Zerina Akers Opens Up To Porter Magazine About Black Is King, Working With Young Designers & Her Personal Style

Super stylist Zerina Akers shared her top styling tips, what it’s been like post ‘Black is King’ and how she feels about pushing young talent. She spoke to Megan Logue for Porter Magazine’s ‘the Working Wardrobe’ feature.

On Her Work Being a Balancing Act

“Styling is a collaborative effort. Dressing is such a personal thing, and being the person who comes into that space is a very delicate position to occupy. It’s very important that my clients trust me – but I’m also there to push them.”

On her commitment to young creatives, championing new talent and Black Owned Everything

“That is something I would like to carry with me as my career grows and develops, making time for younger people…. “Supporting emerging designers is really important to me; it can do so much for their career to have a celebrity wear their work. Finding these new brands can require a bit of extra legwork, but it’s worth it. Stylists often hoard. We find designers and want to keep them a secret because we want our client to be the first to wear them, but recently there’s been a shift; you can actually see designers going so much further just because someone shared who they are and what they do. That’s actually why I founded Black Owned Everything, an online platform for Black-owned businesses. There’s a real hunger for this kind of celebratory and collaborative way of expressing and sharing; we launched just over two months ago and already have more than 150,000 followers on Instagram.”

Image Courtesy Porter Magazine

On Black is King and Being a Part of Making History

“I could never choose a favorite look from Black is King! How could I? What I will say is that I love the leopard-print Valentino moment – and how opulent the entire cast is throughout. You never know how a project is going to be received – people can be so hyper-critical – but the reaction to Black is King has been crazy; I wasn’t prepared for it. It’s quite surreal: I wrapped it over a year ago and, at the time, you’ve just got your head down and you’re putting one foot in front of the other; but now it’s been released, I understand that I’ve contributed to something that will be around for decades. I understand now that it will serve as a reference point, not only for art and creatives, but also for Black people and Black beauty. The timing of Black is King has made us part of a collective voice and movement. It’s a part of history now, and that leaves me lost for words.”

Read the full feature here

Credits

Photography: @kalebmarshall

Styling: @zerinaakers

Art Direction: @pb_artdirection

Hair and Makeup: @beautybychrisc

Production: @priscilanava

Words: @megan_logue

Team Porter @alcaselyhayford @kayabarron @thesarahbailey1 @rachael.evans_ @gillianbrett @claudia.saadeh