Video Age International October 2016

34 October 2016 V I D E O A G E N owadays, styling celebrities for Hollywood’s red carpet is a highly competitive business. While in the past, there were only four main awards (the Emmys, the Oscars, the Grammys and the Tonys) these days, awards season is year-round with 10 main ones. The current roster includes The Golden Globes, MTV Movie Awards, BET Awards, People’s Choice, Critics Choice, Country Music Awards and minors ones (in terms of television coverage): SAG-AFTRA, VMA’s, Independent Spirit Awards, Daytime Emmys. Plus, those not televised: Producers’ Guild, Directors Guild, etc. for a total of 35 per year, without counting the regional ones. This makes an average of one important award every 10 days. In addition to all of those, there are charity events both in New York and Los Angeles. For just one red carpet event, an A-lister has to be prepared to spend anywhere between $10,000 to $30,000, which includes, wardrobe, jewelry, hair, diamonds etc. to put their entire look together. For a stylist, the advent of social media has added more pressure and competition. Wardrobe stylist Ali Levine has seen the red carpet styling business change significantly in the last five years. “Styling for the red carpet has changed drastically,” she said. “Celebrities used to only have access to brands from meeting a designer or hiring a stylist to source and do the work. Nowadays, brands can reach out easily via Instagram message or Twitter. While the red carpet used to be about only fashion and the hottest elite brands, now almost every brand has a chance to be worn on the carpet.” Social media also has had a very strong impact on Levine’s styling. “Brands contact me very quickly when they know I am styling someone they may want to get their dress on. It’s also heavily required now that most celebrities give shoutouts on social media to the brand. It’s my job to make sure they have the right social media information for them to do that.” Levine has styled numerous celebrities in music videos, and has helped create editorials in magazines such as Vogue Italia . Since relocating to Los Angeles from New York City, Levine’s work has been featured on television series like Fran Drescher’s Happily Divorced , and FOX’s New Girl ; films including In Time with Justin Timberlake, and X-Men First Class ; in addition to music concerts and videos such as Kanye West’s “World Throne Tour.” “Whether the brand is offering to pay a celebrity to wear the item and endorse it, or working with a specific agency that can place it for them for the right press opportunity, we are always busy!” she remarked. Which is good news for Levine, financially speaking. Levine, a member of both the Motion Picture Costumes Local 705 and Design Guild 892, acknowledged that her biggest challenge in styling celebs is the fit of garments. “I always say the two F’s are very important: Fit and Fabric. Not only does the garment have to be pretty, but it has to look right, feel right and fit right. Many celebs have an idea in their head for a gown or cocktail dress and don’t realize that particular shape may not look good on their body.” Levine works to define what kind of message the celebrity wants to put out there. “I make my decisions on what that celebrity should wear by looking at their image first and their personal brand. ‘What are they trying to say?’ ‘What event are they going to?’ These are the questions I need to figure out before I start.” With the recent Emmys Awards, Levine had an in-depth understanding of what needed to happen, and started to plan for everything months in advance. “I approach awards season by being as ready as I can be! I start sourcing months in advance, looking at the hottest trends on and off runway, what I see in magazines, blogs, etc. as well as what is happening overseas. In addition, I speak with my designers and see who’s willing to do custom work if that type of project was to come up. In this way, I am ‘armed’ and ready to take on any fashion emergency.” Levine asks for fashion look-books in advance, so she can see the new designs coming out and potentially foresee what her clients could wear. “I make sure that dress is a one-of-a-kind or sample, so the chances of someone else wearing it to the same red carpet event are very slim! It does happen... but every stylist would really like to avoid that from happening.” Levine acknowledged that budgets in styling are always tricky. “Not many individuals realize how much time and money go into the prepping of wardrobe styling, let alone a red carpet event. I normally find out what that actor or talent can spend as a whole for their look. This includes my rate along with any loan and rental amounts for that dress and if it’s being custom made. I then discuss with my designers, showrooms and client what is available for that budget and make decisions from there. If a custom dress is affordable, we will get a sample ready in the showroom for awards season.” From beginning to end, wardrobe styling is time consuming. “I have to account for the prep and source time of myself and my team (designer, seamstress, etc.) as well as the actual fitting days and then getting everything back to the right parties after the event. The process is very long but the rewards are considerable.” Michael O’Connor has also seen the business of celebrity styling evolve. “Previously, stylists had some type of fashion or design background that helped them ‘drive’ the look and choose clothing and jewelry with appropriate lines and cuts for the client’s body and desired outcome. These days, every store is calling their sales associate a ‘stylist’ and some of the newer stylists have little understanding of design and cut, but merely some retail sales experience and some good taste.” O’Connor noted that some stylists would be better classified as “personal shoppers” as they gather as many looks as they can and hope that something works for the celebrity. “In some cases, these stylists are pulling so many ‘looks’ together and tying up so much designer merchandise that it’s unfair to the designers. It’s a waste of time and resources for many, especially the smaller designers, who can’t afford to have pieces gathered and sitting in the stylist’s house, hoping that it makes it onto the celebrity.” The landscape has gotten very competitive with some well known companies simply “cutting a check” for celebrity red carpet wear — and the checks can be quite hefty, O’Connor said. “This eliminates some incredibly talented smaller designers and leads to us seeing the same designer names, and often the same pieces, used over and over and over again. There’s no talent to being paid to wear an outfit. It diminishes the job of a good stylist and can make the celebrity who is being paid look greedy. It becomes an advertisement and not a reflection of good taste or good design, merely a paid placement.” As a wardrobe stylist, finding the time to get the celebrities’ attention can be challenging. “Their time is precious— I need tomake sure that there are ample meetings and fittings to create something perfect. Also, there can be agreements or endorsements that the celebrity must meet, as many companies who feature celebrities in their advertising are adding in additional wear clauses. Therefore, the stylist must work around a particular designer or piece. There’s also the By Susan L. Hornik Getting Air Time At Award Shows Is A Matter of Style Red Carpets Heat Up Stylist Michael O’Connor with Julie Lake of Orange is the New Black (Continued on Page 36)