Meet Monica.

Meet Monica. Melbourne based fashion stylist and creative director. A visionary, a trendsetter, and a kind-hearted soul. Her talents will soon rise higher and higher as she is currently working hard to pursue what she describes to be her deepest passion, that is, the art of fashion. Her creativity is one of a kind, making it easier to see that she's got what it takes to make it to the big leagues of the fashion industry. Her bold, powerful and brave choices when styling bring life to each and every editorial she has taken part in with the combination of accessories upon accessories, vibrant, beautiful colours and the mix of a few different 'styles' within one outfit, prove that her talents are simply one-of-a-kind. 

We decided to ask Monica a few questions and here's what she had to say about pursuing her dream job:

GIVE US A BRIEF BACKGROUND ON WHO YOU ARE

My name is Monica Kabissios, I am a freelance fashion stylist and creative director based in Melbourne. I have always lived life on the more creative side and as I got into my late high school years I discovered what exactly a stylist does. It seemed like a perfect fit for what I loved to do. From a very young age I always found it so enjoyable to just draw, paint and wear cool outfits. I also loved acting and drama and only just temporarily stopped for the next couple of years. I knew that there was no way I could live my life following a robotic 9-5, Monday to Friday job. As human beings we are not designed for this kind of life, through our higher order of thinking we are capable of living our lives true to our spirit. It’s really the only way to become the best version of ourselves.

My favourite part of styling and creative directing is the fact that I can bring a whole bunch of elements together to create one big, epic scenario. For a basic editorial, you pull together models, photography, locations, moods and poses, backstory, hair and make-up and fashion. I don’t want to do basic editorials for much longer anymore, I plan to venture into creating fashion videos, music videos that all have some sort of depth to them, whether that be a personal experience where I came out on top or a social/political statement in the fight for equality and love in this 21^st century crap that’s still going on. 

My celebrity style icon would definitely have to be bad gal RiRi! It’s probably the closest to mine out of all the celebrities, only difference being the fact that I’m not a millionaire like her. I love the freedom she has with her fashion; it’s all self-expression and moods. She doesn’t care about gender roles and norms, she doesn’t care about fashion ‘rules’ and restrictions, and that’s how a real creative is. 

I wouldn’t be able to live without sneakers! They are literally the bee’s knee’s. A cool set of sneakers can make an outfit come to life. Their easy and comfortable (usually) to walk around in and they look dope, a perfect combination in my opinion.

STREET IN CHINA TOWN / Featuring Meaghan Kausman, shot by Rachel Webb, make-up by Morgan Stonebridge

HOW DO YOU GET THE CHANCE TO WORK ON ALL THESE PROJECTS?

I studied at Melbourne Fashion Institute, where I learnt how to go about creating concepts, planning shoots and shooting. Once I built my foundation there I ventured off into the underground creative scene in Melbourne and started working with new models, photographers and hair and make-up artists to start getting some experience, build my portfolio, network and pretty much trial and error my creativity so I can eventually get it right. I am super thankful that I have my parents behind me supporting me on this, If I didn’t have them I wouldn’t have been able to chase my dream at this age.

TEST SHOOT (EDITORIAL) / Featuring Leyla Cross, photographed by Dracaena Krstic, hair and make-up by Allie Barrett

DO YOU HAVE ANY TIPS OR ADVICE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE OUT THERE JUST LIKE YOU, WHO WOULD LOVE TO DO WHAT YOU'RE DOING NOW (OR ANYTHING ELSE IN THE FASHION INDUSTRY)?

Go study it, don’t ever think you know how an industry works unless you have grown up in it. You must study it; learn from mentors who have been in the industry for years. With that being said, don’t forget who you are and what you stand for. You must push through boundaries of restriction in industries as soon as you start getting the chance to. For example, in the creative industry and in fashion particularly, there’s a lot of issues on models and representation of the people. At the moment and since the beginning of this industry the models have been tall, slender white women and men, poorly representing the actual culturally and ethnically diverse populations around the world. You don’t have to follow the set procedure of succeeding in an industry to the T, just take the best from it and learn from the worst of it. Eventually you will also get to a point where you must say ‘’no’’ to people and concepts offered to you. If they are not your cup of tea, if they don’t sit well with your values and morals or seems unethical, don’t do it. If you become a yes man then you will be seen as no different to the rest, own yourself and you as an artist. 

FEELIN' RED / Featured in Elements Magazine, shot by Drazena Krstic, featuring Leyla Cross. make-up by Allie Barrett & NEON NOIR EDITORIAL / Featuring Ally Mooney, shot by Dale Chynoweth, hair and make-up by Kristine Adriana

ASIDE FROM WORKING AS A STYLIST, DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER INTERESTS OR JOBS THAT YOU'D LOVE TO PURUSE ONE DAY?

There’s a few things I want to go and study when I am an adult, including philosophy, physics, meta-physics, environmental science and botany (study of plants). I‘m a little spiritual, highly intuitive soul so whenever I get the chance to I go on nature walks and contemplate the universe and me as a sentient being. Vinyasa yoga is also life. I am a humanitarian, and that will be evident in my work and business in the future. I want to do a lot for those who are less fortunate, homeless, for the beautiful animals who’s lives we destroy and mother earth who we have taken for granted. I plan on tackling all these issues with a fashion business or two in the future. I might go and work in reserves and forests with park rangers in my older years when I make the time to study environmental science and botany. There’s honestly a million and one things I would love to pursue so they will have to come slowly and all in good time.

DO YOU HAVE ANY FUTURE PLANS? HOW DO YOU PLAN ON TAKING YOUR CAREER TO THE NEXT LEVEL?

I plan to push creative boundaries and make fashion editorial like videos, instead of just photoshoots. I really want to create whole albums of these video editorial and I also want to do that with talented musicians. I need all the work I do to reflect the deepest parts of me, all of the struggles and wins, all of my philosophical opinion and way of living. I need the work I do to be of humanitarian nature, where I tackle social norms and boundaries for genders, ethnic groups etc. My work will have statements where the basis of it is the universal truth that unconditional love is the most important thing in this whole world. Hopefully once I start doing this I’ll also get noticed by organisations who will like to invest their money into my creativity. For example, record labels may hire me to style and creative direct music videos and albums for musicians they have.

RUG / Featuring Sara Liyanage, shot by Rachel Webb, hair and make-up by Madeleine Kean

WHAT WOULD YOU SAY WOULD BE THE BEST THING YOU'VE EVER EXPERIENCED WHILE ON THE JOB?

I think it would actually be the growing creativity within my mind. I am just continuously expanding my creative ideas and concepts in my mind and I am so excited to make them happen. After getting the ball rolling in this work I can finally let my energy run wild.

WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR CONSTANT CREATIVITY AND INSPIRATION FROM?

My heart, a lot comes from my heart. I just create ideas by listening to my intuition and heart. Externally speaking, I love watching music videos, concerts and performances (Beyoncé especially) because I get super hyped up over the whole production of it. I love seeing the results of all the hard work and amazing ideas put together in these. Productions are hard, hard work and the idea of working that hard to create something so big and crazy gets my creative juices flowing. I draw a lot of inspiration from nature and my own philosophies on different areas of life too.

NEON NOIR EDITORIAL / Featuring Ally Mooney, shot by Dale Chynoweth, hair and make-up by Kristine Adriana

WHAT WOULD BE YOUR DREAM JOB? (STYLING FOR NYFW? STYLING FOR A CELEBRITY?)

My dream job would be working as an individual artist where I put out all my fashion and social statement videos and albums. I want to be an artist and seen as an individual where those who love my craft and work purchase it, similar to singers and film directors.

check Monica out and see what she's up to on all her social media platforms listed below:
+ website: Monica Kabissios
+ instagram: @monicakabstylist

+ polyvore: @styledbymonicakabissios

Thank you Monica for going ahead and answering all our questions, and we hope everyone enjoyed the read!

So, until next time, 

Love from The Misfits xx