If you've ever watched a Twilight movie then you've seen the work of Melis Kuris - who is the fashion stylist for the series. Not only does she get to work with Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, Melis is a stylist with celebrity clientele including Jordan Sparks, Anna Paquin and Jennie Garth and has worked on music videos for Ashlee Simpson and Hilary Duff. Here is my interview with Twilight stylist Melis Kuris:
1. How did you get started as a stylist?
Photo © WireImage.com.Melis: I was actually an assistant for many years before going on my own. I started off interning when I was 17. A stylist saw me studying at a coffee shop and asked me if I wanted to help him out with a runway show, and then everything kind of started moving really quickly for me. I had the opportunity to work with some of the best celebrity stylists in LA. It's much harder now to do that. When I started off, not many people knew what a stylist was, so if you were hard working you usually got the opportunity to learn from the best in the industry.
2. What's it like styling the Twilight cast?
It was a career-changing experience for me. I went from being the unknown stylist behind the scenes to being the known. Much like a lot of the cast, I felt like it was such a wonderful growing process in all of our careers. Everyone that I have worked with from the movie is so much fun and so down to earth.3. How do you decide how to dress them?
When I started dressing them, I really wanted to make sure that they stayed true to their own personal sense of style. I wanted them to wear their outfits with confidence and would never push them to wear something they weren't comfortable in. My whole motto has been that if the clients are happy, so am I.4. What advice would you give to teens about having great style?
Stay true to yourself. Don't listen to what others say is right or wrong, cool or not. Style is all based on personality and being comfortable. I try to challenge myself with outfits and reworking pieces in different ways into my wardrobe. I also tend to not look at all the style blogs because in doing so, you kind of lose what your style is, and you conform to what other people are doing.5. What advice would you give teens about following in your career path?
If you want to be a stylist, it's one of the most rewarding and fun jobs in the entertainment industry. At the same time, it's one of the hardest. There are a lot of glamorous things about being a stylist, like shopping and seeing collections before they are in stores. However, it's a job that we do every day, sometimes working 18 hours a day. We hang and steam clothing, organize racks of clothes and have a ton of paperwork to keep up with. At the end of the day, it's my dream job.
