In Conversation with Rosie Bowker
Tell us about your background:
I studied international relations and languages at school but quickly transitioned into fashion styling. I'm a visual person to the extreme and all my creative thinking happens in the visual space. I started styling on nights and weekends around my day job just for fun, and then eventually went full time. I've been freelance and on staff on both coasts, moving between commercial and advertising jobs and fashion. I've landed in the Rockaways in NYC, where my partner and I found a wonderful house on the water. It's been very peaceful and comforting for me, as I grew up in a house overlooking the water in Seattle. I've always kept visual notebooks since I was a kid, which over the years developed into a collage practice using found papers, books, and textiles. Over the last couple years, I've been able to merge them with my styling work, which has been the most exciting thing. I'll style an editorial, print the images, and then take scissors to it and collage it for select clients. I can never get enough of it.
What do you wish you’d known when you started out?
That a career is not necessarily linear--especially as a freelancer. It took years to get comfortable doing 5 projects one month and nothing the next, or to go through periods of intense creative growth followed by total stagnation. It's such a roller coaster and can get emotional. I've learned in those times of less work to just let myself get bored. In the middle of boredom, when your mind has quieted a bit, is the time when some of the best ideas bubble to the surface.
Best career advice you've ever received?
Take your job seriously, but not yourself. I think Beyonce said something to that effect.
What leadership qualities are important to you?
Transparency. If a leader is able to speak honestly and openly about their needs and expectations, they have my respect.
What has been the biggest challenge in your career so far?
Probably setting up life as a freelancer in a new city. When I moved to LA several years ago, I kept a spreadsheet of all the clients I wanted to work with, investigated contacts, spent hours daily on LinkedIn, went to all the fashion events I could; all while flying several times a month to work with my existing clients. It can be so dispiriting to do that for weeks or even months, feeling like you're getting nowhere. I had to learn to release control and go with the flow, and accept new directions.
And for fun, what is your favorite wardrobe staple?
About 90% of my wardrobe comes from thrift stores--thrifting is almost a zen state for me. Ages ago, I found a Dior menswear knit top from the 80s with the teensiest logo. Logos never interest me but for some reason I like this one. It's the most lovely mahogany brown; baggy and sexy at the same time. Best over bare skin with a menswear pant, or with a micromini and a sandal. Or tucked into old denim. I could go on!
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rosie-bowker-65305929/
Website: www.rosiebowker.com
Instagram: @rosiebowker
