After many years in Melbourne, professional stylist Simonne Juniper and her husband headed to Asia for work opportunities. With 25 years of experience in the fashion industry, the affable Australian started Styling by Simonne, where she dresses up people and homes for a living in Singapore.

Having had extensive experience in everything from product development and design, to buying, merchandising, retailing and styling, it made sense to “set up shop” here in Singapore for fashion and property styling services as the ex-pat demand is strong. At this stage of her life, she has decided to focus solely on styling as she finds this most rewarding, helping people feel more confident through personal expression.

Simonne once said that: "How many times have you shopped, only to return home and not really love what you’ve bought, or not actually ever wear what you purchased? Money is wasted and clothing items often become corpses in your closet! This is a common theme for a lot of people as they lack an understanding of what really suits them in terms of colours, silhouettes, accessories, sizing and more. That’s where I come in! I’ve found that, particularly in fashion, it’s a wise and worthy investment to hire a professional who has training and experience. When you shop under the guidance of a stylist whose only aim is to make you look and feel your best, you’ll save money in the long term because you’ll only buy the right pieces that suit you."

She works flexible hours, so she’s better able to work around her clients’ timing needs. Some prefer to meet initially during the day because they may not be working, while others work during the day and can only meet at night. A lot of the time, she spends her days or nights researching, looking for whatever pieces she needs to fulfil each client brief. It can be exhausting being on her feet most of the time but with a bit of planning, she covers a lot of ground quickly!

For her, the best part of styling is helping people feel more confident through personal expression. Fashion can be perceived as a superficial and materialistic industry – and, at times, it can be. However, it’s important to recognize fashion as a valid and important form of human expression that has stood the test of time. Simonne believes that, at its core, fashion is a projection to the world of who we are, and how we feel about ourselves.