Header image by Ola Rindal (@olarindal) for Purple Magazine

Nicole Walker's Instagram bio describes her as a 'creative genius'. Scrolling down to see what exactly that means is not immediately illuminating. Her feed is a lurid collage of evocative styling, art of her creation or curation, and personal photographs often referencing images from the pop culture conciousness.

While we may not quickly understand Nicole Walker, most of us are familiar with her work. For nearly a decade, she has been styling one of culture's more envelope-pushing dressers: Yung Lean. From freaky editorial looks to more subdued tour programs, Walker's taste is a major contributor to the Lean look. She's also styled for the likes of Bladee, Buckshot, and others she may not be at liberty (or wish) to mention by name.

Walker's robust artistic practice channels many of the techniques and sensibilities a career in styling has taught her into a multi-modal format. Often concocting multi-object sculptural installations of almost gothic composition, and employing quintessentially modern objects or images to achieve it, Walker's works feel like bridges between associated eras, ideas, and sentiments.

We chatted with the artist and stylist on these and other topics. The conversation follows.

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Welcome: What's your story? Interpret that as you will.

Nicole Walker: I'm a multi-disciplinary artist. I have my practice as an artist and I have my practice as a stylist and I do curation in both of those worlds. I don't like the idea of putting yourself in a box, so now I just call myself a creative genius. That's my title.

W: When you think about your career as a stylist and artist, does any pivotal moment stand out? What is it?

N.W.: When I understood the fact that there are no rules. When I started out, I felt like I had to follow some system. But quite early on I realized that there isn’t one.

How did you initially get into the styling industry?

My mother was a tailor and a waitress and she taught me to stitch and sew. We didn't have a lot of money so we went to thrift stores and I started styling myself in all these hysterical ways. The teachers at my kindergarten would send me home because of how I was dressed. 

When I was a teen in theater school somebody told me I should be a fashion designer, and I was like that sounds good, so I went to tailoring school. And then I understood that I actually hate sewing. And then somebody was like, "Oh, you should do costume design and styling." And I didn't even know that was an occupation. I got signed to one of the biggest agencies in Sweden when I was 20, and I've been a stylist ever since.

How do you approach styling? Do you have a styling philosophy?

My grandmother used to tell me that our family came from circus family roots because we all had bendy joints. That's probably a lie, but I like to have that in mind with styling because I have my own circus tent of characters. I have sci-fi references that I always keep coming back to, and a goth character, and the weird clown, and the sexy baby girl. I keep coming back to these characters. I used to try not to return to things, but now I think it’s nice.

Where do you draw inspiration for your styling?

I used to use my saved box on Instagram way more. I like your page and those sort of Instagram pages to save some stuff from. For jobs nowadays I do a lot of research and I put these crazy boards together, but those are like 99% from books and old magazines. I really would like there to be a page that was heavily curated that I could be finding inspiration from. But at the moment I'm sending my interns and assistants to libraries for weeks and weeks, and they send me pictures and I pick a few and those are my main pictures for a couple of months. 

In your opinion, who are the best dressers right now?

Myself. I'm the best dressed. If people only knew. I post a picture of myself dressed like once every third month but if everyone would see how I look every day I would be the best paid influencer in this world. I think Bladee is like the best dressed celebrity at the moment. And then there's this little lady that I think is a ghost. I thought she was dead but then I saw her the other day in Sweden. She's been around since I moved here like 15 years ago and she only dresses in red. She's up there.

You obviously have a long collaborative relationship with Yung Lean. How did that start?

It was very cute. He had never worked with a stylist at all really. A mutual friend of ours named Tony Karlsson Savci was doing styling for him and at some point was like, "You should work with a real stylist," and then he told Jonatan about me. 

The first music video we did together was Friday the 13th. We went to this tiny island called, Fårö, which was Ingmar Bergman's island, because the music video was a bit inspired by Bergman. We were on the island for a couple of days and got along really well. So then I worked with him a lot. So many videos, so many photoshoots, so many tour looks since then. And he's my favorite artist to work with. At the moment, he's not so much into being freaky, but I think that's nice.

Working with someone for such a long period of time, I imagine you have to navigate changing tastes. How has that impacted your collaboration?

I think our references and what we like and don't like is very aligned somehow. It’s been such a natural thing where I just pull up knowing he's going to like a lot of the things that I like. The only tendency that I have that he doesn't like is to pull too much fashion shit, you know, like too much runway Balenciaga. He wouldn't put that shit on. Now I think that was great that he didn't. And he has the things he always comes back to, a library of references I know in and out at this point. It's a great thing to have a person being up for so many things. And he trusts me, I think. 

Do you have an all-time favorite look that you've styled him in?

The look in “Boylife in EU.” That video resembles every child show that was on in the 90s. I'm seven years older than him so I don't know if he really watched those as a child or if it was something he saw afterwards. We’d been talking about those references forever. What we did was like that, but on LSD. 

Another is one of the looks that was in “Friday the 13th” which was heavily inspired by another child program called Beppes Godnattstund, about an old dude who was living in a bed and he would tell nighttime stories to his puppets. That look is in the video for maybe two seconds, so nobody saw it.  

Do you see your styling as being connected to your artistic practice?

It all feels very intertwined. Styling has been my only job for my whole adult life, and I've had a few bad experiences where I did so much commercial shit that I lost a sense of purpose. I leaned into my art practice because it felt more free creatively. But the more I learn about the proper Art World, it’s even more corrupt and fucked up. But they are connected. I used to separate them because I thought people would understand me more, but at this point I don't care about that. Limitations in styling push me to work with art. Certain of my sculptures are even inspired by the corruption of fashion.

In some of your pieces it’s almost like you’re ‘dressing’ inanimate objects. Do you think about this idea of ‘styling’ objects through art?Yeah, you could say that I've sort of styled them or dressed them. I'm working on a series now that is even more like that. Before I was hesitant to do it, but now I don't really care. Eventually, hopefully, I will stop dressing humans and I will only dress my sculptures. I also think it's funny because a lot of people, and they don't say it to my face, but they find it deeply annoying that a fashion stylist is making art as well.  

How does your skill set from styling translate into art? What did styling teach you that you're now able to apply in your artistic practice?

For me, styling is all about storytelling. When I'm styling someone like in my mind I'm creating characters with stories they tell through how they dress or how they act and how they walk. When I'm using my styling in my art practice, it's the same sort of storytelling, but in an art context. It's seen differently, approached differently.

But when I do commercial styling, that does not translate to my art. Commercial is a big part of my job, so I am very much a part of an industry which is genuinely appalling. I'm so disgusted by the fashion industry. I have always been. Like I've never romanticized it. And that's also something I'm constantly trying to explore within my art practice.

What appalls you about those industries?

For me it's not so much like polluting the planet or making kids think that they need to own expensive things or how capitalism has forced everyone to be desperate although those are also aspects that I don’t like. Mainly it’s the bloated egos that validate their importance, and the idea that the mark they make on this world is actually worth something. Maybe I should step outside and be in the real world a bit more but the people in that industry are, to generalize, genuinely shit people with bad values. The most narcissistic people. I guess I'm within that category. I'm not a narcissist though, but I tend to sometimes have a very bloated ego. And that's what happens to people in this industry. I often think like why the fuck do I do it? Like why don't I do something that actually has some sort of–but it's because of my ego. I do it for my ego. I get a kick out of it. I like this constructed idea of freedom, that I'm free and don't have anyone telling me what to do–in the end it's because of my ego. And I think that's why a lot of people are drawn to it because you get your ego fed all the time in this industry. You're like a little deprived whore that just wants to be fed, you know? But I think it's a shit industry. And of course I love clothes, like I love shoes, and stuff like that–fuck yeah–but I think in the end I think it's a stupid industry that makes people more stupid. And I am all into this Jungian idea of transcending the ego, which is what I strive for in life, but I find it quite incompatible with the fashion industry. 

The art world I think is just funny. I think it's hilarious because you intellectualize and conceptualize it so much. But somehow the way capitalism has affected the art world is even sadder than the fashion industry. Because fashion has never had any depth. But the art world becoming commercialized makes it lose its purpose in such a boring sad way.  

Many of your pieces place various objects in the same space, like a sculpture made of parts that are not explicitly connected. What do you like about this format?

It feels like I'm telling a story that only I understand, in a language that only my own brain can communicate. Something about entering a room–there's this magnetism between everything. It's all connected but the connection isn't always visible to the eye, but there is some sort of magnetism. It’s how spirits connect, it's why you fall in love, why you're attracted, how things are drawn to each other and the language and story they create together. Many of my most profound experiences with art have been like that. 

What are some of those profound experiences?

I think it's very cliche but it's like I guess the [2016] Berlin Biennale curated by DIS Magazine. A lot of those exhibitions were very much that, where the curation would be somewhat random but made total sense for me. Of course that was with a lot of artists that I like.

Who are some contemporary artists that you like?

I mean, I have a long list, but if I would name a few…this week I was binge watching Lars von Trier's Riget and now I want to do sculptures inspired by that.

Also Ryan Trecartin. Any video or film piece of his that I've ever experienced has been world changing to me. They’re what I want to experience every day. I wish my life could be like a Trecartin video piece. That would be the ideal life for me.

And then Anna Uddenburg is a friend of mine. She's a Swedish genius lady. It's so funny that nobody in Sweden really gives her enough credit for being our best living artist. She's one of my favorite artists of all time.

And then also Yngve Holen I think is brilliant. And whatever he does I love it, which is rare because usually I don't buy into the whole concept of an artist, because at some point they start making art that I hate. But I’ll love whatever Yngve does forever and ever I think. Or let's see.

When I was 20 and in LA for the first time I found a book about Vanessa Beecroft and I was obsessed with it. I do not appreciate her later work at all but a lot of her earlier works I think are quite genius.

Do you have an artistic philosophy or conceptual framework with which you approach art?

It's always about the duality that exists within me. Maybe it's because I'm a Gemini. I don't even believe in the stars controlling me or whatever, but I feel like my personality and my whole existence is split in two, that everything has a light and the dark side to it. I constantly explore that within my practice. And then this cliché idea of femininity and this other cliché idea of sexuality, both of which I also explore a lot within my like styling work. And anger and violence because those are deeply manifested in who I am as a person. And in the world.

Got any style tips?

Wear a very slutty thong and always always show the thong as much as possible. Like pull it up. You want to see that thong. If you can't show thong show your boxers or show your anything–exposing underwear is like a good thing. It looks good. Like show those logos off if you have a logo on your like little boxer. Preferably, I wouldn't do logo boxers, but like if you do, show them. So that's number one. 

Number two would be always have a good suit in your closet, regardless of your other style. Always have a really nice black suit. You can wear only the suit jacket and a pair of slutty heels. That would look great. If you are a dude, you can wear your suit jacket with some trashy joggers and that would look cute. Or just wear a suit and look sharp. And try to wear a suit without anything under the suit. Like don't wear underwear. Like don't wear a tank. Just wear a suit. Show some skin under your suit. It looks good on everyone. Just find the right suit for you. Yeah. Honestly though, I feel like I am really bad at giving style tips as I don't think style can be learned, either you got it or not darling.

What are some things that are inspiring you right now?

Everyone should read all books by Octavia E. Butler. I've done a lot of references in my styling to her sci-fi characters. I think it's bizarre that there is no big Hollywood sci-fi movie about her books.

I’m also really into this sort of furniture style. It is like some sort of mixture between rococo and a Swedish style called allmoge, which is a really old Swedish and Nordic craft tradition.

And then I'm really into reading any mythology. Reality seems to be like becoming more and more similar to all of these like strange stories where like a dragon would like fuck you and eat you. But now it's just like that's how everyday life feels like. It's highly comforting to read about these weird myths about strange characters that would do horrendous crazy things. So I feel comfort and also deeply inspired by that.

It’s springtime soon, so I always like being in the forest. I find my most inspiring moments are walking in the forest.

And then I am really into old Comme / Junya and exploring nihilism and vipassana meditation and baroque organ music. And like this hardcore sisterhood feminism 2025 edition like being extremely feminine and absolutely unapologetic about it. And not having children and being vegan and not having to explain to anyone why.