In Fashion Part 12

SURVIVAL INSTINCT.

"I know when to shut up and step back and listen."

WHAT: Clothes stylist, hair stylist, makeup artist, art director, photographer, graphic designer, model.

DEGREE OR STUDIES: No degree to MFA.

TRAITS: Visual, creative, versatile.

ESSENTIAL ABILITIES: Natural charm. An ability to collaborate with your fashion family. An ability to see the next thing in fashion.

ROLE: To generate the creator's desired image via fashion, accessories, hair, makeup.

WORKs.p.a.cE: As various as the many jobs in this diverse category.

PATH TO POWER: Apprentice with the best, have a good agency represent you.

MOST COVETED JOBS: Super stylist, super model, top photographer, super hairstylist, super makeup artist DOGGIE JOBS: Cleaning toilets, lugging trunks, taping bottoms of shoes, fetching who knows what for whom at all hours of the day or night, searching 24/7 for the perfect prop, be it a rare vintage car or kitsch blow-up doll.

KEY ALLIANCES: Editors, celebrities, other photographers, stylists, models, hair stylists, and makeup people.

MODERN SUCCESS STORIES: Patrick Demarchelier, Mario Testino, Rachel Zoe, Steven Meisel, Bobbi Brown, Kate Moss.

MISCONCEPTION: That because you're creative, you don't need to be organized.

LANGUAGES: English or French.

TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS: Not easily fazed by last-minute trips to far-off places. Long, unpredictable hours and loads of downtime. Pa.s.sports always current.

STARTING COMP: You'll gladly work for free.

POTENTIAL COMP: $ to $$$$.

PERKS: Hanging with supermodels and superstars; making your living in a relaxed, nonoffice atmosphere; rarely having to dress up; traveling to cool locations all around the world; teaming up with like-minded people and, in time, forming a professional "family" that can last your entire career.

Walk onto any fashion photography set-be it Mario Testino's, Patrick Demarchelier's, or Steven Meisel's-and you might think it was a c.o.c.ktail party: The music is groovy and loud; there are lots of interestingly dressed characters who seem to be friends with everyone else; the atmosphere is relaxed, lively, and fun; there are no raised voices or barked orders; no hurry; there's a lovely spread of food and drinks. And they call this work?

Probably the coolest people in fashion and definitely the ones that seem to have the most fun are its visualizers-the image-making stylists, art directors, photographers, makeup artists, hair stylists, and models who bring fashion to life and populate fashion photography sets on a daily or weekly basis. As much as designers themselves, visualizers are at the heart of the fashion business.

I've broken down the visualizer world into three groups: Stylists: The stylists hold the hottest jobs in fashion today.

Photography team: The photographers and hair and makeup artists, together with the stylists, form a fashion family, the members of which trust each other implicitly and work together beautifully. The photographer gets the a.s.signment from an art director who, together with a graphic designer, creates the finished editorial story or ad campaign.

Models: Models are the focus of everyone's attention before and during the shoot. If you are a supermodel like Natalia Vodianova or Lily Donaldson, you are likely to have worked with pretty much every top stylist and photographer around. If not, you will be building your fashion creds, which, little by little, amount to insider status.

Visualizers comprise the most diverse cross-section of jobs, and because they can be so different, mini crib sheets for each of these main components follow.

Stylist

WHAT: Stylist, personal shopper, fashion editor, artistic director, creative director, or merchandising director.

DEGREE OR STUDIES: Art school or liberal arts degree.

TRAITS: Visual, practical, patient, watchful, organized, unflappable, creatively flexible, ingenious.

ESSENTIAL ABILITIES: To generate the desired image via fashion, accessories, hair, makeup, props; to be clever and versatile.

WORKs.p.a.cE: Fashion closet or wardrobe trailer to darkroom or photography studio, TV or movie set.

PATH TO POWER: Apprentice with the best.

MOST COVETED JOBS: Stylist to TV show, major celebrity, stylist to major designer, top fashion editor (AKA stylist or sittings editor) at a fashion magazine, in-house stylist at fashion house.

DOGGIE JOBS: Weeding the mommy jeans out of a client's closet. Otherwise, as long as there's a camera, current season clothes, and it's not p.o.r.n, you're learning.

KEY ALLIANCES: Editors, celebrities, other stylists, models.

STARTING COMP: You'll gladly work for free.

POTENTIAL COMP: $ to $$$$.

How to Be a Stylist

Sitting around the conference table with a group of FIT's placement advisors, I ask about the hottest jobs today: What are your students dying to get into?

"We like to call it the 'career du jour,'" explained Nancy Ross, chic in a short cashmere lavender jacket over black. "Everyone today wants to be a stylist." What makes things tricky for people who want to be stylists-and indeed for this team of highly connected professionals attempting to match students with their dream jobs-is that, like much of fashion, there is no single, obvious path to becoming a stylist. Ce n'est pas tres evident, as they say in French. In some ways, it's a new profession.

At FIT's own Center for Professional Studies, you can focus on a certificate program called "Fashion Styling," which requires 165 hours of coursework including the following required cla.s.ses (57 hours): Still-Life Fundamentals; Introduction to Fashion Styling; Fashion Styling II: Fashion Styling for Media; and Fashion Styling III: Launching Your Career. In addition, 99 hours of "related" cla.s.ses are required: Hand Sewing, Mending, and Alteration Essentials; The Great Designers; Styling Tricks of the Trade: Pinning, Taping, and Clothing Care; and Introduction to Fashion Photography; as well as 9 hours from free-choice seminars, like Fashion Styling for Celebrity Images; Styling Career Options: Still Life and Soft Goods; and Advanced Styling: Tricks of the Trade. Or, if your skin crawls inside a cla.s.sroom, check out (four hours each and $100 not including food or subway costs) on-the-street stylist tours like Star-Quality Vintage Shopping, or The Professional Stylist's Insider Resource Tour, which promises access to sources for fabric, vintage fashion items, tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs, and flowers. FYI: All the above cla.s.ses are offered every semester, so touch base with FIT's Center for Professional Studies at (212) 217-7715.

People, I haven't done the math, but if your parents are underwriting your fashionista education or, more important, if you are paying, I'll tell you what to do: If you have the resources and ability, go to a good liberal arts college and study history, art history, English, anything. Then go intern with one of the stylists I list here, or a stylist who's worked with someone I list here, and you'll have a broad context and rich references for your work, and (promise!) you'll learn the technical stuff on the job.

Further complicating matters, the actual job of a stylist often goes by different t.i.tles in different situations. At a magazine, you'd be called a fashion editor, or you'd work for a fashion editor. At a fashion company or large store, your position might be called artistic director, creative director, or merchandising director. Personal shoppers at stores like Neiman Marcus, Barneys, or Bergdorf Goodman work like stylists for their top clients, keeping track of their wardrobes as well as what items live in their Aspen, Palm Beach, East Hampton, and Paris closets. I know one personal shopper who actually maintains one client's Manhattan closet as well as packing her bags-each outfit prestyled on a hanger with shoes attached-every weekend and for all trips to her various residences. A parallel profession called image consultant involves an initial pressing of the reset b.u.t.ton-a total closet and/or hair and makeup makeover-followed by seasonal updates.

Over the past fifteen years, as the world has become more celebrity centric and paparazzi stake out stars every day of their lives, personalities feel a need to dress on a regular basis for the camera. It's not just ego at work here, but a career imperative. To keep his or her buzz alive, an actress or pop star needs to be photographed and seen on a regular basis. In the olden days, when stars were making films, the wardrobe department or costume designer would dress them. When they were in their "private" lives, agents or managers would try to access gowns for them, or they'd dress themselves or ask a.s.sistants to help them with this process. When magazines like In Style, People, and US started doing heavy-duty doc.u.menting of the red carpet, star-studded parties and even Starbucks drive-bys and a day at the beach, dressing personalities quickly turned into a full-time job. Fashion houses, seeking to win the good graces of stars as well as clothing credits from these paparazzi photos in these publications, set up their own "personality" divisions charged with the task of reaching out to stars and their stylists. Suddenly the dressing standard zipped light-years ahead: Not only would Armani, Valentino, or YSL dress a personality but the fashion house would also dress him or her in next season's frock, so that the credit in the magazine could actually drive customers to buy that same dress. Ka-ching. It's a win-win. Everybody's happy.

TOP EDITORIAL FASHION DIRECTORS AKA "STYLISTS"

Emmanuelle Alt, French Vogue Paul Cavaco, Allure Lucinda Chambers, British Vogue Anne Christensen, T (New York Times) Grace Coddington, Vogue Sashia Gambancini Adam Gla.s.sman, O, the Oprah Magazine Tonne Goodman, Vogue Katie Grand, Love Sarajane h.o.a.re, Vanity Fair Camilla Nickerson Carine Roitfeld, French Vogue Elissa Santisi, Vogue and commercial Karl Templer Melanie Ward, Harper's Bazaar and commercial Alex White, W Brana Wolf, Harper's Bazaar and commercial Joe Zee, Elle TOP CELEBRITY AND/OR TV STYLISTS.

Cate Adair Joanne Blades Phillip Bloch Michael Boadi Tina Chai Nicole Chavez Jessica Diehl Cristina Ehrlich Patricia Field Leslie Fremar Andrea Lieberman Kasum Lynn Penny Lovell Josh Madden Joe McKenna Bill Mullen Amanda Ross Estee Stanley Maryalice Stephenson Kate Young Rachel Zoe Perhaps most famous for forging the Fashion-Hollywood connection and for wearing the stylist t.i.tle is Phillip Bloch. In his wake, Rachel Zoe burst on the scene dressing A-list stars like Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie, and also writing books, designing her own clothing line, and doing a styling show on Bravo, The Rachel Zoe Project. L'Wren Scott, also a celebrity stylist, broke away from that business when she launched her own successful dress line. This sounds like a joke, but it's not: If you call a stylist a designer, that's a huge compliment. If you call a designer a stylist? A major dis.

Can You Be a Great Stylist?

Of course you can! Career opportunities for stylists have mushroomed over the past ten years. With good training, a good eye, and a few contacts, you can explore the relatively new worlds of celebrity styling, personal styling, and TV or runway styling. Nonetheless, probably the best training ground for stylists is a magazine (see Amanda Ross), and the most coveted and celebrated of stylist roles remains that of a fashion director at a major fashion magazine. Considering that the magazine business is in the midst of a downturn of historic proportions, you might rightly ask, "Who cares about that small insular world?" Or you might be pa.s.sionate and go for it in magazines. Otherwise, you might train in magazines and take that training somewhere else and shine.

STYLIST///SLASH///DESIGNER.

A new "slash" category has emerged from the West Coast where high-profile stylists L'Wren Scott and Rachel Zoe have both launched fashion collections of their own. L'Wren has shown her collection of boudoir-inspired dresses in New York City. Melanie Ward, who worked as Helmut Lang's creative director for thirteen years, started her own capsule collection of loose weaves, called Blouson Noir. L.A.-based stylist Andrea Lieberman has designed her own apparel and jewelry, while Josh Madden, who styles for brands like Vans, Ben Sherman, and Kangol, collects and recycles vintage clothing for his clients.

Conventional Wisdom: Great Stylists Are Born, Not Groomed

"To be a fashion editor [at a magazine], you have to have a vision, and you have to be strong enough to fight for your vision," says Harper's Bazaar editor in chief Glenda Bailey. "You also have to be able to collaborate with many other strong personalities who are around you to bring your vision to life. Then you have to have hard work and determination. And you have to have an enthusiasm, and you have to really truly love it because you have to work so hard that if you don't absolutely love it, you don't have a chance.

"I've known so many people who had been Brana's [Bazaar's Brana Wolf] a.s.sistant or Grace's [Vogue's Grace Coddington] a.s.sistant, and they didn't turn out to be Brana or Grace. I've never bought in to the idea that people are replaceable. I think if you take individuals like Brana or Melanie [Bazaar's Melanie Ward] or Grace, their view is so theirs and so unique. You can train with them and learn their work process, but it doesn't mean that you have their eyes.

"I believe in individual talent. If I could clone Brana and Melanie, I would," says Glenda. "You either have that talent or you don't. You can always improve and evolve. It's also subjective-whether you are attracted to a stylist's vision.

"It's the same thing with great writers or designers or photographers. Think about Karl Lagerfeld: Of all the people who have worked with him who have gone off to do their own thing, no one has ever been successful. I so believe in individual talent, and I so respect the creative process. It has nothing to do with age. And, to a certain extent, it has nothing to do with experience, either."

The Family Thing

In some cases, a perfectly logical person will ask why doesn't this or that brilliant photographer work with that amazing, experienced stylist. It's all about a collaborative process. "You either work together, as a family, or you don't," confirms Glenda. "What happens on a set is about family. The photographer has his family around him. If you are not part of that family, there's no way in. It's just not going to happen. They have their own people."

PROFILE.

AMANDA ROSS TV, Film, and Celebrity Stylist Amanda Ross is the real deal: a traditionally trained fashion editor with an impressive pedigree of mentors. Whether filming a movie or TV commercial or dressing a star for the red carpet, she applies the same superb eye, impeccable organization, and seriousness of purpose. But this wasn't her plan: Amanda had envisioned herself to be a fashion magazine lifer, but circ.u.mstances pushed her out of print and into TV and film, where her training and relationships have served her extremely well. If you met Amanda at a party, you'd find her to be well spoken, if shy. Thanks to her chic, superthin Babe Paley look and amazing taste, Amanda is bigger than life.

BACKGROUND.

From a family of chic women, Amanda, a twin, grew up in Michigan. Since her family was from New York City, even though they had moved to the Midwest, New York was always a point of reference for Amanda. She graduated from the University of Colorado with a "basic liberal arts education."

STYLE GENE.

"My twin sister, Ally, and I are the youngest of a group of cousins. I wouldn't be where I am today without my cousins Katherine, Constance, David, and Jane. They inspired and encouraged me."

Katherine Ross worked fifteen years in the art world before transferring to fashion, where she worked at Prada and LVMH (the holding company that owns Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior, among others). Jane Ross worked at Vogue in the mid-1980s, while Constance Ross was a graphic designer and artist at the prestigious design firm Vignelli a.s.sociates, also in Manhattan. David Ross is a freelance art director and commercial set designer in Hollywood.

GRANDMOTHER SELMA'S CLOSET "We all shared a very glamorous grandmother. There were eighty pairs of pumps in my grandmother's closet. And there was a reason for and a difference to each of them.

"She had zips put in her cashmere sweaters so she could escape the hairdressers more quickly. She always wore a pencil skirt, pumps, and great jewelry. She had amazing style and allure. The appreciation of her style has always been with me."

CHILDHOOD DREAM.

"Though I grew up in the Midwest, I have family in New York City. I always knew that's where I belonged and where I would live."

FASHION BUG.

"I was enamored with fashion. I read Vogue. My stepmother (then an artist, now a jewelry designer) wore YSL."

EARLY INFLUENCE.

"When we were ten, my stepmom started asking us who we wanted to be when we grew up. No one had talked to us like that before, taken us seriously as young women with bright futures ahead of us. As she was an artist, she let us work with her and encouraged us to create things. She was inspiring and extremely influential."

NYC SUMMER.

"The summer after my soph.o.m.ore year in college, I worked with Jane Feldman at [the then fashion house] Adrienne Vittadini, helping with image and public relations and dealing with the label's outside PR agency, Dente Christina."

FIRST JOB.

"Once I was out of college, I interviewed for a job at Conde Nast and moved to New York." While Amanda had first accepted a job at Mademoiselle (a Conde Nast t.i.tle no longer in circulation), soon after (senior editor) Anne Kampmann moved from Mademoiselle to Self. Anne, who had worked with Amanda's cousin Jane at Vogue, reportedly told HR: "I need another Ross girl." Amanda fit the bill.

AMANDA MEETS HER MENTOR.

"I moved to Self for six years where Anne Kampmann was my boss, my mentor, and like a mother, of sorts. I started to go on shoots. My role expanded. I did have other job offers, but I knew I was where I should be."

WHY BEING AN a.s.sISTANT FOR SIX YEARS WAS THE BEST TRAINING.

"When you begin, the administrative work demands a lot of time and focus. It is through this hard work that your talent comes through. As Liz Tilberis always said, 'Editors should be like sponges.' I think back to those years. Everyone ran into each other in the ninth floor messenger room. All the other a.s.sistants, like Kim Meehan and Sasha Iglehart, Inga Fontaine, Amy Astley, would go on to have big careers of their own."