Are stylists okay?

The old guard taking up all the jobs, brands paying less, AI models being trained on taste... being a stylist isn't easy right now.

Nov 04, 2025

∙ Paid

Much like every other creative job rn, stylists are facing a ton of challenges. It’s hard to tell this – online, at least – given that stylists often feel as though they must seem booked and busy, otherwise commercial clients will become less interested. We get into this with a handful of anonymous stylists. But first, the news.

Mergers and acquisitions

We made a habit of averting our eyes whenever Graydon Carter’s name appeared in print. The former Vanity Fair editor-in-chief, on a publicity tour for his memoir, kept sharing the most depressing anecdotes, like how it wasn’t unusual for a freelance writer to have a stipend of half a million dollars in exchange for three 10,000-word stories a year, back When the Going Was Good (name of memoir). Okay, most of us were never going to have a contract with Vanity Fair, golden era or not. But in contrast to the current state of magazines (and newsletters), it was information learnt against our will. Still, we stole a glance between our fingers this week to see the announcement that his newsletter, Air Mail, launched in 2019, has been purchased by media company Puck (which actually launched two years later), with a reported valuation of $16 million. Even in the world of newsletter-only journalism, a media conglomerate can still rise. One thing that caught our eye: Carter and another senior editor are stepping down, and Julia Vitale, the current deputy editor, will take the reins. Vitale has almost no online presence and doesn’t seem to attend the opening of the proverbial can, leading us to believe she must just be a really good editor. Tangentially, we noticed Lucien Pages posted a picture of Jonathan Ros, “the world’s best-known PR with zero social media”, for his birthday a couple of days ago. What we’re trying to say is, put down the ringlight if your heart’s not in it; success isn’t always about social media followers.

More mergers and acquisitions

The parent company of Mytheresa, LuxExperience, has sold off The Outnet, one part of its Net-a-Porter acquisition from earlier this year. We reported on how Mytheresa has managed to stay profitable in a sea of floundering luxury e-comm sites a couple of months ago, and how they always planned to sell off the less successful parts of the business.

Dirk Van Sale

If you live in Antwerp or are passionate enough about the following two designers to travel to Antwerp, there’s a huge sale of Walter van Bierendonck and Dirk Van Saene on next week with your name on it. More information here.

André Leon Talley forever

SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film (a museum on the Savannah College of Art and Design campus) has opened its exhibition on the late fashion icon ALT. The show displays a curated selection of Talley’s wardrobe by designers like Tom Ford, Ralph Rucci, Manolo Blahnik, and Dapper Dan alongside other ephemera from his coterie of fabulous friends and collaborators. More information here.

Congrats Eden!

The London-based designer (and winner of the L’Oreal Prize for his CSM BA collection) Eden Tan launches a collaboration with LN-CC today – a series of products that address the problem of ‘newness entropy’. He’s also fresh off the back of getting into the second Paul Smith Foundation cohort. We always love to see a designer succeed while taking an alternative path.

By Eilidh Duffy

We talk a lot about the woes of independent designers and design teams. We’ve touched on the difficulties of navigating a creative career as a photographer in the age of AI models (and the regular trips on the Eurostar necessary if you’re London-based and looking for fashion work). But we haven’t discussed the current climate for stylists much (well, other than the trend of brands demanding full looks on celebs). So, we checked in with six working in London and Paris, to ask, essentially: you okay? From frustration at the big stylists making no space for the new generation to the bloated number of young stylists trying to catch a break, AI robots being trained on stylists’ work to luxury budgets being slashed, here is what’s on their minds.

What is the role of the stylist in 2025?

“Being a sounding board when working with designers or brands, to collaborate and build stories with photographers when working on personal projects or editorials that allow creativity and to act as an art director or creative consultant when styling celebrities or talent. Stylists define trends and dictate what the general public will be buying and wearing from season to season.”

– ███ ████, based in Paris

“Being able to cut out the noise that the algorithm pushes on you. Helping to highlight what’s actually good and meaningful right now, and what you actually believe in. I think there’s also a duty of care towards who you’re shooting. I think a younger generation of models probably feel more of a sense of injustice sometimes, people are less accepting of the exploitative nature of being on set in fashion.”

– ████ █████, based in London

“I personally have a very classic background working on fashion shows and editorial. So for me, stylists are kind of… I have this Law Roach thing that keeps coming in my head – stylists are like an image architect. [laughs] Nailing a feeling, an attitude.”

– ████████ ███████, based in London

Do you feel good with where you’re at in your career?

“No. I’ve hit specific ‘success’ markers, but I’ve not had any financial stability.”

– ██████ ███████, based in Paris

“Obviously, I am always striving for bigger and better things. There are things I’d like to do, work I’d like to get. But so far, I’ve been able to work with like-minded people and on projects where I could really express myself, and I don’t feel like I have had to compromise too much. When I work on a show, I would say I’m quite cerebral, and sometimes that can bring a bit of anxiety and doubt. So the fact that I’ve been able to overcome some of those thoughts and feelings and rise to the challenge makes me feel happy with where I am at.”

– ████████ ███████, based in London

“I started on this path relatively late, but I do feel like I’ve accomplished a lot in a short space of time, and I’ve worked with a lot of people that I admire. So I think I’m quite happy with that. But I do have many goals ahead that keep me motivated.”

– ██████ ████, based in London

“A stylist’s career can be quite slow, more so than a photographer. They can be picked up really quickly, and then just chucked on some huge commercial job. As a stylist, it takes longer to grow and develop and gain trust from clients. I feel satisfied, but I’m not making enough money to save or really keep up with the expenses of living in London.”