Editorial - Interviews

Tiffany Hasbourne, celebrity stylist and owner of Brat Productions has a long and strong working history in the entertainment business. She and her company have been responsible in styling countless A-List artists such as The cast of High School Musical including Zach Efron, Vanessa Hudgens and Ashley Tisdale, Jay Z and 50 Cent, major and indie labels, national distributed magazines such as Entertainment Weekly, Vibe, King, XXL and Smooth to name a few but her work doesn't stop there she is also involved in various movies projects. Read on as we asked her about her industry and how she tackled her success.

How did you get started in the business and how did you get to where you are today?
I started in the business as an assistant wardrobe stylist while still leaving in Atlanta.I worked with a few artists from the Atlanta area but soon realized that my best chance for learning was to go back home to New York. A majority of the clothing labels, record labels and magazines that I wanted to work with were right in the very city I grew up in. How this got me to where I am today was by working with my mentor Susan Moses taught me the business from a variety of genres...TV,music,editorial,advertisement and recently film where I learned to use my styling expertise as a costume designer. Outside of working with Susan I was able to build my own contacts with different record labels landing my own clientele and starting my own company Brat Productions in 2003.

What were some of your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?
One of my biggest challenges was just trying to figure out where do I start. As a wardrobe stylist you have to submit a portfolio in order to obtain business but how do you do that if you have no work,no clients and no clothes to put on a client if you could get one.So what I started to do was learn underneath people who were professional. Build my own relationships with clothing lines,publicists,managers and artists. Never with the clients of my bosses I had respect stepping on the toes of people who trained and gave me life in this business was not a option no matter how bad I wanted to get on. At night I can sleep because I know I worked my way to the top the hard and respectable way. I did test shoots with photographers to build my own portfolio and when I didn't know something I ASKED.I took a chance on the life I wanted and I'm grateful now every time I do a new job I learn something else new. You have to constantly be open to receive information because there is always going to be someone out here who knows more than you. When I did finally get myself a good clientele I got myself a good agent that I could trust to negotiate my deals so I can just focus on getting my job done and not fighting for my money. This is still a business and deals need to be handled with proper paperwork to cover you and your client.

You have been in this business for quite some time, from a professional stand point how do you feel about some the new comers that are trying to pursue your profession?
I have been in the business for awhile and I always embrace the idea of new talent coming onto the scene because at one point that new talent was me. The only problem that I find now especially when it comes to me hiring new assistants the respect and hunger that I had for my bosses isn't there anymore. People want to be over night success stories but don't want to do the grunt work that we had to do. When my boss was an assistant you couldn't even speak unless spoken to and although it is 2009 I just feel like if people talked less and listened more they could learn a little bit more. The amount of work I did as an assistant was hard and challenging but it makes me respect my job more. We had to do real research and your boss didn't hand over contacts you had to go find them. It made me very self sufficient at a young age.

So Real Housewives of Atlanta, Lisa and Sheree trying to put out clothing lines which caused a lot of controversy because a lot of people don’t take them serious. How do you feel about it and why?
On The Real Housewives of Atlanta Lisa and Sheree started their clothing lines but people don't take them serious...WHY? That's not fair everyone deserves the right to pursue their dreams how would everyone like it if someone told them they didn't have a right to do what they wanted to do. The only way I would be offended by this was if they thought it was easy and anyone could do it...I never heard either of them say that. I thought that it was great that they did the research to find the proper professionals to help them execute their lines.That was how it was suppose to be  handled. Some people go to school,some do apprenticeships, some just invest and/or some just have a vision. There is no guideline on what gives you the right to pursue your dream. I think if there had been more designers in Atlanta when I was coming up I would've stayed. When people start new businesses others need to embrace it because it opens up more doors of opportunities. Some student at Border College might get a job now thanks to Closet Freak or She by Sheree you never know.

What would you tell a person that decided to become a fashion stylist but never done it before but they just happened to like fashion and they feel like that is something they could do because it looks easy?
If someone wanted to be a stylist or get into the fashion business because they thought it was easy I would tell them go do their research over because they have been horribly misinformed. This is a very hard and demanding profession it has long hours and demanding scheduling. The best advise I can give to upcoming stylists & people wanting to work in the fashion business is go assist.Learn the craft hands on and from someone who knows what they are doing. Do your homework shadow someone that works in the field you think you might want to go into. It may look fun from the outside looking in but it is still a job and you can work 12-16 hour days.Just because you can dress yourself and think you pick out "cute" clothes does not make you qualified either.You need to be familiar with what compliments certain body types, when is a good time to throw in a pattern or a splash of color and even the lingo of the biz so when your director is telling you a color is not working on camera you know what he means and what to do.

In your opinion – Do you think that the industry changed a lot from when you first started to know? If so, how and is it for worse or better?
The change in the economy has affected my business a lot. Budgets are smaller and artists are selling less records so we are affected as a whole. I think it has gotten bad just due to the fact you are expected to turn out the same look that you use to be given more money to work with for way less now. Your resources need to be strong to survive in this business you better be able to show your client that you are making their dollar stretch. Three years ago multi million dollar videos were shot all the time and now they are far and few.  

Who would LOVE to work with and why?
I have done everything from 50 Cent to Miley Cyrus...Meagan Good,Idris Elba to Haylie Duff and Pauley Shore but I would love to work with more pop artists and actors.I love when my work shows versatility I don't like to get pigeon held to one market. I also see another movie in my near future.

If you had the power to change one thing, where you would believe that it would better the business as a whole, what would that be and why?
If I could better the business I would put the budgets back up to where they were and make sure that people got their pay checks in less than 90 days. That's a hard way to live not knowing exactly when your check is coming. I think people that freelance would be a lot more relaxed if they could get their money like employees that get paid every two weeks. People think that being a stylist is all about fun but it has a lot of details people no nothing about.

What is something in your business that you could do completely without?
Something in my business I could do completely without would be the lack of knowledge that people have of thinking how hard can shopping be? My answer to them would be VERY HARD!

What were some of the toughest sacrifices you had to make to follow your dream?
Some of the toughest sacrifices I made to pursue my dream was working for free for awhile, missing family/friend functions because of constant traveling and leaving home for months at a time living out of hotels. These things were all tough but well worth it!!!! I have been to some great countries and cities for work but it doesn't mean I didn't miss my family and friends at times. Let's not forget working for free to pay your dues can be frustrating because your bills need to be paid but I was willing to sacrifice everything to follow my dream and be successful at it.

To get more information on Tiffany you can follow her on Twitter @Tiffthestylist or on her Myspace

You can book Tiffany Hasbourne by contacting the following agency:

Illusions at Click Model Management - ph: 212-242-7050

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