As a professional stylist and the creative director of the Trincity-based Ren Wilson Stylist, Renelle “Ren” Wilson has set herself the goal of helping move the local music industry forward through its visual identity by cultivating a meaningful aesthetic for artists.
Wilson said most of the time, when people scroll through social media, the volume is on mute so eye-catching visuals and distinctive outfits are important to make the viewer stop and listen to the music. That is why she would like to see more local artists having a more consistent personal style.
[caption id="attachment_1063013" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Styled by Ren Wilson, up-and-coming soca artiste Mykela is pretty in pink in her Multivitamin music video -[/caption]
“The world we live in is very influenced by social media and people discover music through social media. If we really want to push soca as a major genre and for it to get the kind of recognition it deserves I think that it's very important that artists invest in their visual identity.
“Everything is visual. We are listening with our eyes too. I think it's so important to really have a very cohesive aesthetic as soca artists and performers. We really need to have a very distinct visual identity in order to really capture the eyes, ears and heart of the listenership and fan bases out in the international arena.”
She said their style could evolve but the base should be distinctive. She used the example Superblue with his signature colour and styling using scarves and earrings.
She has styled soca artist Erphaan Alves and others for his music video Forever Love, as well as for some of his promotional material. She has also worked with up-and-coming soca artist Mykela who she styled for her music video Multivitamin.
In addition, she styled Muhammad Muwakil of Freetown Collective for the group’s Welcome to Freetown concert this year. The theme was All Hands on Deck so she created a sailor-themed look for the artist.
“I really wanted to bring on the theme so I chose a tunic from The Cloth which is known for its patchwork/ appliqué design. I wanted to use that, all these different pieces of fabric coming together, to represent how it is as a society, as a people, as a collective. It’s all these different people coming together for one purpose on this journey of life and moving the culture forward.”
[caption id="attachment_1063007" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Soca artiste Mykela and model Terique Ferdinand in her Multivitamin music video directed by Obiora Smith. Photo courtesy Ren Wilson. -[/caption]
Wilson has been a stylist for five years but has enjoyed fashion since she was a teenager. She has always been excited about fashion’s capacity for storytelling and self-expression, and that passion led to her friends and family asking her for advice on what to wear if they were going out.
By the time she graduated from St George’s College in 2013 she knew she wanted fashion to be a career but she was uncertain about how to get into the industry since she did not w
