Working for a celebrity means orbiting their universe, usually behind the scenes. Today’s Hollywood creatives, however, have been busy building their own brands, especially in today’s digital environment. Enter Zerina Akers, a stylist to Beyoncé, who won an Emmy Award for her costume work on ‘Black is King’.

Akers represents a new breed of stylists whose portfolios extend beyond the gigs creating outfits for tours, events, advertising, and editorial content to owning styling adjacent businesses. After starting the e-commerce site Black-Owned Everything, Akers quietly launched a luxury event-centric rental platform, The Show Must Go On, in Hollywood. The platform has expanded in less than two years, and a new home and bigger calling have been found. Akers spoke to FashionNetwork.com on the latest addition to her universe, Saint Helen’s House.

The house Akers purchased resulted from the success of The Show Must Go On aka TSMGO.

“I soon needed a more intimate space that better represented our services. While looking for a new location, I saw this beautiful space and a world of opportunity. The Show Must Go On is now at Saint Helen’s House. I wanted to give the nod to a realm that helps to connect and guide us all,” said the stylist, who has also worked with Megan Thee Stallion, Chloe and Halle Bailey, and Ava DuVernay, among others.

(Akers’ latest styling production project is Cirque du Soleil’s new country theme, Songblazers.) The name comes from Akers’ great great grandmother who taught the stylist’s grandmother to sew, and also is a wink to the Greek name Helen which means light or illumination.
 
Located in a distinctive two-story stand-alone house in Tarzana —complete with a chicly landscaped backyard pool area—Saint Helen’s House elevates the rental showroom to a multi-faceted, highly curated community space. When she launched TSMGO in 2023, it was housed in a typical blank space showroom equipped with racks and display shelves. Saint Helen’s House creates a more comprehensive experience with various rooms displaying the wares amongst a fully styled furnished home, giving it a salon feel.

The Red Carpet-ready offerings that include accessories have been curated by Akers, who, along with a team of expert stylists, are available by appointment for personalized consultations tailored to tastes and occasions, which also provides a sustainable option. Event-based clothing is often bought and worn once, thus, renting gives it a longer life-cycle.

With the upstairs dedicated to the wardrobe rental business, the lower level and grounds are designated for the other functions Akers has planned at Saint Helen’s House. She teamed up with Erin Christovale, a curator at the Hammer Museum, whom she met through an artist friend.

“I wanted to merge art and fashion and build a reputable space to educate clients coming through the space on new and upcoming artists. Our first exhibition,’Glimpses of the Self: The Essence of Being Seen’, features artists like Adee Roberson, February James, Khari Johnson-Ricks, and Maria Mae. The goal is to rotate the gallery quarterly with a new exhibition,” Akers explained. The artwork on display can also be purchased.
 
That’s not all she has planned.

“Downstairs at Saint Helen’s dawns the art gallery but also a co-working and event space, so whether clients want to get out of their house to get some work done, hang by the pool, host a brand dinner, or shoot some content—we can support their needs,” she added.
 
Akers will always have something brewing at Saint Helen’s House. She has already lined up ballerina Angelicca Cecere’s Flexout Method and Stefania Okolie’s mat pilates for fitness sessions, among more educational activations.
 
“It’s important for me to have a give-back element to the house. I want to host style intensives for young people wanting to break into the business with different guest celebrity stylists and costume designers,” she said, adding, “We’re developing ‘Story Time’ with writers in film and television to benefit a charity and will also host panels with everyone from artists, a part of the gallery, to financial partners to educate people on how to get their business funded as well as fun, intimate cooking classes and spa days.”
 
The space is open to the public but offers VIP memberships for professionals and the public to get first dibs on the activities.

“Members will get first access to these activations. Saint Helen’s House is a space for creatives to connect. The doors will remain open to the public for day passes or event space rental, but members will get early access, discounted classes, and special perks. They will even get a free birthday look from The Show Must Go On annually,” she noted.
 
It’s an impressive list to add to her daily to-do list, especially considering all three enterprises—Black Owned Everything, The Show Must Go On, and Saint Helen’s—are separate businesses. According to Akers, the inaugural self-funded Saint Helen’s House is a model for more. “This project serves as a first version of something that can grow and expand into different cities.”

Like another Helen, Saint Helen, who built churches, Akers seems poised to build fashion rental community houses everywhere.