You might seen her gracing the cover of
Scott Schuman’s book
The Sartorialist:Closer. And so did we.
Ni’ma Ford is an upcoming stylist and model currently living and working in New York City.Amazed by her edgy sense of style, we wanted to find out more about the girl behind the picture.
Born in Chicago and raised in White Plains, NY Ni’ma
fell in love with fashion during her early childhood. Recalling her mother and grandmother as her most crucial style influences, Ni’ma remembers watching her grandmother getting dressed and going to church. "She gave me an insight of how a woman preps herself, and I applied those things when I started to play dress up and then I applied those same elements later on in life," she says.
Not only did she love the elegance of her grandmother, but the self-described funky style of her mother certainly had an impact, even to this day. "I put those two looks together and just made it my own," Ni’ma explains. As she describes her style to be a mix of her early style influences, the elegance of her grandmother and the funky look of her mother, Ni’ma can also find inspiration from today’s pop culture. Not only for the look, but more the attitude towards dressing. "I started listening to
Kanye West in high school, at the time when I was finding my own style. H
e was all about individuality; being yourself and not caring what others are going to think. An attitude that speaks to me."
The stylist sees today’s American fashion culture as a tool for people to represent who they are from the inside rather than just wearing clothes. "I feel fashion in general is a new spin on the past. I see people are dabbling and trying to discover their own personal style,” says Ni’ma. It is her individuality that not only landed her a book cover, but her natural eye for style gave Ni’ma more unique opportunities. She started styling in college where she was a member of a styling club, applied what she learned on friends and brought this to practice on a professional level when she worked as a fashion stylist at Zink Magazine. She is also regularly booked as a model bringing her uniqueness to life in editorials. But we have to admit that
we love her off-duty style choices the most. No wonder she is a favorite of street style photographers, such as Bill Cunningham and the earlier mentioned Scott Schuman. The latter even contributed to Ni’ma her most memorable fashion moment.
"Being acknowledged for my style by Scott Schuman, then being featured in his book and on the cover is by far my most memorable moment. Tons of people have that book for inspiration and I’m on the cover. It is truly amazing," Ni’ma says.Being an inspiration to many around the globe, Ni’ma still proves to be her humble self. The meaning of fashion hasn’t change to her since her childhood. Her appreciation for it and understanding of it only grow with the years.
"
To me fashion is about looking beyond the idea of a garment. That purpose of solely to be clothed and protect your body. To me it is about understanding a garment, understanding it can be art, inspiration, part of a lifestyle or a full business. It’s more than a T-shirt,
fashion is becoming a story that anybody can be a part of because we have to put clothes on every day. We can’t all sing or paint, but we can all have our own style.” And that is why to Ni’ma personal style will never go out of fashion.
