Meet the People - 36

Photograph by Stephen Goodenough

Another in the Series Meet the People – Ordinary and Extraordinary New Zealanders Doing Interesting Things – Make-up artist, Kristen Stewart has just opened KSSM, Kristen Stewart School of Make-up in central Christchurch. Operating from sleek new premises “completely different to anything else out there,” Kristen is fulfilling her long-held passion for make-up, fashion and photography. It was when she was training as a photographer in fact, that she first became interested in make-up as a career option. A stint in the modelling agency, Exposure highlighted her interest, so she taught herself the basics and then set off to London to study at the Glauca Rossi School of Make-up. “I’ve always loved working on fashion shoots and fashion shows,” she says. While abroad she worked on the prestigious London Fashion Week and since she’s been back in New Zealand there have been numerous photographic stints plus work for almost every major magazine in the country, film work and every New Zealand Fashion Week to date.

Photographs by Stephen Goodenough Opening her own make-up school is the culmination of all her passions and she’s confident her students will get a solid grounding in all the key principles of make-up design, enabling them to embark on their own successful careers in the industry. “I love my new premises – they’re beautiful – very boutique-like yet still with a school feel. I want women to come in here and love where they are and enjoy getting taught what they want to know. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a very long time and it’s exceeded my expectations," she says. www.kristenstewart.co.nz