5 Minutes with Nayaab Tania
We speak to the celebrity stylist who's the face behind most of the UK rap scenes wardrobes
Meet Nayaab Tania, the face behind most of the UK rap scenes wardrobe. She’s worked on projects for the likes of artists such as Aitch, AJ Tracey, Bryson Tiller, D Block Europe, Digga D, Fredo, Headie One, Jay Critch, Mo Stack, M Huncho, Nafe Smallz, NOT3S, Lil Tjay, Krept & Konan, Yxng Bane and many more, so it goes without saying that Nayaab has a busy schedule. I was able to catch her on the phone whilst she was juggling three jobs in one day to speak to her about her journey, and how life is being one of the most in demand stylists in London’s music scene.
She tells me that she has been styling for 5 years, but solely working in the music industry for 3 years now. Starting out by styling more commercial/editorial projects, Nayaab fell into the entertainment world by chance. Her first big job in the music industry was with Abra Cadabra back in 2017 who she still works with today, but things really started to change for her when she worked with Fredo in 2018 when he was on his come up. She laughed when she told me this because when she was initially approached to work with him through his manager, Sincere, at the time she had no idea who Fredo was. “After Fredo, I kept getting more and more music jobs and without even realising I was in so deep. When I first started styling, I knew I wanted to work with talent, I just didn’t think it would be so soon”.
3 years on, it’s impressive how far Nayaab has come to say the least, and she shows no signs of slowing down.
Words & Interview by Thomas Alan
EQ: What’s the most challenging thing about being a stylist?
NT: It would have to be how last-minute things can be, some projects I’ve worked on have had a lead-up time of a month, and some less than 2 hours. And overall, just what being a personal stylist entails, people seem to think it’s as easy as going into a designer store and picking up whatever you want, it’s really not. Everyone that knows me personally knows that I literally do not stop, my schedule is back-to-back. I have 4 full-time assistants that I would be lost without, but even then, things can get crazy.
EQ: What do you do when you’re not styling?
NT: When I’m not working, I like to just be away from my phone, have a spa day, go on long walks, or binge on series with my friends. I like to travel when I can too, my life is so work absorbed so when I can I just switch off.
“…a lot of people may not realise that they are all pretty regular people once you get past the ‘rapper facades’.”
EQ: What’s the most frustrating thing about your job?
NT: The most frustrating and common question I get asked all the time is: ‘what is this rapper like?’. A lot of people may not realise that they are all pretty regular people once you get past the ‘rapper facades. I’m lucky that most of the artists I work with are all pretty down-to-earth. Another thing I get asked a lot is ‘What exactly is your job’ - to me it’s self-explanatory but to put it in a nutshell, I’m a personal stylist to most of my clients. This entails sorting out things from their personal wardrobe, brand deals, gifting, red carpet looks, and music videos. I think the confusion is because people don’t understand why celebrities actually have or need a stylist, it’s for a few reasons the main one being they’re too busy to think about what they are going to wear day-to-day, and especially for artists they never wear outfits they have worn in a music video again, so it makes sense to have a stylist that takes back the clothes at the end of the day.
EQ: Any tips for aspiring stylists out there?
NT: Assist and/or intern with other stylists as much as you can.
EQ: What’s been your favourite project to work on so far?
NT: I don’t have a favourite, but I loved working on these 3 videos (below) in particular because I had full creative direction freedom for styling. Most of the time there’s a lot of input from directors on how styling should look to align with their vision, which means sometimes I have to choose looks / colours that I wouldn’t pick out if I had the choice.
AJ Tracey ft. Jay Critch – Necklace
Nafe Smallz ft. M Huncho – Flooded
D Block Europe ft Aitch – UFO
Highsnobiety quoted 4 years ago ‘Nayaab Tania, one of the stylists leading the game’, we think it’s fair to say she still is, and the rest of her story is still in progress.
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Keep up with Nayaab on socials
Instagram: @nayaabtania
Web: www.nayaabtania.com
Credits
Interview - Thomas Alan
Talent - Nayaab Tania @nayaabtania
Photographer - Sam Trav @samxtrav, www.samtravis.co.uk
Makeup - Flo Riff @beautybyriff
Nayaab wears Sandro, Chanel, Amiri, ALYX, Nike, IAMGIA, Acne, Emelthelabel and Special thanks to Kickgame UK