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Kemal Harris

2015 Speaker

KEMAL HARRIS has been obsessed with fashion since age four when she began drawing fashion collections on the sands of Long Beach in her hometown of Tofino, B.C., Canada. Her mother’s bohemian-style vintage clothing collection inspired her to pursue studies in fashion design which inevitably led to her to become an in-demand freelance stylist. In 2005, she moved to New york City to style editorials for magazines such as Vanity Fair, Teen Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and Elle. In 2008, she joined forces with LA-based stylist Karla Welch to form the industry’s first bi-coastal styling team. Over the past seven years, they’ve created notable red carpet looks for celebrity clients such as Robin Wright, Olivia Wilde, Felicity Jones, Hailee Steinfeld, Zooey Deschanel and many more for events ranging from the Oscars to the Grammy’s. They have designed custom tour wardrobes for performers Justin Bieber, Pink and Idina Menzel. In 2014, Harris and Welch were ranked number three of the “Top 25 Hollywood Power Stylists” by The Hollywood Reporter. In 2014, she added “costume designer” to her resume, developing custom-made wardrobe for Robin Wright’s character Claire Underwood on season three of the hit Netflix series “House of Cards.”