Fashion Is in Flux: 5 Stylists Speak on Its Future

Yashua Simmons
When I called Simmons in Los Angeles, he was preparing for his first shoots after lockdown. 

“For me, it’s been a very challenging period and a challenging space,” said Simmons. “I think a lot of what we see or the information we're devouring is painting this narrative that if you're not doing anything, you aren't being productive, and everyone is seemingly creative [in this moment]. A lot of what I felt initially was a lot of guilt. Guilt for not having what was seemingly happening with everyone else. I was sitting with guilt with the fact that I wasn't inspired. I felt numb, as though there was nothing creative flowing through my veins.”

There was guilt over sitting with how difficult this period is. Guilt over the joy derived from work that he does do. Conversations with clients over what messages are resonant and aware. 

Then there were very real concerns about how the industry will survive and function after. “What will work look like? What will rates look like?” Simmons questioned. “People will try to [forecast] what it will all look like, but no one knows. There is no blueprint. There is nothing to go off of in terms of how we get out of this.”

The answer, perhaps—and the reason why his styling resonates so strongly—is in his very honest and connected ownership of this space.

“In terms of creativity, what I found interesting about this pandemic is: Specifically, in the US, how politics were able to play a role of division. The people we're supposed to look towards sort of decided to divide us, then within that, it sort of crescendoed to other things. Police conflict with Black Americans. This collateral effect within this community,” said Simmons.

“It’s in those moments that my flame started to re-light,” he continued. “We are going through this great suffering and the fact that—it's almost like it's this falsehood that we're not–or the perpetual telling that what we're all experiencing is not actually what we're experiencing.

“As I look towards the future, there is this sense of responsibility. There is a sense of maybe adding something that is considering more than probably what I already considered,” he said. “So, from a personal perspective, [I’m] considering the broader messaging and adding those codes into my work. Whether it's blatant or little nods. So, in the end, when I look back at work, I'm making sure I'm creating time capsules and marking moments in time and in history and in space.”

Leaf Greener
“Future? I don’t know what’s going to happen,” said Greener over the phone from Shanghai. She returned home to China in April after maximizing the allowed days with her partner in Hong Kong, only to find out at the airport that she would be quarantining in the official government “camp.”

“When I came back, I had no idea I had to quarantine in this government center,” said the creative, who is known for her artful, maximalist style and work for the likes of ELLE China and Chloe. This meant 14 days locked in a Xuhiu District government-run quarantine hotel room, where temperatures were checked several times a day, and the balcony door opened just a few inches for fresh air. “You’ve been through military service,” said Greener. “That was a really interesting experience.”

Months in isolation, then social distancing brought values into focus.

“I started because I loved the creativity, the positive energy from this industry,” she said. “Right now, most [brands] are just using [this space] as an excuse to make more money. Everything is an advertisement. We have a lot of waste. This virus is telling us something: we need to reshape the system.”

What does this mean for Greener’s point of view in her styling? She spoke less of styling specifics and more about just how brands will localize and resonate in meaningful ways in the future.

“Most luxury brands just treat the Chinese as a consumer market and don’t want to deeply associate with the local culture,” she stated. “They need to rethink how they sell to each market, how they localize. How to make a beautiful, sensitive product [based within Chinese culture]. And how to educate consumers to be able to appreciate what they have. It has to slow down.”

Marc Goehring
Marc Goehring, like a lot of us, spent a great deal of time on Animal Crossing during lockdown. “When I played Animal Crossing, I soon noticed the potential for a fun project,” mused the Berlin-based stylist. “I would customize my island with artworks.” 

His digital creations caught the attention of friend and curator Evan Garza, who introduced him to the photographer Kara Chung. The pair then crafted the first Animal Crossing fashion show, complete with a soundtrack by Michel Gaubert and carefully rendered looks from the Fall/Winter 2020 Loewe, Louis Vuitton and Dior collections, among others

“It's the challenges of our times that inspire new ways of working and collaborating,” reflected Goehring. “Recently, I styled a shoot via FaceTime. It felt very different, but I made it work.”

Like his peers, Goehring isn’t sure what is coming. “Changes are hard to foresee, but regardless, we have to be able to adapt,” he said pragmatically. “No matter the changes, I know that a requirement for styling, curation and consultancy will remain. And that's what I do."

“I work intuitively so the times reflect subconsciously,” Goehring continued. “It's hard to describe, but it's very important for me to keep things organic. In the end, fashion is about fantasy.”

Ronald Burton III
“I haven’t worked throughout the whole pandemic,” said Burton III, known for his elegant, directional vision that links back to his days as a contemporary ballet dancer at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

“I think in terms of creative vision: We all realize that we've all been living in an age of access,” Burton III reflected. “When I think about this, I think back to when the recession was happening and print was having a huge decline with magazines closing left and right, and we were being forced to reimagine what our new lives would be in terms of our work and impact. When it's time to get back to work, what are the meaningful stories that I want to tell? What makes sense socially and culturally for what's happening on a larger playing field?”

For Burton III, who was home in Philadelphia after months in lockdown in NYC, this means not just reimagining his message, but the very basis of how he works. “A lot of what I do involves travel or there's so much clothing being sourced and pulled from all over,” he said. “It's more, more, more. Which isn't necessarily needed to do the job, but it's just how we've been conditioned to think or prepare.”

Like Greener and Simmons, Burton III spoke of a more sustainable future. “I think in fashion, when we work in what would be deemed a very superficial space, I think a lot of us from a human perspective are standing back and saying, ‘Okay, what's the larger message here? Outside of the health risks, what is the universe trying to tell us about how we're doing things?’” he said.

This re-evaluation, this pause, comes with a discussion not just of environmental sustainability, but of the co-current need for more humane and respectful working practices.

“It's great to see the resilience, but it's scary to think, ‘Well, if this can be done under these conditions at the fraction of the cost,’ are the brands going to sit back and say, ‘Are we going to be much more ecologically and economically responsible now?” he questioned. “I hope that we will reconsider all the things that we are doing. I hope that when [the brands are] reimagining budgets they will think about shaving costs in a bit more sensitized way to hardships. Everyone is feeling some sort of impact on this, regardless of your socio-economic status. I would hope that this brings a much more humanized approach to what we're doing. Is it all necessary? What isn't necessary, let's get rid of. But the answer is not to reduce everyone.”

As for the direction of his styling: “For me, it's about stories that feel much more tangible and humane and connected,” said Burton III. “This was where I was trying to push my work to go already, to have cultivated a voice of community and to be a bit more responsible and aware. I'm only one part of the big moving puzzle and I'm hoping to connect with those who feel similarly. This idea of community and diversity can be thought of as a trend, but this isn't a trend, this is actually life. 

“I'm just looking forward to getting back to a period of excitement when producing work,” he said. “It's easy for so many of us to get into this routine. We've all been asking for this hamster wheel to stop for some time just so we can sit back and catch our breath. I am trying to rediscover why I wanted to do this in the first place. What changes do I want to make?”