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Robyn Cooke Personal Profile
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Robyn Cooke returned to South Africa in December 2007 after ten years spent living in London, working as a director of marketing in the corporate world and as a personal stylist to many ordinary people living and working in London.
Robyn graduated from the University of Cape Town in 1990 with a BA in psychology and followed this in 1991 with a post graduate degree where she examined the relationship between what women believed as individuals, versus the way in which they were physically portrayed in public and in the media.
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Robyn went on to qualify and teach MBA marketing theory. And practice it at some of the largest global technology corporations in the world as marketing and communications manager and director for the past 15 years, largely based in London but working extensively in Europe and the USA.
After a sabbatical in 2003, when Robyn completed a course at the London College of Fashion in personal styling, she continued to develop her interest in the area of personal style and completed many hours of work experience with several London-based personal stylists including Zoe Lem, the stylist on the BBC "What Not to Wear" series.
Combining her interests in psychology, style and media, Robyn has now set up her own personal styling consultancy in South Africa, operating in both Cape Town and Johannesburg. She has also trained some of the most exciting fashion and style talents in South Africa, the best of whom she now continues to work with as associates and mentor on an ongoing basis. Her associates, Cath Bowen and Sam Mackinnon, are profiled below.
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Catherine Bowen - Dress Sense
Cath started Dress Sense as a way to use clothing to help people develop and improve their self-image. Her desire for personal growth and wish to better understand others, produced a Bachelor of Social Sciences degree from UCT, with majors in Organizational Psychology and Psychology. Subsequent training in consciousness coaching taught Cath how to assist people in developing, and working towards, a vision for their lives. This process made her realize that shaping your look is a critical stage in defining who you are.
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Having turned her attention to fashion, she honed her skills at dynamic design house KLžK CGDT. Working with Malcolm Kluk and Christiaan Gabriel Du Toit allowed her to develop a fashion intuition by working with individual clients to create a final look which was fresh, but remained true to their unique style. Part-fashionista, part strategist, she also learnt the business of fashion and helped to grow the brand into one of South Africa's most reputable design houses. Cath formalised her fashion training when, in 2008 Cath had the good fortune to be trained and mentored by Robyn Cooke Style Guide.
Dress Sense combines Cath's two greatest passions - people and fashion. She encourages her clients to explore the drama and playfulness, fabric and design of beautiful clothing. Whether classic or cutting-edge, she aims to translate dress so it makes perfect sense to each client. |
Samantha Mackinnon -
To-Feel Personal Fashion Styling
Samantha has always worked in the creative industry, working in corporate advertising for 10 years, owning her own production company for five years and a restaurant for another two years, exposing her to an amazing array of people that needed a bit of guidance with their style!
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Samantha has loved fashion since she can remember helping friends and family with their style choice along the way. With the formal training obtained through her mentor Robyn Cooke, well know personal stylist, Samantha started her own consultancy in Cape Town, and through many hours of training and work experience has successfully built an impressive client base.
As a personal fashion stylist Samantha enjoys helping clients rediscover themselves and start to achieve their goals and dreams. Samantha is very passionate about personal styling, and believes what Coco Chanel said true: "How many cares one loses when one decides not to be something but to be someone."
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