For award-winning stylist and costume designer Zerina Akers, fashion is the purest way to express our ideal selves — and she gets to help superstars like Beyoncé do just that.
In this episode of GRAMMY Style Edit, Akers breaks down a few of her styled looks in recent GRAMMY history. She's the mastermind behind Beyoncé's iconic black leather and gold ensemble from the 2021 GRAMMY Awards, a look Akers describes as a "refreshing take on fashion" to coincide with the singer's historical winning moment.
Akers has served as the R&B diva's personal stylist since 2014, and attributes her knack for creating memorable style moments — especially for performances, her personal favorite thing to style — to "the School of Beyonce." (She was the costume designer for Beyoncé's GRAMMY-winning film Black Is King, which won Akers an Emmy in 2021.)
In her everyday life, Akers defines her style as androgynous, with an added eclectic twist on wardrobe basics. She utilizes this approach in her work with Jazmine Sullivan, who Akers styled in a tribal-print black leather suit at the 2022 GRAMMY Awards, and Chloe x Halle, who wore sleek, structural black gowns during their 2019 GRAMMY performance.
"GRAMMY styling, specifically, is always so special," Akers says. "It's important for me to approach it with a timeless sensibility. Will this stand the test of time? Will these images, in 20 years, still be fab?"
Press play on this video to learn more about Zerina Akers' genius behind some of her most recent GRAMMY looks, and keep checking back to GRAMMY.com for more new episodes of GRAMMY Style Edit.