In this day and age, a musician’s stylist is as important as any other part of their recording career.
This is something Coke Studio Africa is keenly aware of when it creates the eye-popping studio shows to showcase all of Africa’s diversely vibrant looks.
The person brought on board for this was Kenyan stylist to the stars Wambui who has been making a mark on the fashion scene for 11 years in music videos, newspapers, movies including the multiple award-winning Rafiki, magazines and three seasons of Coke Studio Africa.
"African artists are now seeing that their look is crucial to their brand image and quite a number of them are now working with stylists for their music videos, performances and public appearances,” she says.
Wambui says, "It began back in 2008, a former classmate of mine approached me and asked me to style the fashion page for a magazine she was the Editor of. That was the first time I had heard the word “stylist”.
Adding “She told me I always had an eye for fashion back in high school and thought I should give it a try. After she told me what the job entailed, I decided to give it a go, after all, I was getting paid to shop!"
Her big break came working for the national newspaper, The Standard, where she had a weekly fashion page in the Wednesday and Saturday pull-out magazines.
"It was there that I built my name as a stylist and formed relationships with designers, stores, models, photographers and lots of other people in the industry.”
Since then, her career highlights include Rafiki, Tusker Project Fame, Moments with Mo, Maisha Superstar and lots more including Coke Studio Africa of course, which was “an exciting prospect but also frightening because I would get to meet and style Africa’s biggest artists”.
She hit her stride though, and can now face any challenge, that is the nature of making TV, which she loves for the diversity of people on set and lessons learnt.
"In Kenya, we don’t have a lot of stores that stock current trends especially for menswear, so most of the outfits the male artists wore were custom-made. Time was, therefore, one of my biggest challenges as I would meet the artists on a Monday and would have to have all their outfits ready by Thursday for a full dress rehearsal and photo shoot on Friday.
“There were days I would sleep at the tailors waiting for outfits to be completed.” A blessing in disguise as these creations were not only stunning but unique too.
Wambui’s work on Coke Studio Africa happened under tight timelines with the involvement of multiple players.
There is always a highlight moment on Coke Studio Africa.
Wambui shares her highlight: “When background vocalist Wendy Kemunto performed on the show as a Big Break artist. The hair, makeup and wardrobe departments went all out for her and we made sure she looked her best during her performance. The whole crew cheered for her throughout her entire performance. It was such a proud moment for all of us.”
Of course, she wanted to keep all of the gorgeous attire she sourced from designers, chain stores and thrift stores! And it was no wonder some artists were so in love with their outfits they bought them.
But the styling choices on Coke Studio Africa were not about mere fashion, there is a deeper story.
She explains: "As Africans, we are unapologetic about our heritage and culture. We love our iconic prints, bold colors, fabrics and statement accessories and they are here to stay.
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