Photography by Kevin A. Roberts
St. Louis Magazine’s April issue marked the debut of style editor Helene Sayad. Sayad’s perspective is influenced by her extensive experience in the art and fashion industries and her travels woldwide. Learn more about her with these tidbits:
1. During a study-abroad year in France, she tagged along to view couture collections, including those of Christian Lacroix, with a Vogue Paris photographer. “I decided after [the Christian Lacroix] show that I wanted to be a designer,” she says. “That lasted for a year, ’cause I can’t draw.”
2. She is influenced by the art of Iran and Turkey, where she traveled as a child with her Persian father, and of the sheer, casual summer dresses that she’d seen on Italy’s Amalfi Coast.
3. While living in New York, Sayad immersed herself in contemporary art, fashion, photography, and film, working at Christie’s auction house; doing historical research for feature films; curating photographs for a gallery and a private collection; and producing ad campaigns for Calvin Klein.
4. She was the associate producer of Catwalk, a feature documentary that followed runway shows in New York, Paris, and Milan and premiered at the international Festival de Cannes.
5. After returning to St. Louis, her hometown, Sayad opened a fine-art consulting business, drawing inspiration from exquisite old photos, Alfred Hitchcock films, contemporary art, and extensive travel.
By Nancy Curtis and Jeannette Cooperman
