Shiona Turin does it all
Shiona Turin has done it all in fashion from PR to editorial to influencing to designing. Behind her impeccable taste and style, she has worked incredibly hard, believed in and invested in her strengths, and ultimately built a community of women who have supported and pushed each other to reach new heights.
Turin was born in Bermuda and started her fashion career as a PR intern at YSL, a job she was not immediately offered but made clear she wanted and ultimately made her’s. Curious about the editorial side, she became a stylist and editor at W Magazine, followed by stints at Cosmopolitan, Teen Vogue, and then co-launched CR Fashion Book with Vogue Paris Editor in Chief, Carine Roitfeld. With a strong editorial career established, she shifted to work on her own, collaborating with Solange for “Cranes in the Sky” and then as a stylist on Beyonce ‘s “Formation”. That project catapulted her career into another unknown chapter - costume designing with the support of the director of “Formation”, Melina Matsoukas.
Her connection with Matsoukas parlayed to two other projects with her doing costume designing for Queen and Slim and then for Insecure, where she really took costume styling and designing to another level. In the show’s last season, episode seven told the story of the strength and beauty of the four lead female characters’ friendship. After Turin read the script, she came up with the idea to have every single fashion outfit and accessory feature black women designers - a fashion first. The episode was a celebration of black women, something central to Issa Rae’s vision for Insecure - a show “by us, for us”.
What I love about Turin’s story is that it is a balance of being open to growth into things she’s never done and building her career with a cadre of incredible creative women. These days, Turin continues to be a force in fashion through her work with @letitiawright, @jesssims, and more. As for words of wisdom, Turin shared “Stepping outside of that fear and just being open to constantly learning, changing, and going wherever your path might take you instead of being like, no, I'm just a writer, and staying in that safe space, that would be the advice that I give anyone.”