Stefan Koković

Early life

Stefan Koković was born in Belgrade in a business-oriented family. His family played a significant role in forming his interest in art, since they were very supportive of his interests. Stefan grew up in a family with two siblings, an older brother and a sister. His Graphic Design Degree was rewarded after Dissertation Defense with a highest grade, subjected – Children’s Book Illustrations.

Photography and Graphic Design

As a young artist, he chose a path of fashion industry, which was demanding at first, but during that period he became noticeable in photography.

Very soon, Stefan started working for many different companies and magazines in Serbia like: Afrodite Mode Collection, Bazar Magazine, Hello Magazine, but also for international companies in several former Yugoslavian countries - Zagreb (Croatia) for a company which is a general distributor of brands like: Estee Lauder, Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, Nina Ricci, Valentino, and he also worked for companies located in London (UK) and Los Angeles (USA).

Stefan added a list of celebrities to his portfolio like: Viktor Savić, Lena Bogdanović, Ana štajdohar, Aleksa Jelić, Katarina Vučetić, Slađana Milošević, Milan Gromilić, Sanja Marinković, Tijana Dapčević, and many others.

At first, he worked as an assistant in a photo studio (Zepter), after which he inherited his mother’s company, named “Stefan and Co” and began his own photography-design business.

2010 – 2011: Photography Exhibition – They lived happily ever after...and back.

Stefan had his first photography exhibition in a Supermarket Concept Store located in Belgrade. This exhibition included several celebrities who were models, and it presented a modern-day fairytales, and characters. It got some media attention and it was listed in many cultural sections of daily newspaper.

2012 – 2013: Photography Exhibition – All The Way

Stefan’s second photogprahy exhibition was held in Belgrade Art Hotel, and it was calimed to be a very well-organised event at that time, since at the opening day it was visited by more than fifteen celebrities, as well as influential media and business people. Celebrities who were on those photographs, showed a story of a fallen star, and the theme itself was inspired by retro-movies. The exhibition was named after a Frank Sinatra song.

2012 – 2013: All The Way – inspired line, and brand promotion

Stefan designed his own T-shirt line "All The Way by Stefan Kokovic", with printed photographs from the previously held exhibition. Once more, this project bloomed in media, and it received many positive critics.

2013 – 2014: Splash of Fash fashion line

During his X Factor participation, he created a fashion brand where he did graphic design for prints, which were used on a specially sewn, and designed T-shirts. This line was held by Stefan, and a "Big Brother" reality contestant Horvat Cagalj from Croatia. T-shirts were sold out in just few weeks, which gave enough space for both of them to continue this work, and continue this fashion line.

2014 – 2015: Personal Lifestyle Brand

2015 - 2016: Photography Exhibition - L'Art pour L'Art

2015 - 2016: Photography Exhibition - Catturare un Momento

Music Career and Media

As a young boy, Stefan went to a music school, but after family tragedy he decided to change his path. As a teenage boy he tried to build his way in music with several songs, but it was not the right time.

During High School, he hosted his own TV show on a Student Television, after which he got a fashion-themed part in a teenage TV Show which aired on RTV Pink.

After several years of media presence, he decided to become a part of Serbian production of international talent show franchise of The X Factor – X Faktor Adria.

2013 – 2014: The X Factor

Stefan said he gets a mixed reaction to his singing and appearance, for some claiming he should go for a more calming, classical approach, and others saying he should dedicate his music presence to be more of a show, emphasizing his looks and stage presence.

Stefan was a big hit with X Factor judges, receiving only positive reactions, and four yes-es. He auditioned singing the Zuccero’s "Baila Morena“. This audition was a real media blast, since on the audition day it was his birthday, and many celebrities gave a big support to his singing, while sharing the information through different social networks.

At bootcamp he sang "Can’t Take My Eyes Of You", and at that point he was the only contestant from a group of seven to be in the next round of the show, as the solo act. After performing with other acts, choreography, and sing-off, Stefan was assigned to Emina Jahovic as mentor.

At the judges' houses he performed "Julija" by Dejan Cukic, and “Feeling Good” by Michael Bublé, but at that point Stefan suffered from tonsillitis and was unable to perform the song correctly, at that point he didn’t go to the live shows.

During the barrage week, Stefan was a favorite for returning to the show – as for the media, and fans. He became very noticeable in popular music, and fans on different social networks claimed Stefan to be „the greatest injustice of the X Factor“.

2014: After The X Factor

Even though he didn’t go to live shows, Stefan received significant media attention, and became one of the favorite people by the teenage fans choice.

He appeared as a special guest on several fashion shows, sang on a party which was hosted by the Story Magazine, had guest appearances in Macedonia, and during the summer he was a special guest on over 10 concerts which were organised by "Serbia in the rhythm of Europe“ organisation.

Personal life

Stefan usually says that he is an artistic person, who loves life. He was in a music school, arts and crafts school, Russian school of arts, acting class, etc. His brother died in a car accident at the age of 19, and his father died at the age of 61. Those tragedies made him even closer to his mother and sister, but also to his niece Mila, who is Stefan’s greatest inspiration.

Tattoos

Stefan has several different tattoos: flock of birds on his arm, word – freedom, his nieces name – Mila on his other arm, birds feather and a sentence – Love is Enough. The last tattoo (Love is Enough) was the reason for journalists to speculate about his love life, writing titles like “Stefan seeks true love”.