Shun Melson

Shun Melson, celebrity stylist to names like Atlanta Housewives Kim Zolciak, Phaedra Parks, Kandi Burruss and many more. Last week I had the opportunity to sit and chat all things “Fashun”.

1.     What motivates you in an industry that can be so competitive and critical?

“Oh my gosh… I just love what I do, I love making people feel good, and look good. I got fired from Jeffries 10 years ago where I was making a ton of money. I was just so overwhelmed and I was like “what am I going to do” so I decided to just go out on faith and style people on my own. Now 10 years later I have never looked back.”

2.     What tips would you give to those that are looking to follow in your footsteps?

“Well, I have a fashion 101 class teaching stylists how to be a good stylist, and how to survive in this industry. The very first thing I tell them is to “Go The Extra Mile” because some of them just want to go half way and give up. But you have to go the extra mile, you have to network, you have to get out of your comfort zone, and those are just some of the things I teach in my class.”

3.     What trends are you predicting for Spring/Summer 2016?

“Of course floral! Neon prints, pink, burgundy will be big believe it or not, and fringe which is one of my faves right now.”

4.     What are some misconceptions about being a celebrity stylist?

“Everyone thinks it’s super easy. Everyone thinks it’s fabulous and that I’m around a lot of fabulous clothes, and I get to hang around fabulous people. But majority of the time I’m working like 18 hours a day. I sleep on the airplanes; it’s a lot of hard work. All they see on my Instagram is “Aww she has fabulous clothes and around fabulous people, and I can get there too” Then I hire them or bring them on as an intern, and their like “whattttt???”  And they last for maybe a week.”

5.     Name one person you wish you had the opportunity to style.

“I would love to style Rihanna. I love everything about her. She just looks like the type that really listens to whatever you say. If you ask her to dye her hair blue she’ll say “OK I’ll try it”. That’s like the ideal client. You never want to get a client that thinks they’re the stylist because it’s kind of like well why am I here?”

6.     If you weren’t a stylist what would you be doing?

“Something that has to do with clothing. Like I can play in clothes all day. So I would be in merchandising, that was my favorite things to do when I was at Jeffries I could stay in the store all night and just do the window displays.”

7.     What does style and beauty mean to you?

“It’s everything, it’s like my child. I get chills when I talk about it. It’s my world.”

8.     What’s next for Shun?

“After my classes, I definitely want to do a styling book. That’s on my to-do list and my tee shirts are doing amazing now. I started out with a tee shirt line because there was no place I could find tee shirts with African American women on them. The only thing I found was Kate Moss and Marilyn Monroe, so I decided to design shirts with African American women on them and people love them. Several celebrities have been seen in them. That’s just kind of like my passion project. I would love to see them in stores.”

9.     Describe yourself in one word.

“Fashun” F.A.S.H.U.N “Fashun”!

To check out more on Shun Melson, and purchase one of her tee shirts visit her website HERE