Christina khalid
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I assisted at Teen Vogue, and that's where I started the bulk of my career in editorial, diving into the market and understanding the different designers, brands and people that existed in the fashion industry. I later realized I wanted to be a stylist, so I assisted some people. I dabbled in so many different spaces of fashion to decide where I wanted to land, and after her, I interned at Diane von Furstenberg and then at this small boutique PR company. Through that time I was interning, and I interned for Fern Mallis. I went to Buffalo State, got a degree there and then went to FIT. I ended up going to school for it, because I knew that was something I wanted to do. I used to watch her and help her, so I always had a relation with fashion through my grandma and my mother's taste for different silhouettes of different designers that she would collect and bring home.
My grandma was a pattern maker and designer who would sew up so many different fabrics for my family members and the neighbors. My parents always went to different traditional events, parties and weddings. It really was innate from the culture that I come from, being Nigerian. When did you first realize you had an interest in fashion? Read on for our chat about getting started in the New York editorial world, relocating to Los Angeles, navigating the pandemic, racial equity in the industry and much more. She visits the country often, sometimes for work: She recently created a short film there with Essence titled "A Love Letter to Nigeria," which marks her first (but not last) official foray into filmmaking, which she sees as an extension of her love for visual storytelling. Raised in the Bronx, Samuel has always been inspired by her Nigerian heritage. "I think that naturally that comes from my background, being African and living in this vibrancy of colors and prints and patterns and textures." "I saw my work and could see why people are always like, 'I love your bold colors and I love your prints,'" she says. Samuel tells me she never set out to have a signature aesthetic, but noticed this through line while creating a new website via an official partnership with Squarespace during the pandemic, which of course put her usually-packed shoot and event schedule on pause.
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And whether she has all the creative control or is working under someone else's vision, there's a special vibrancy that shines through all her work: She has an eye for color and texture, even with her own outfits, which I always love seeing, whether on Instagram or at some L.A. Jordan, Big Sean, Khalid, Letitia Wright and Jodie Turner-Smith throughout her career. Having cut her teeth at Teen Vogue and CR Fashion Book, the Los Angeles-based New York transplant styles magazine covers, editorials, music videos, commercials, live performances and, of course, red carpet looks, having worked with the likes of Michael B.
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When it comes to styling, Ade Samuel can wear any hat.
CHRISTINA KHALID SERIES
In our long-running series "How I'm Making It," we talk to people making a living in the fashion and beauty industries about how they broke in and found success.