"OMG, I love that look!" I texted celebrity stylist Jared Eng when he sent me a roll of behind-the-scenes images from the latest magazine cover shoot he worked on – all styled from the comfort of his home. I was referring to the '90s-vintage-meets-prairie-girl Louis Vuitton outfit Jared put together for his client, actress Joey King. At the time, she was about to be photographed for S/Magazine's summer cover feature.
"That's the Louis Vuitton that made it into the shoot!" he texted back. And sure enough, there it was in black and white, proudly posted on Jared's feed, confirming that, yup, even a celebrity stylist can get work done from home. The outfit Jared constructed, which has his name and vision written all over it, was green-lit by the magazine's production team (and presumably Joey herself). Great success! That's the work of a celebrity stylist, and it's work I was very much interested in examining as our country has shifted to a shelter-in-place lifestyle due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Collection releases were postponed, runway shows done digitally, and red carpets canceled. So, did celebrity stylists have work to do?
The fashion industry has been clearly affected, with big businesses filing for bankruptcy, as well as small brands and designers looking for support from their peers and everyday consumers as they struggle to make ends meet. Collection releases were postponed, runway shows were done digitally, and red carpets were canceled. So, did celebrity stylists have work to do? I mean, what have celebrities even been doing, aside from posting cute selfies from home - and were those selfies also self-styled? "With the new way of living, work for me at first was nonexistent," stylist Charlie Brianna told me.
Related: Fashion's in a Really Weird Place Right Now, and This At-Home Runway Show Was Just What We Needed
Charlie is one of six stylists I spoke to, all of whom essentially went on hiatus when the coronavirus spread. But sure enough, celebrities started working on projects for the public and they were invited to show up for virtual events. "We styled Lionel Richie for American Idol shot at his home and all done remotely, John Legend for The Voice, also shot at his home and also done remotely, and Kane Brown for TV appearances, like Fallon and the BET Awards - again, remotely by sending clothes to Nashville and fitting him via Zoom," David Thomas told me. So yes, celebrity stylists are still very much present, and by that I mean just a Zoom call away.
[John Legend's stylist David Thomas] puts it best: "We all need to adapt to survive."
But what does a celebrity stylist's process and routine look like now, and has it gotten more complicated? Most importantly: what does the future hold for celebrity stylists and their careers? I talked to a handful of them who were able to explain the ins and outs of their new approach to celebrity styling, and I learned a lot. Scroll down for a full list of the stylists I chatted with and a roster of the clients they've worked with. Then, read about their shifting roles and predictions for the future of Hollywood red carpet dressing altogether. Thomas puts it best: just like everyone else, "We all need to adapt to survive." These celebrity stylists are certainly out there doing it.
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