which truly works in practice. If a client approaches me in person, we can create the most appropriate combinations of clothing and accessories best suited to his/her figure. Fashion is a bit like maths, starting from setting goals and forming a list of items that are necessary. Then you have a crystal clear plan as to what should be done. In my opinion, there is point wandering around a shopping centre, using up your energy, irritating your husband and boring your children. There is no need to torture yourself and make it a painful process. Fashion is joy. Fashion should deliver a result and serve your everyday needs.”
Showman Renārs Zeltiņš believes that goal-oriented shopping can be compared to basketball, which he used to play. “In basketball, there is a lot of coordination, tactics are necessary to beat your opponent. However, you’re always covering and trying to get the better of one opponent at a time. It’s the same story with shops – if I like one store, it’s the only one I’ll visit. There’s no need for me to study what I can find in each of them.” In turn, fashion expert and stylist Žanna Dubska has a different approach: “We’ve now got so many stores, the places we visit when shopping from day to day vary so much. What do I do with my clients? I find a route that suits their figure, their wallets and which matches their tasks in life. As a stylist, every season, I look to see if there any new shops, maybe an Internet or designers’ store so that I know what I can offer during this season. Zara stores offer solutions for various figures. I know that there I will be able to find the most appropriate solutions for all kinds of figures.”
What do clients expect when they visit a stylist? Lifestyle blogger and stylist Maija Armaņeva explains, “I used to think that clients only visit me to dress nicely and get advice on style, but it turns out that they come to me for emotions and experience. I can inspire my clients – not only on Instagram, but also by means of direct communication. We talk not only about clothes and external image, but also about how to present one’s image. Working with people, you get to know them better, and then you can tell what will suit them best.” Žanna Dubska agrees with Maija, “Mostly, clients visit us not because they want to undergo a makeover or dress in a modern style, but in order to go away happy. After the consultation, the client can leave in a good mood, with bright new ideas, without even buying anything. A lot of people visit us only to get a look at themselves from another angle. Imagine if I were to dress all my clients in the same way I dress. What would be the point of men visiting me? One has to try to get inside the other person’s head and understand what it is that this person requires. Few people come to me for fashion, most come in search of style – they are two different things.”
As we found out during the Fashion talks at Akropole, a stylist’s consultation always starts with a chat. “This is a psychological job and an art of listening to the client. You can recommend any current fashion trend to a person, but if it doesn’t suit them, the outcome will be unsuccessful, and the client will not be satisfied. You have to discover what makes the client tick and understood how she/he feels, how this new image or set of clothing will fit into their life. First of all, this is psychology, these are neither trends, nor skirts or blouses,” explains Anita Altmane.
Undeniably, from day to day, stylists and fashion experts work with many different clients, colourful personalities and temperaments. The psychological nature of the work helps the stylist to reach conclusions about our values, needs and society as a whole. What are stylists’ golden recommendations, which, regardless of gender or body type, anyone should take into account?
“I would like to see people be more self-aware, audacious and self-focused, with the ability to think about their needs. Women spend a lot of time taking care of their families, but, in my opinion, they should work on refining the charm of their personality more,” says Anita Altmane. “Latvian women are extremely beautiful, talented and educated, but often suffer from low self-esteem. Sometimes, this is really sad to see. One should not feel guilty if you want to devote more time to yourself. Let your husband take care of the kids. We can afford this,” said Maija Armaņeva in agreement with Anita.
Žanna Dubska would like to see more joy and light-heartedness in our society: “A bit of irony is required to make life light-hearted and joyous, so that we’re not so serious. Can we or can’t we? We can. Should we try or not? Try. Laugh at ourselves, treat everything more light-heartedly.” In turn, Renārs Zeltiņš’ recommendation at the conclusion of the Fashion talks at Akropole summed it up perfectly: “We need to open our souls, take care of our bodies and nurture our relationships. Only when we you are happy and a bright light shines in your home, your wardrobe will also blossom and thrive.”
Although Fashion talks at Akropole have ended, the autumn campaign dedicated to new and diverse clothing, shoes and accessories is still taking place at the shopping and entertainment centre – until 20 October, shoppers, who spend at least EUR 50 at Akropole, have the chance to win a gift card – each worth EUR 111 – or a trip to one of Europe’s fashion capitals: London, Milan or Paris!
For more detailed information, please contact:
Lauma Laube,
Akropole Rīga Communication Consultant,
Fox Consulting Communication Agency
Phone: 29285760
E-mail: [email protected]
