How to Style a Test Shoot That Gets You Work

Styling isn’t about following trends or filling a feed.
It’s about building images that tell a story, that hold their own, that live beyond the moment they were made.

Of course, that doesn’t mean trends are irrelevant — they’re part of the language of fashion. But here’s where so many test shoots go wrong: the story gets lost because the styling is led only by what’s current.
The references are beautiful, but too close to the season’s moodboard. The result is a shoot that looks on-trend now — and forgettable by next season.

I’ve seen this happen over and over — especially with stylists trying to build their editorial book. They shoot constantly, they create beautiful images, they post them with pride. But when they pitch editors? The work doesn’t land. Not because it isn’t good — but because it isn’t differentiated. It feels like more of the same.

When I styled one of my earliest editorial test shoots, I knew the work had to hold beyond the moment. The trends of the season were in my awareness — but they didn’t drive the concept. The story led the styling, not the other way around.

That test went on to be published. It led directly to further paid editorial work.
And it taught me exactly what makes a test shoot powerful — and worth doing.

Today I want to reverse-engineer that process:
How I contributed to the shoot.
How I approached the styling.
How I used the outcome.

Because done right, even one test can move your career forward.