• Kathy McKinnon

Kathy has had many years experience in fashion, styling, wardrobe design, prop sourcing, food styling and set design.

After completing a post-graduate degree at Sydney College of the Arts, Kathy went on to co-own and design the iconic, streetwise fashion label Status Symbol. This led to  commissions, to design costumes and props for stand out  music videos and commercials.

Kathy’s contemporary portfolio is testimony to her ongoing success as one of Australia’s most versatile advertising stylists. From her design and production expertise, to her strong visual eye honed from many year’s experience styling and art directing stills and TVCs, she is renowned for her ability to translate and execute complex briefs in a confident, time-effective way.

Throughout her career, Kathy has consistently produced a high standard of creative work for a wide variety of clients in print and television, and has worked on numerous award-winning campaigns. She has an extensive list of professional contacts in Australia and overseas, which she uses to add value to all the jobs she undertakes. Her impressive client list is due to her collaborative spirit, creative flair and level headed attention to detail.

Career highlights:

  • In 2012 she was commissioned as the stylist for Margaret Fulton's Slow Cooker book
  • In 2011 Kathy was commissioned  as the set designer for 3M TVC . This involved building a space ship cockpit
  • In 2009 she was commissioned as the stylist for Manna From Heaven, Cooking for People You Love , by Rachel Grisewood , published by Allen & Unwin
  • In 2007 Kathy was selected in the semi-finals as one of the Australia’s top 10 Barbeque Chefs on the Great BBQ Challenge on the Lifestyle Food Channel.
  • Kathy styled the Olympus Binocular campaign which won a gold lion award for press and print and a silver for outdoor media at Cannes 2008
  • In 2003 The Production Book named her as one of the “Top 10 Costume Designers in Australia.”
  • In 2002 she was commissioned as the interior stylist for Feng Shui in the Home published by Lansdowne and Barnes & Noble.
  • In 1999 she was the winner of “Fashion on the Fields” at Randwick Race Course.
  • In 1986 she represented Australia at the Commonwealth and Edinburgh Festivals in Costume Design in Australian Art Clothing. Several of her designs are held in the collections of the Power House Museum and The National Gallery of Australia.

Print campaigns

Animal Planet; Air NZ; Australian Ballet, Telstra Award; Australian Power and Gas; Australian Tourism; Australian Wool Innovation/Kookai;Aldi lifestyle and product campaigns; Barbeques Galore catalogues 03, 04, 05, 06, 07; Blackmores; Bundy White; Canadian Club Skidoo; Canon Pixma Pro Fairy; CBA Travel Plus, CBA Trade finance,Angkor Wat; Citibank ready credit; Coca- Cola; CommInsure; Coopers Sparkling; Country Cup Scarecrow; Cotton Buds; Country Road Homeware; David Jones; Dominos; Dunlop Retro; Dupont; Electrolux Tetsuya; Effexor; Energy Australia; Fairfax Media ; Foxtel fashion, fish, goggles; Freedom; Frosty Fruits; Fujitsu with Captain Mark Taylor;  Gloria Jeans; GPS OZ navigation, directions from above; H&M 2007 Summer catalogue; Hahn Venice; Howards Storage; Katies; Identity Direct; Ikea;  Jurlique product & Lifestyle; JWT 2007 Year Book; Kerry Grima catalogue; Kit Kat; Kookai; Levis Deconstructed; Listerine; Love My Way; Mallesons; Markwell Food; Mastercard; Merivale Marry Me;  Monistat; My Dog; Nicabate; NRMA; Olympus Binolcular and Camera; Panasonic blu-ray; Penfolds Kunnunga Hill catalogue; Qantas; Ricoh; Salano where pleasure lasts longer; Sandler, Easy Steps; Sensis; Sealy Advance& Presitge collection; Sugarless-V; St George plasma TVC, Hairdresser, Chandelier and Dragon campaigns; TAB;  TDK; Telstra Extreme Cable and the block ; Testogel; Toyota Prius; UPS; Salvation Army Xmas; Schweppes; Sheridan; 3 Starburst bombers fan & pool; Sydney University; Westfield; Westpac spring home loans; Woven Image; XYZ Network Eat Yourself Sexy; Zyprexa

The Photographers

Kathy has worked on numerous print campaigns with leading Australian photographers including: Juli Balla, Paul Barbera, Chris Barlow, Geoffrey Boccolatte, Skeet Booth, Adrian Cook, Michael Corridore, Ellen Dahl, Steve Greenaway, Simon Harsent,  Sean Izzard, Janyon, Ingvar Keene, Jamie MacFayden, Mark Rogers, Andreas Smetana, Dick Sweeney, Adam Taylor, Helen White and Julian Wolkenstein.

Magazines

Kathy is a regular contributor to the Good Weekend Magazine trend page .She  has published editorials in magazines including: Cream Magazine, Gourmet Traveller, Real Living and Selector

TVC campaigns

As Art Director:

  • Domino's, with Swarm Imagery , Sydney, Australia, director David Wakeley,
  • My Kitchen Rules promotion , 2010,  Channel 7, Sydney, Australia
  • Diet Coke Original, Lime, Vanilla, with Plaza, Sydney, Australia, director Paul Middleditch
  • Panasonic Air conditioning, doll with Plaza, Sydney, Australia, director Paul Middleditch
  • Birds Eye originals with Plaza, Sydney, Australia, director Paul Middleditch
  • Wrigleys Eclipse, Nurse Veronica, Plaza, Sydney, Australia, director Paul MIddleditch
  • LG plasma, recorder and freezer with director David Jagoda, Sydney, Australia
  • Noble Rise, with Jungleboys, Sydney, Australia, director Trent O'Donnell

As Wardrobe Designer:

  • Hahn, Venice, with Plaza, Sydney, Australia, director Paul Middleditch
  • Wilkinson Sword, 8 commercials, Sydney, Australia, director Derek Richards
  • AAPT campaigns x 6 commercials, with Plaza, Sydney, Australia, director Paul Middleditch
  • Channel V PM titles, Sydney, Australia, director Richard Swan
  • Herbal Essence, Punk, Sydney, Australia, director Nick Reynolds  

As combined Art Director and Wardrobe Designer:

  • Katies, Captiv8, Sydney, Australia, director MIke Corte
  • Fairfax Media, Christmas 2010, Helen & Grant Productions, Sydney, Australia, director Adrain Cook
  • 3M Stickies, Captiv8 , Sydney, Australia, director Mike Corte
  • Newcastle Permanent Building Society, Sydney, Australia, director Kimble Rendall
  • Instant Scratchies, Poker Texas Hold ’em and Win for Life, with Plush, Sydney, Australia, director Tim Denton
  • MTV House Guest, director Kelly Brown, Sydney, Australia
  • Myers /Foxtel, directors Kelly Brown & Dean Friske, Sydney, Australia
  • Toyota Estima, director Antonio Saraceno, Sydney, Australia
  • Star City and Foxtel, with Plush, Sydney, Australia, director Peter Bloomfield
  • KFC, Spiderman, with Plush, Sydney, Australia, director Matt Wilson
  • David Jones Chefs, The Directors Group, Sydney, Australia, director Ben Saunders
  • Career One, with Plush, Sydney, Australia, director Lisa Stonham

Personal

Kathy is an active member of the Art Gallery of NSW Library Committee, which promotes art books and produces an important resource database for the art industry. She travels extensively for inspiration for her work.