LRFW Icon Award

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LRFW Icon Award

Each year at Little Rock Fashion Week, we will honor an Arkansas native who has made special contributions in the fashion industry. With hard work, dedication and loyalty he has inspired countless Arkansans to excel in the world of fashion. This recepient of the first Little Rock Fashion Week Icon Award is celebrity stylist Kevin Sanders.

KEVIN SANDERS

Kevin Sanders is known in fashion circles as the Stylist with
the Golden Touch -- Sanders has styled for the Oscars, Tony’s,
Grammy’s, Golden Globes, SAG and People’s Choice Awards. At each event
his clients walked away winners.

Millions remember the moment in 2005 when Jamie Foxx won the
Academy Award for Best Actor. He was wearing a fashionably funky,
deep purple suit by Oswald Botang. Sanders hand picked the clothes to
enhance Jamie’s unique personal image.

In 2007 Mr. Sanders styled Reese Witherspoon, who won an Oscar
for her performance in Walk the Line that year. The press called her
appearance magical. That same year he also styled Nicolette Sheridan
for her winning appearance at the Golden Globes. Since then, Mr.
Sanders has styled Jay Hernandez for movie premieres, MTV appearances
and the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards. At the Tony’s, Sanders
styled Adrian Lenox, Best Actress winner for her performance in the
smash Broadway hit play, Doubt. To Sanders’ great satisfaction Lenox
also received another honor at the Tony’s when she was dubbed as best
dressed for the evening by the New York Daily News. He has also
styled and designed for Britney Spears for a music video and several
public appearances; for Katie Holmes when she did a press junket for
Fashion Week; and for Nicole Kidman.

Mr. Sanders used his expertise in demographics and lighting to
craft a new image and look for Soledad O’Brien in her role as anchor
on CNN American Morning. In response to the success of this effort
with Soledad CNN asked him to style her co-anchor, Miles O’Brien, as
well as the entire CNN news line-up. In addition, Sanders’ work at CNN
expanded beyond the anchor desk as he was asked to maintain Soledad’s
polished look for award shows, public appearances and editorial
shoots. He later took his eye for that sharp TV look to CBS-TV where
he was asked to style the Early Show’s Maggie Rodriguez.

Mr. Sanders has accepted invitations to comment on styling not
only for stars but also for the general fashion consumer in television
appearances across the United States. His appearances include CNN,
The Daily Buzz, The TV Guide Channel and local affiliates throughout
the country, including in his native Arkansas. His work has also been
featured in such leading publications as US Weekly, Harper’s Bazaar,
Ladies’ Home Journal, Good House Keeping, Travel Girl, Genre, and
others.

Mr. Sanders has long-established contacts with top designer
showrooms and retail stores in both New York and Los Angeles. In
addition, he has established connections in Paris, London and Milan,
where he has designer relationships. Whatever fashion role he plays,
he is known especially for ensuring quality fit by relying on the
combination of his keen eye and his stable of couture-level tailors.
His clients also appreciate his ability to negotiate both significant
professional discounts and a high level of designer gifting for his
celebrity clientele on both coasts. Kevin’s priority is and always
has been to meet the needs of his high-energy clients with a calm,
sweet and humble nature. Many in Hollywood call him the “Hillbilly
Couturier” because of his high fashion sense combined with his
Arkansas roots. Currently Mr. Sanders has recently returned from
China where he designed and manufactured his own line and label of
jeans.

Born in Northern Arkansas, Mr. Sanders worked with his father in
the family business, becoming accomplished in a wide range of skills
extending from construction to cattle farming and even to commercial
salmon fishing in Bristol Bay, Alaska. After earning his Bachelor’s
Degree in Sociology at the University of Central Arkansas, he followed
his lifelong love of fashion to New York City in 2003. He arrived in
the Big Apple with nothing more than his dream of a major fashion
career and his determination to realize that dream with a job in
retail as a men's European fashion sales specialist. He developed
relationships with such established vendors as Versace, Prada and
Moschino. He combined his retail experience with assignments
assisting fashion stylists on editorial shoots until he landed his
first gig as a professional stylist.

Mr. Sanders continues to honor his roots and his family by
giving freely of his time to the Leukemia Society in memory of his
father and grandmother, who both died of cancer. A percentage of the
profits from his company Howard Lee, Inc. – named for his father –
goes to the Leukemia Society.