How does an Adelaide girl go from attending photo shoots to styling Beyoncé?
What about Megan Thee Stallion? And Rihanna?
Ntombi Moyo knows it.
The Australian stylist recently returned home after working with some of Hollywood’s biggest stars to lend a hand to the year’s most exciting new series, Swift Street.
We met Ntombi to talk about her Swift Street his return home and highlights of his career to date, including what it’s like to work with some of the world’s most iconic celebrities.
ELLE Australia: How did you start your career?
Ntombi: I grew up in Adelaide, so I worked in the clothing industry in Adelaide for a long time and then moved into fashion photography in Melbourne. When I was working in fashion photography studios there, I discovered that to create a perfect image, you really had to make the clothes in that image look great. So, it just naturally developed from there. Honestly, I love fashion photography. I love the complete packaging of an image or just creating a visual package. Over time, I started booking campaigns instead of booking ads, and it became a bigger thing. I started working with artists, making music videos. I never thought I would make a career there.
In a word, how did you feel working with Beyoncé?
I would say it looks “big”. Yeah, big in every way; everything is bigger. There is nothing that is off limits. Production is greater. The crew is extremely large. Everything is like multiplied by 10 in a big production, you know?
We did a really cool spot for Tiffany and Co, directed by a good friend of mine called Dikayl Rimmasch. Jay Z was also there. We also had Blue Ivy on set. It was really very special.
And Rihanna?
Rihanna is cool. Rihanna is so cool. Most of these big names don’t get much time on set. You know, you have a super crazy schedule, because they have to accommodate so many things. But she came and she didn’t want to leave. She stayed until 3 a.m. I just wanted to get out. And, you know, exactly what you think Rihanna would be – I feel like she is.
What about Megan Thee Stallion?
In one word, I would say “spicy”. I would say it was a real introduction to the spicy work that comes from America. She’s like fire, spicy, she’s not afraid of anything, she really leans towards sexy.
For your work on Swift Street, how did you go about capturing the style of Melbourne and young Melbourne people?
It was super fun, because obviously my formative years were in Melbourne, with a lot of the crew and cast. You know, the director, Tig [Terera], we grew up creating together. So it was a full circle coming back and doing this together. And we had a very coherent vision of what the Melbourne experience was, because we lived it.
So there are these kids on the show called The Flower Shop Crew, who are this group of forward-thinking, eclectic, creative kids. And I felt like we once were. In the way they dress, they are creative and they don’t come from high-income families, but they express their style through the way they put things together, the way they layer things. Tanzyn [Crawford]our leader [Elsie], she spends a lot of time with these kids, and they all do a lot of layering, a lot of ripping, a lot of clashing prints, you know, it doesn’t always make sense but it looks cool. You know, I really identify with the way they dressed at a different time in life, where we were kind of just putting things together, and it had nothing to do with the money.
Most cities have their own style. How would you describe Melbourne, as the person who captured it on screen?
Melbourne is the coolest city in Australia. From my experience and opinion, I love Melbourne. I think the creativity that comes out of here is really authentic. People don’t do it to try — they are that. I’ve traveled a lot and been able to meet all different types of creatives, and a lot of people see the work or visuals or creativity coming out of Melbourne, and they’re like ‘whoa, that’s really different’. I just think Melbourne is really cool. Honestly, it’s in its own world. It just is what it is, and if you know it, you know it.
Swift Street premieres at 8.30pm on Wednesday 24 April on SBS and SBS On Demand. Watch the trailer below.