Photo Credit: Danielle Levi, Courtesy of Danielle Levi
As Kim Kardashian’s stylist, Danielle Levi knows the importance of crafting a personal image and creating buzz with every look.
For someone like Kardashian whose influence on fashion and pop culture knows no bounds as a trendsetter, it’s ironic that Levi’s origin story stems from her feeling like an outsider while growing up in Los Angeles.
“I grew up in Jerusalem, so I wasn’t physically surrounded by fashion,” Levi shares of her background. “When I moved to America as a teen, high school was a culture shock. I was wearing modest baggy linen clothes and everyone was dressed in Abercrombie — I didn’t fit in at all. I felt like an outcast and just wanted to connect with the other kids and feel like I belonged, so I started to study fashion, read magazines, and watch more music videos. Eventually, this became my career.”
Fashion became Levi’s outlet and a world that she immersed herself in. It also became a form of self-expression, from which she created her identity.
“I thought that if I dressed different and expressed my personality, people would be interested in connecting with me. To this day I dress and style others with intention — how I’m feeling and what type of attention we want to attract.”
When it comes to Kardashian’s style, Levi crafts every look with meticulous care along with Kardashian, and to say they attract attention is an understatement.
The truth is, fashion and personal style is something everyone can cultivate and it’s an art form that can leave an impression on those in your orbit.
“Style is a first impression, it’s how you’ll be judged before you even speak — never underestimate the value of this,” Levi asserts. “It should reach the max level of expressing who you are and where you want to be.”
Part of expressing your authentic self comes with not following the traditional rules of engagement on social media and not posting content like everyone else, something Levi enforces on her own IG feed (@superrrdani), as well as in her approach to styling.
After high school, Levi wanted to pursue the freedom that styling offered her, as a career. “I wanted to find a way to allow other people to connect in a way that I wanted to so badly, because I struggled with that. When I style, and I can be myself and put looks together and create vibes that other girls are influenced by, which they can feel cool in and express themselves in, I feel proud.”
She headed to Italy to study design at Accademia Italiana, which helped shape the path she took in fashion by inspiring her to pursue styling versus design.
(The program there was more technical rather than the “fantasy and the art,” which is the side of fashion Levi prefers.)
“Studying fashion design in Italy taught me what I didn’t want to do. I was into art but we were taught business, marketing, patternmaking — it was all classes that kept me from feeling like a creative. I got into styling so I could feel more free.”
After college, she started working as a stylist intern, basically to every celebrity stylist in LA. (Assisting everyone from Jennifer Lopez’s to Chris Brown’s stylist.) Eventually Levi got to Rihanna’s stylist and Interview Magazine’s Editor-in-Chief Mel Ottenberg, who took her in as his LA assistant for two years.
(This is fitting as Levi always loved music and was fascinated by music videos. “That’s where my love started. I couldn’t understand how people looked so fresh on the screen, but in reality no one dressed like that. The truth is, I wasn’t into reality — I wanted to be part of the dream.”)
And create the dream is exactly what Levi is currently doing, today.
When it comes to fashion, Levi gets her inspiration from blending different worlds versus looking to one source.
“I like to mix different worlds together so no one can copy our recipe. Art, architecture, anime — everything.”
(These different worlds can be seen with one scroll on her Instagram feed.)
Levi’s advice for the woman who wants to reinvent her fashion style? “Be you to the fullest. Find what you love, what makes you different and amplify that.”
As for taking on a new look or adopting a signature style?
Levi shares: “The first step is to consider your favorite things in life, as in colors, vibes, designers, characters — and to shop from that place. This way you own pieces that are authentically you, so you don’t get lost in the sauce looking like everyone else. As soon as you have key pieces that are different and represent you, you can add in basics that are good for your body type, and play.”
For someone whose main client is one of the world’s most followed people in the world on Instagram, there’s a paradox in Levi’s perception of social media.
She actually kept her Instagram account private for a long time.
“I didn’t want to read comments from other people. At first, I disabled comments. So I had an Instagram account, but nobody could message me or write anything under my photos because I’m not doing this for validation or to hear people’s opinions about my pics — I’m doing it because I want to do it. And because I like it. That freedom was really fun.”
One scroll through Levi’s Instagram grid showcases her evolution from her authentic self and not playing by the rules, to her playing it “safer.”
Dani Levi’s Instagram feed, @superrrrdani, Photo Credit: Courtesy of Danielle Levi
“My Instagram feed reflects what the inside of my mind looks like. If you scroll down to the beginning, it’s me at my maximum self, and then as you scroll up I archived most of my photos and it gets more and more ‘commercial’ and less ‘out there’, because everyone in this fashion game around me tells I need to be more mainstream if I want to succeed and have a social following to get great deals and clients. I still have people trying to put me in a box all the time and telling me what to do with my Instagram. It’s a struggle — this balance of staying true to yourself and conforming somewhat to what the masses want.”
(Kardashian is actually the only person in her life who has encouraged her not to listen to anyone and to stay true to her authentic self.)
As for Levi’s keys to pursuing your dream career?
“Only take advice from people who are where you want to be,” Levi shares. “I also feel like people’s goals are usually material things, like getting that house, their favorite car, or status. But I’ve seen people reach those levels and still feel unfulfilled, so I’d say focus on your goal of being at peace instead. The first steps to this are your small habits like how you spend your mornings, how you talk to yourself, who you follow on Instagram, what you read, what you watch, who you share your energy with, and who has access to you. Also, there’s so much jealousy when you’re coming up, so a huge part of getting to the top is to never do the envy or insecurity stuff — always be the hustler, well wisher, the go-getter. Minding where your energy goes and doing your best to be the greatest, because all abundance starts first in the mind.”
Between Levi’s talent and vision, it’s clear that her runway of opportunity has no limits.
