Today we’d like to introduce you to Ana Brillembourg.
Ana, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I started in the fashion industry back in 2005, after graduating with a bachelor degree in Interior Design from the Art Institute in 2001 and working in the field for only 3 years. I made the a switch that happened organically but that was always my destiny, I grew up sketching women in dresses and designing clothes from a very early age, I was also always very much into my style and what I wore. My mom always says I never left the house without a hat, a purse and a wrist full of bracelets.
Back in 2005 I started working for Industrial Color, a leading digital capture company at the time. We were some of the first people to help professional photographers transition into digital photography, we were pioneers at the time and offered a service that only a few knew about back then. My job was to secure accounts, place digital techs on jobs to provide photographers the digital capture aspect of this transition, we made possible that the creative director could see the images on a screen as the photographer was shooting the product and approving on the spot. Having this Job was the first hat I wore in this industry, one of the many hats I’ve worn, and an experience that helped me understand and gain knowledge about the technical aspect of the industry. Being part of such a monumental transition definitely gave me more experience than I could have ever asked for.
From there I went on to be an agent, this time instead of representing digital techs I had a rooster of artists that did hair and makeup, styling, props, manicurists, photographers, etc. It was different job, but the theory was the same, my connections in the industry expanded and I continue to gain more experience, getting my artists the best jobs possible in Miami. During my time at IC and Artists by Timothy Priano I had been styling on the side. I figured out being an agent was not what I wanted to do in the long run, it wasn’t allowing me to be creative enough and at the time I had just started to accept and realize I was an artists myself. Almost 9 years of being an agent and I figured out my personality was changing in order to be a good agent and I wasn’t staying true to myself and what made me happy. I quit being an agent and became part of the artists represented by the agency I worked for as an agent. At the time I had already done a few editorials with Bruce Weber and basically had a decent portfolio. I had never assisted another stylist, but I had paid my dues in the industry, The little styling I had done was with one of the most iconic photographers of our times, so I had something to run with… and that’s what I did, I took my two previous hats and put a stylist hat on.
I can’t continue my story without making a parenthesis and mentioning the one person who literally just saw through everything and brought out of me the stylist I have become, Bruce Weber, he brought out the artists in me, he took me back to the beginning, my roots and pull that out of a very deep place where I had placed my true passion… Bruce gave me the opportunity to believe in myself and most importantly to discover a part of me I had ignored and not identified as my biggest strength. And after that comes a short list of people who gave me a chance and believed in me, my husband JC Brillembourg, a well know producer in the industry, my mother-in-law Dawn Boller a veteran producer as well, Sandra Davidoff a woman that has impacted my career as much as Bruce Weber but more in a commercial way.
I am a true testament of loving what you do for a living, I am thankful I was lucky enough to find my passion at an early age, and to have had many hats in the same industry. It made me have a bigger and better picture of my industry and a ton of knowledge that has made me a better stylist and a better crew member, I know how to communicate well with my clients, with photographers and all my colleagues because I have been on their side of the table at some point. My level of empathy is through the roof simply because I can relate to everyone on set.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Yes, I have encountered obstacles and challenges. For example, I’ve had moments where I have lost clients/accounts simply because the art director quits and they hired a whole new crew, also hurricanes hitting Florida and losing months of work. We are very vulnerable because Miami is a location for clients that come from the Northeast and West coast, they see us as going to a Caribbean Island. We’ve gone summers of very little work due to weather. Having, building a family is also an aspect that sometimes becomes a challenge for anyone building a career as well, women and men. I had a photographer once asked me “ what are going to do now that you will have two kids” mind I was almost 8 months pregnant and still working, I said “I will do what I did before and better,” Ironically the birth of my two daughters have been accompanied by luck if you wanted call it that way. I am truly the busiest I’ve ever been now, and I am at an amazing place in my career and my personal life, I now have two kids that are truly my full-time job, but I also am very aware I am living the best years of my life, right now that they are children. I can’t deny the struggles, but I also can’t end my answer to this question without saying each struggle has absolutely made me stronger and better.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I have one of those jobs you have to explain what you do for people to understand it. I am a fashion / wardrobe stylist. I say wardrobe because I not only work with beautiful designer clothes, I also do a lot of commercial work, sometimes I have to dress people, so they look real and it’s not so much about an inspirational artistic image like an editorial spread on a magazine. And that’s what I love the most about my job, the diversity, I go from styling swimsuits, to lingerie, celebrities, to dressing people to look real for an ad for a medicine or a cruise line for example. I get to make my clients’ products look its best so they can sell it. I travel to wherever my clients are or the destination they choose to do their campaigns. My job has taken me to all over the world but more specifically to the Caribbean islands.
Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
My career was a dream I once had, I found a creative way of making it happen and I was lucky enough to discover that working with clothing and styling people was actually a job I could have and make good money. So, the only thing I can say at this stage of my career is manifest your dreams, never ever think that something is not possible, because almost everything is possible…. It’s ok to doubt yourself in the process, to think a crazy idea can’t become profitable, to struggle but never ever stop manifesting and saying to the universe exactly what is it that you really want, I promise the wildest dreams do come true.
Contact Info:
Image Credits
Bruce Weber
