Sharon Crawford

Fashion Stylist & Consultant, Freelancer

Milan

Text: Border&Fall

Photography: Header: Diego Fuga, Remaining: credited accordingly

The Beginning Growing up in Pakistan and attending a little boarding school hidden in the foothills of the Himalayas, I started off a far cry from the world of fashion and design though I loved sketching, painting and shopping for fabric at the night bazaars. With the lights ablaze on all the sparkling bangles, I would sit enchanted as roll after roll of embroidered chiffon’s, silks and cottons would be unfurled in front of us to choose fabrics for new salwar kameezes.

When I was about 12, a family friend asked me if there was anything she could bring back from a visit to the UK and for some reason I asked for a fashion magazine. She brought me back a copy of Vogue and although she had ripped out all the pages with nudity, it was the most intriguing thing I had ever seen. Although my mum had a bunch of old Vogues from the 80’s, these were up to date! I don’t know how many hours I stared and studied each page and returned again and again to the same strange, evocative, glamorous, challenging fashion images which were brand new and completely arresting to my young eyes. I can still picture the fashion stories and campaigns today, I particularly remember a Dolce & Gabbana ad campaign with a black and white shot of a handbag sitting on top of a pile of raw fish.

When I was about 12, a family friend asked me if there was anything she could bring back from a visit to the UK and for some reason I asked for a fashion magazine. She brought me back a copy of Vogue and although she had ripped out all the pages with nudity, it was the most intriguing thing I had ever seen.

Fashion wasn’t really a career option in high-school – it wasn’t really an option in most peoples minds, so I focused on art and painting. After school I went on to do a foundation course in art and design at the University of Ulster, Belfast, Northern Ireland. Then, taking a deep breath and despite everyone around me saying, ‘it’s too tough, don’t bother,’ I applied to study Fashion Communication with promotion at Central St. Martin’s (CSM) in London. At CSM I was exposed to much more, there was nothing like being in the heart of a fashion city where the streets were alive with creativity and style. The tutors encouraged creativity to the extreme, it wasn’t so much about skills and technicality, but much more about concept and creative thinking – that really shaped me. The third year of study was an industry experience year, I hopped around from fashion houses to magazines, and began to gain an understanding of the fashion industry as a whole – how each side related to the other: I found myself in the design studio at Alexander McQueen, the fashion department at Dazed and Confused, and the pr department at Paul Smith to name a few.

After college I continued to gain work experience and began contributing to start-up publications. When I found myself having to move to Bangalore for personal reasons, I had no idea where I would start but I began shooting with photographers and contributing editorials to local magazines. Next came feature shoots for Marie Claire and Conde Nast Traveller along with advertising work. But I knew I had to be in fashion editorial; Bombay was the best place in India for that, and Vogue the best magazine. I moved, joined the team, had an incredible two year experience and am now excited about splitting my time between India and Europe working with inspiring creatives.

Digital References Models.com, fashionising.com, fashion gone rogue, trendhunter, vogue.co.uk, style.com

People Grace Coddington, Nicola Formichetti, Lee Mcqueen, Deep Kailey, Prabuddha Dasgupta, Tim Walker, Nick Knight, Edward Enninful, Tarun Vishwa, Manish Arora, Sabyasachi, Bandana Tewari, Cathy Edwards

Moment My favorite shoot is ‘Space Odyssey’ for Vogue India Jan 2012. It’s the one for which I had the most creative freedom and consider my defining moment. We made a fashion film as well, which was also a first for me. I finally felt that I was able to produce and express my own voice in fashion and it was particularly meaningful to me because at the time of the shoot, my personal life was particularly difficult. It was amazing and powerful to have something I was so passionate about, that I could pour my heart and soul into and to be proud of. I’ll always look at that shoot as a turning point in confirming my creativity and passion for this field.

Work Freelance Fashion Stylist – Current Fashion Stylist – Oct’11/Nov’13 Vogue India Freelance Fashion Stylist June’09/Aug’11 – Vogue India, Conde Nast Traveller India, Marie Claire India, Border&Fall, Business Traveller Exec Magazine, Abrupt Magazine 9 Commercial Work – Toni & Guy, Fast track, Lifestyle, Max and Club Mahindra Celebrities – Alia Bhatt, Sonali Bendre, Malaika Arora Khan, Soha Ali Khan, Ileana D’cruz, Yami Gautam, Lisa Hayden, Neha Dhupia and Angela Jonsson Internships – Alexander McQueen, Paul Smith, .Cent Magazine, Telegraph Saturday Magazine, Dazed and Confused, Assisted fashion editors Karen Langely, Nicola Formichetti and Karl Plewka