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Logan Wilson '19 following her passion for fashion to Nashville

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Posted on Friday, April 1, 2022

Logan Wilson '19, a Marketing and Professional Sales graduate, followed her passion for fashion to Nashville, where she has been styling country music stars, olympians, and influencers for three years. Learn more about Logan's life during and after college through this question and answer session.

Tell me about your life since graduation in 2019?

Upon graduating from Westminster College in 2019, I accepted a full-time role assisting wardrobe stylist Cherie Kilchrist in Nashville, TN. This May will mark three years being with Cherie. We have our established list of clients that range from country artists and their wives – from Jason Aldean and his wife, Brittany, Russell Dickerson, Dustin Lynch, Lindsay Ell - to former Olympian, Shawn Johnson, and influencers such as Katelyn Brown, wife of Kane Brown, and best-selling author and influencer, Mallory Ervin.

During these three years, I’ve had the opportunity to attend and help style clients for various awards shows like the CMA’s, ACM’s, CMT’s, and iHeartRadio Music Awards. Additionally, I help style clients for everything they could need from day-to-day life, events, press, photoshoots, music videos, awards shows, and everything in between. There is never a dull moment in this job and no two days are the same.

When did your love for style/design begin? If it was during your time at WC, tell me about that.

My love for fashion has always been there, but my time at Westminster brought that to the forefront of my future plans. From a young age, I had always enjoyed dressing nice and having fun with what I wore. Growing up, I was always a fan of playing dress up or dressing my Barbie’s in the cutest outfits. From there I found myself very interested in every project that we would do in art class. I would spend all of my extra time in the art room and everyone knew they could find me there. My mom taught me how to sew in high school and I had fun experimenting with that. In the past, I would add something to an existing piece of clothing but during my time at Westminster I figured out how to construct a garment from a piece of fabric. Sophomore year, I added an art minor still trying to figure out exactly where that path would lead me. Junior year, I had concluded that at the end of that path was a job in the fashion industry. Senior year, for an art credit, I had an independent study and, with the help of a grant from the school, I made 4 outfits from scratch. The independent study showed me the creative process from sketching a design, to picking out a fabric, cutting the fabric and then sewing the fabric together. This experience really showed me that fashion was one of my passions and that it could realistically turn into a career. Through college, I would style friends for their music videos, photoshoots and anything I could offer my hand in.

Who was your most influential role model during your time at WC?

Brian Petrus really helped me cater my schedule to finding classes that would interest me the most while also filling all of the credits that I needed. He was one of the people who really helped me realize that a job in fashion could be a career and a degree in marketing would be the perfect base to build upon.

Summer Zickefoose, the advisor to my art minor, was also very influential. After taking the Art & Nature Cluster Course and using the sewing machines that the college owned, I exercised the idea of a fashion design independent study to Summer and she had nothing but encouraging advice to help me get the most from the class. She offered for me to present my art pieces in the gallery with the capstone students she had that semester to which I humble accepted. The day of our gallery opening was the day that my boss offered me the job as her assistant, a full circle moment that validated the career path I chose and the extra steps that I made along the way.

What’s been your most rewarding job/project/client?

The relationship that you form with the client is so important. Once they trust that you’ll find the best outfit for them, it seems less like work. One of the most rewarding feelings collectively is seeing the final product. The moment when the client walks the red carpet in the outfit that you put together for them. The moment that the photos from the shoot are released to the world. When you drive past a billboard with your client on it wearing the outfit that you found. Lastly, one of the other most rewarding feelings is when you are driving to a client’s house and their song comes on the radio. It’s truly one of the most humbling feelings that reminds me that I am in the right place.

What’s your process for styling someone?

For photoshoots and music videos, the client or their creative team will send over a mood board so we can fully grasp what they’re going for and use that as a baseline. Our job is to not only bring them the vision but to take it to the next level they didn't know it needed. From there, we find those clothes and accessories any way that we can whether that be at the mall in town, vintage store, boutiques, or online. Once we find all the pieces, we will have a fitting with the client to make sure everything fits properly. We will exchange what doesn’t fit for a different size or have it tailored and then we will return it to the client for their event or bring it to set for their photoshoot or music video. When styling someone for a photoshoot or music video, there are a lot of production factors to consider from lighting, background, and temperature; but the most important thing to consider is making the client feel comfortable.

What are “staple pieces” everyone should have in their closet?

  • A good tailored pair of pants. Whether that be a pair of jeans, trousers or even linen pants. Once you have something tailored and it fits you the way it's meant to fit your body, you will find yourself reaching for that article of clothing much more frequently than the others.
  • A graphic tee. It can be anything from a shirt that you got from the merch table at a concert to something you found at a vintage store. For women, it's so easy to dress up with a pair of leather pants and heels or dress down with some leggings and a baseball hat. For men, you can dress up a graphic tee with a pair of jeans, a leather jacket and Chelsea boots or opt for sneakers for a more casual look.
  • A leather jacket. This goes for both men and women. This can be anything from a leather trucker jacket, moto style jacket or even a leather blazer. Leather is such a staple piece that can transform any outfit not to mention its warm enough for the western PA winters, too.
  • A sterling silver chain necklace or ring can elevate an outfit without really requiring that much thought. I would choose one item that you wear often and invest in at least getting it in sterling silver or gold coated to extend the lifetime of your piece.

What is most important when bringing that vision to life?

I think the most important thing to remember when styling someone is that you have the power to be creative. You don't need to just put them in something that you find in the mall. You can always have something altered if the size you need isn't available. You can always take a long dress and make it short. There are so many options if you open your mind to seeing the piece on the hanger as a starting point rather than a finished product. There have been times when I have experienced shipping delays beyond my control so I was forced to recreate the piece the night before a shoot to bring the client's vision to life rather than compromising the creativity.

How are you using your marketing degree currently?

It is so important to get to know your audience and what marketing strategy appeals to your audience. I’ve taken this into consideration when styling a book cover and its trailer that plays in Target stores across the U.S. Styling clients brand campaigns, album packages, and even their merch shoots. When styling all of these things, you plan each facet with then end vision in mind. Each piece, post, whatever it may be needs to have an aspect that links it to the other. For album packages, we like to keep in the same color palette. For a brand campaign, you want to style the client to appeal to their target audience. You wouldn’t style a client in a cropped shirt if their target market was a group of middle-aged adults. That is not something that would grab their attention. Make them relate to your client and then influence their buying decisions.

What would you say your style is? How can others name their style?

One’s style is something that can be hard to define. I personally believe that those with the most style don't necessarily box themselves into a category that defines the way that they dress. It is the most fun and creative to blur the lines between different styles. The easiest way to define your style is to look at what you find yourself reaching for the most. If it is in the darker color family your style may be on the edgier side and if it is in the lighter color family your style may be more feminine or preppy. If you find yourself gravitating more towards lace and florals, your style is likely bohemian. Once you define your style it helps you realize what their wardrobe is lacking or what pieces you want to introduce to get the most out of your wardrobe (i.e. more color).

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