Ezinne Chinkata shares How to Interpret a brief: Styling Omotola Jalade Ekeinde and her daughter for Knorr

Fashion consultant, retailer, stylist and blogger, Ezinne Chinkata styled Omotola and her beautiful 15 year old daughter Meraiah who were recently named Knorr Ambassadors.

Ezinne usually shares relevant details and tips of her job on her website Zinkata.com, I read through her experience with Omotola and daughter and loved how simple she made styling seem, so I decided to share it here...

 Styling a shoot is usually aimed at producing photos for a particular “purpose“..  This should be of foremost concern to the Stylist as they prep for the  photo-shoot at hand.. Having beautiful clothes is one thing,  but to what use is it if tilts in a totally different direction from the client’s brief ??The brief should serve as your guide as you create a mood board for your shoot.. I can’t stress the importance of this enough.

What if there’s isn’t a brief?? That happens quite often.. you may have to come up with a brief/theme and communicate it fully to your client prior to the shoot..This way everyone is on the same page..

I got a gig to style Omotola and Meraiah (Omotola’s daughter) for  Unilever (Knorr)..I absolutely love styling Omotola.. She has a really awesome figure (BEAUTY!).. It is always exciting to put her in really “out there” pieces.. and Meraiah is totally adorable.. I can’t believe she’s 15 already!

This time..The client gave a very clear brief:.

1. A  shoot in the kitchen
2. Mother and daughter bonding
3. She in head gear
4. Green should be the primary colour.. to represent the brand
5. Traditional attire

..and so many other little clauses.. “I knew I had to adhere strictly to the conditions given but at the same time.. I wanted really pretty images..

My first move was,  “Research“.. Omotola has quite a sexy persona and brand.. and the challenge was to ensure I  kept her true essence while adhering to the brief at hand.. I researched and viewed loads of images of  photo-shoots of women cooking from various eras.. I got super inspired !!

With a decisive and positive spirit.. I pulled and put together looks I felt would work..The idea was to project Omotola as a beautiful mom, grounded in her traditional roots.. yet totally global.. With her daughter, Meraiah, her “mini-me“.. a younger version of her, learning the ropes from Omotola, with a  strongclose mother-daughter bond/ambience…

It was quite easy to pull this off to be honest.. As this is  basically what Omotola stands for..and we went along with what comes naturally..

Here are photos from the shoot:

 The Ad:

Photography: Kelechi Amadi Obi
Styling: Ezinne Chinkata
Make-up: Bimpe Onakoya
Ankara Dresses: Currently stock at Zinkata