Hot Takes #21: Stylists Are The New Image Architects
Out with the old, in with a new era of stylists turned ‘image architects’
Stylists have always been around, because we all know famous folk need help dressing themselves. But the role of a stylist is shifting as a new age of tastemakers and trendsetters infuse the term with a deeper meaning.
Hot Takes is my bullet point thoughts on fashion's hottest issues. These posts get to the heart of why people are talking about what they’re talking about, what this means, and where this could go next.
Think: what direction is fashion heading in? What’s new, innovative, and exciting? What's going on in fashion that's pissing people off?
Hot Takes ties fashion topics to a wider cultural and social context, digging into the often more significant meaning behind things.
So sit back, relax, and let's get into it. Here’s Hot Takes #21.
Let’s set the scene.
Law Roach is one of those fashion names that if you know, you know.
Responsible for dressing the likes of Zendaya, Ariana Grande, Ruby Rose and Celine Dion, Roach’s work is familiar to many who inhabit fashion's inner sanctum. Maybe that's why he's the name on everyone's lips and is considered fashion royalty.
But the Chicago native poses an interesting question, which is changing the way we think about stylists and their role in crafting not only a celebrity's wardrobe but their entire persona.
In a TikTok video by Glamour magazine, Roach introduces himself not as a stylist, but as an ‘image architect’.
He goes on to explain that the whole concept of this shift came about a few years ago while working with his roster ofcelebrity clients, and explains that the term ‘stylist’ can feel limiting while not giving credit where credit is due.
I've done styling work in the past and I agree with Roach, who is ushering in a new era of celebrity styling, where the role has become about more than just picking out looks, but about curating and crafting entire brand identities via fashion signals.
The role of modern image makers
In this day and age, the Herculean task asked of modern stylists is to draw out the underlying fashion essence of their clients, providing a gateway for them to dress like the people they want to become, with the hopes that this carefully curated image will soon become a reality.
The influence and impact of stylists as image-makers is often underestimated.
Everyday shoppers like you and I may intentionally ‘curate’ and craft our wardrobes through choices that align with how we show up in the world, but stylists have the creativity, knack and power to craft entire personas.
For today’s wealth of fashion styling royalty, clothes are building blocks that help cement their clients in the wider cultural sphere.
British stylist Harry Lambert, for example, is a long-time Harry Styles collaborator and has challenged gender stereotypes by outfitting Styles in a mix of colours, floral prints, flares, sequins, and feather boas.
It's this commitment to disrupting fashion norms which is defining the role of today’s stylists as image-makers, setting the most progressive apart.
Fashion semiotics x cultural discourse
Many may view fashion as a superficial and shallow industry, but there's usually way more going on behind the scenes than meets the eye.
In a world rooted in chaos and despair, there is a rising desire for clothes to have meaning. As a result, the role of the stylist has evolved to meet this demand.
Stylists turned image architects are masters of semiotics and giving the people what they want.
Look no further than Celine Dion using the streets of Paris and New York as her personal runway, taking fashion risks and adopting a meta take on social cues by stepping out in head-to-toe Barbie pink, updated sportswear that would make MC Hammer proud, and graphic t-shirts, thigh high boots with matching trench coats.
And who’s the person responsible for this celebrity fashion transformation? Well, that’d be Law Roach of course, but did you expect anything else?
Other figures going big on rejecting the stylist label to imbue what they do with more meaning are Samantha Burkhart, who has worked with Billie Eilish, Diplo, Rosalía, Katy Perry and Christina Aguilera, and B. Åkerlund, a costume designer, stylist, and Madonna collaborator who prefers the term ‘fashion activist’.
My two cents.
I think there are a couple of different reasons why stylists are transcending their typical titles to evolve into something greater.
Firstly, there’s a financial incentive at play. Traditional stylists who dress clientele for appearances and events get a standard industry rate, often outside of their control, while an image architect can command a much higher price tag.
Secondly, stylists themselves are now in the spotlight.
Law Roach’s ongoing partnership with Zendaya has boosted his visibility, engineered some iconic red carpet and press tour moments, and earned the people's princess a CFDA Fashion Icon Award in 2021 — thanks to his hard work and skilled labour.
Being a famous fashion stylist is about more than having a rack of clothes from luxury brands and niche designers for clients to pick and choose what they like, throw an outfit together, and head out the door.
It's about creating a lasting persona communicated through deliberate, intentional fashion choices. And it's the image architects who leave a lasting impression who are making fashion count, so lets give them their flowers.
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A stylist is so much more than someone who dresses someone else, and I’m speaking from experience. They curate, they art direct, they build entire images and personas – all through clothing. And worth it when it goes right. Good luck, I hope you reach your stylist dreams soon!
I used to think that I wanted to be a fashion stylist because I like dressing myself and others. I'd like to draw/design specific things, but never had any true interest in designing a collection. Then a few years I realized that's exactly what a stylist does. OMG my dream job been working breaking through as such since!