Interview with Style Maven Sasha Maksutenko

Sasha Maksutenko and I met at a mutual friend’s housewarming party, and we instantly clicked over our mutual love of fashion and experience with blogging. Every woman deserves to feel empowered with their own personal style, and Sasha is an expert at making women feel their best with her personalized styling services and vintage jewelry collection. The Sasha Maks Vintage Collection  encompasses the glamour, fantasy and originality of costume jewels of the twentieth century with a focus on Pop and Mod baubles of the 60s and 70s. I am so excited to be interviewing Sasha today on how she started her jewelry business to which celeb’s closet she wouldn’t mind raiding! 

 

Tell me about yourself and your career so far, how did you become a fashion stylist and start your vintage jewelry company?

SM: I’ve been collecting vintage costume jewelry for at least 10 years. I started off as a mid-century design dealer, and began paying attention to jewelry while on the hunt for  vintage treasures. Eventually, I switched to jewelry exclusively and first started selling at trunk shows and then online. I launched my e-boutique Sasha Maks Vintage in 2009 and started my personal style blog in 2013. Styled by Sasha Maks came about later that year and was an outgrowth of my jewelry business. I began styling local designer’s fashion shows and personal styling followed that.

What has been the most rewarding experience thus far in your career?

SM: In terms of jewelry it’s finding amazing creations by designers I admire like Dior, Lanvin, and Paco Rabanne. As far as personal styling it’s the look on my client’s face when they discover how good they can look, the confidence it engenders, and just the pure joy they experience from fashion.
And overall the opportunity to meet other creatives and entrepreneurs and work on fun collabs.

How do you choose what looks work for each individual styling client?

SM: There’s a very thorough questionnaire that my clients fill out followed by a phone consult and often after that, a closet audit. This gives me a deep understanding of what their needs are, the challenges they have with style and fashion, and what they want to accomplish. By choosing pieces that flatter a particular body type and being a thorough editor of what stays in the closet and what needs to be purchased, my clients gain invaluable knowledge they can apply in the future.

What is your favorite Fall 2015 fashion trend?

SM: I like the fact that there are so many diverse trends now, nothing is really dominating. Pick and choose from the decade that appeal to you, the 70s, 80s, and 90s all had a big presence on the catwalk. Conjure up your own idea of dressing.  What speaks to my sensibility is the woman on Gucci’s Fall ‘15 runway by Alessandro Michelle, in first collection for the house, the looks are eclectic, gender-neutral, very vintagy. Which is catnip for me. Since I wear a lot of vintage clothes and like to mix things up. The collection has no overt sexuality, just a very modern approach to style. And the Vetements Fall ‘15 collection is all about reinterpreted basics in skewed proportions and oversized outerwear, tuned into what’s happening on the streets of Paris now.

If you could choose a celebrity closet to shop in, who’s would it be and why? 

SM: Ha! I would love that! It would be quite a few.  Here are some who come to mind right now, all women who have an original sense of style.
Caroline de Maigret, French model and music producer – love all the masculine elements in her wardrobe, that only make her more devastatingly feminine.
Charlotte Gainsbourg, French actress and singer (and celebrity royalty in France) – has a very sophisticated edge. And like Caroline de Maigret she obviously styles herself, nothing is forced, her style is authentic and has a spontaneous quality. Maja Wyh, German blogger, has the oversized and layered looks down! Stop it Right Now blogger, Jayne Min, laid back LA tomboy who effortlessly rocks next level statement pieces like they are wardrobe basics.

If you could see any woman wearing your beautiful pieces, who would it be?

SM: Really anyone who falls in love with a piece and has a blast wearing it. If you mean who in the public eye, then why not all the women mentioned above!

Are there any fun projects that you have coming up?

SM: I’m going ahead with a big project. I’m rebranding by bringing together my jewelry and styling websites under one name, Sasha Maks. it will be much easier for me to manage them in one place instead of going back and forth. It’s going to be a lot of work, but I think it will be worth it in the end. So right now, I’m excited about designing a new logo and just giving everything a revamp.