This fashion designer will show a year’s worth of work in one night

Something exciting is happening in the Columbia art scene, and fashion stylist Ginevra Hardin is officially becoming a part of it. On Thursday, Dec. 21, Tapp’s Art Center will host her debut show, a one-night event exhibiting her work.

A graduate of Benedict College, Hardin works with photographers and models to create editorials and fashion films. Here’s what she has to say on her show, “Ginevra Hardin: A Year in Style” and fashion in her hometown.

On being a fashion stylist in the South. Hardin says the being a stylist in this region is not always easy. “It’s a lot of pounding the pavement,” she says, “meeting photographers and models. It’s kind of difficult in the South. There’s less people trying to do fashion for fashion. You have to create your own space.”

Hardin emphasized that much of her work happens by grabbing her friends and going for it. “This past year, I decided to do a fashion shoot with my friends,” she says. “I posted it on my Facebook and it went viral.”

Hardin says that she draws the South into her work through the environment around her, rather than through the clothes themselves.

“There’s definitely a lot of Southern influence in my work, particularly because I usually go outside to shoot,” she says. “I like the (drama). The shoot looks like frames from a movie, like stills.”

In terms of art and fashion in Columbia, Hardin says it’s becoming an “it” place: “It’s definitely having a moment.”

On her debut show. “My first show, I didn’t want to have it anywhere but Tapp’s. I used to work there. I was an intern in college,” says Hardin, whose show will be the first to integrate Tapp’s two event spaces at once (including the recently renovated Fountain Room).

“ ‘A Year in Style’ is basically composed of all the shoots and work I’ve done, and all the people I’ve worked with,” says Hardin. She plans to feature two photographers in the showcase.

Hardin, who splits her time between Columbia and Charlotte, says photographer Demetria Mosley has been a powerful creative partner. “We really are a good team. …She’ll stake out locations. She finds the coolest places. One place was an alley with boxes and a door. It was the coolest place we ended up working with. She’s so versatile.”

“A Year in Style” will also feature work with photographer Isaac Udogwu, a USC graduate and founder of [IN] Color Magazine. “He has a cinematography look to his work,” says Hardin, “He made a little studio out of his house with different colored light bulbs. The shoot was like a comic strip. It was so different than what I usually work with.”

On the Southern Arts Group Exchange. The event is presented by S.A.G.E., a collective for creative people of color. “We believe that any and every Person of Color has the potential to be creative when given the proper space – one of healing,” says the organization’s website, “We provide a nurturing environment for seasoned and novice creators alike, as well as the unassuming admirer.”

Founded by Hardin’s friend, Kelsey Williams, S.A.G.E. artists will be performing throughout the event, including musical performances by TWN, Ahomari and Litty.

On advice for young fashionistas. “I read a lot of magazines. Vogue, Nylon… The more you’re exposed to art and fashion, the more ideas you end up having in stores,” says Hardin. She carries a list of items she needs for a shoot to stay on track.

“Sometimes, I’ll be walking around a Goodwill and find the coolest, weirdest thing,” she says, “It’s about keeping your eyes peeled and learning as much as you can and reading as much as you can.”

This story was originally published December 19, 2017 at 3:14 PM with the headline "This fashion designer will show a year’s worth of work in one night."