What do you like the most about being a stylist?
I think being a stylist is a very interesting life choice because it introduces many different elements to my work. It allows me to explore magazine publishing, freelance shoots, brand consulting, and advertising campaigns. Those are so many different roles. Every day is different, a new challenge and a new creative conversation.
As a stylist, you are your own business and your own brand, but you always have to collaborate, you need assistants and you need a team. Styling as a job is impossible to do on your own. There is so much communication and coordination. Before the shoot happens, there is a lot of preparation, at least two weeks of solid work, where you build the vision you want others to see.
“There are different roads and ways to meet people, and usually, the people that you align with are on the same road as you.” – Ellie Grace Cumming
What advice would you give to someone trying to contact someone for a collaboration?
Don’t forget that no matter how successful someone is, it is always wonderful to hear that someone appreciates your work and communicating that can provide a foot in the door. I was always too shy to let others know that. Now, I’m much better at it. But I still struggle to approach people to work with me, even if I know them.
A perfect example is the collaboration I did with Alasdair McLellan with the band The XX. The XX had approached me to work with them on styling their album, tours, and videos. They asked who I wanted to work with as a director and I immediately thought of Alasdair. Although we had known each other for years and I have been fortunate to call him a friend, I still hesitated to ask him because I knew it would be a big commitment but he was thrilled and we produced something wonderful. After the first two installments, Raf Simons saw the project and this resulted in us shooting the final part in L.A. with Calvin Klein, on a much bigger budget. And we’ve since worked together on a year-long project for Saint Etienne’s new album, creating videos for each song that tie together to make a film which then premiered at the British Film Institute. The lesson to be learned is: speak up as you don’t know what beautiful things it could lead to and certainly our collaborations leading to a film at the BFI was an honour for us both.
But speaking up is not always as easy! Do you have any tricks you can share?
There are different roads and ways to meet people, and usually, the people that you align with are on the same road as you. I’m a huge fan of Simone Rocha. I saw her show last week and was moved by how much the collection spoke to me on a personal level not just as someone working in the industry. We met at the drinks she had for her team afterward and I was able to express my admiration in person which is so fitting when you feel such a deep connection with a designer’s vision.
The problem is that social media only shows one road.
There was something really interesting that Michaela Coel said at the Emmy’s: “Don’t be afraid to disappear from it, from us, for a while, and see what comes to you in the silence.” And before that, she made a very good point about the way we look at the world now, that social media “entitles us to browse through the lives of others to help us better define how we feel about ourselves.” This was a huge statement. There is so much pressure, and people usually only post something that affirms that life is positive.
Instagram is more relevant to fashion and the creative communities because it is a visual language. But it does mean that… it is a PR tool, strangely operated through algorithms, and it can really boost you, but it can also deflate you. It is really important to build up some boundaries. You can do that if you’re looking for popularity, but personally, I’m looking for the most creatively rewarding work. That means working with collaborators I find really inspiring.
I find Michaela Coel to be an incredible woman. She refused a substantial Netflix deal because she wanted to tell her story in her own way. To have that kind of integrity about your work is so important and will outlive us all.
There are many artists that are long gone that we all still look up to. I’m a huge Francis Bacon devotee. Someone said to me recently – “You don’t know or remember any of the businessmen from when Bacon was alive do you?” Francis Bacon’s work wasn’t recognized while he was alive, but he stood the test of time because he continued doing what moved him. He found a small community of artists who supported each other, with a separate yet symbiotic vision.
“If you have a strong vision, people come to you for that.” -Ellie Grace Cumming
That is a good point: supporting without necessarily aligning creatively. Do you need to have “aligning creative visions” to be able to work together? Is there a danger of becoming difficult to work with if you stick to your own vision too much?
I don’t think it makes you difficult to work with, it just makes you… not everyone’s choice. If you have a strong vision, people come to you for that. A photographer like Steven Klein has a strong vision. He works with people who pour themselves and their imagination into his world. Harley Weir has a different and equally incredible vision. I’ve had the good fortune to work with her, and the result felt like both hers and mine. She’s also worked with people I know well like Alister Mackie and Katy England and her work is reflective of theirs. The collaborations create unique viewpoints.
There is a way, even if two people with a strong vision come together, that can be an exciting clash. When I speak to photographers, I always say I would like to put my idea of fashion within their picture. That is how I think of it.
“It’s never about forgetting the past, we should always remember where we come from because that shapes our future.” -Ellie Grace Cumming
I do have a lot of people approaching me with things like – “Let’s go to this gothic mansion, or put loads of eyeliner on.” I’m like – “No, no need to repeat that.” [laughs] It’s funny because it then becomes flat. Especially when goth or punk become trendy, and the ideas of them become trendy, people take very obvious pointers towards them. My idea of what punk is that it constantly evolves. You never want it to feel historical. What the original punks did isn’t relevant now. The attitude is relevant, but we don’t live in that world.
I did a shoot for AnOther in August, and we had a very young and exciting cast of gender-fluid teens. The gender conversation is very important now, it’s an identity choice. It’s a forward-thinking conversation, with people saying – “This is what I want to be, this is how I want to live my life.” That’s a punk way of life. You don’t need a slash t-shirt or black eyeliner to be punk. One of the girls that came was a Muslim lesbian. For her to own her sexuality within her community is an incredible punk move. That’s huge.
It’s never about forgetting the past, we should always remember where we come from because that shapes our future. You always draw on the experiences you had in your formative years, even if you choose to ignore them.
Would you say two strong visions clashing is better than one drifting unchallenged?
I don’t expect everyone to wear black, no one else needs to be me. My choices don’t need to be anyone else’s. I’m excited to hear other people’s ideas. I have friends and regular collaborators who have very similar interests, but then their lives might be very different, they might have children or live in a different city, and that brings a different point of view.
There is a photographer I work with a lot, Casper Sejersen. He’s Danish and he’s ten years older, he has three children and a wife. He has a very different life from me. But, we get excited by the same people and the same subjects and the same clothes. I called him up once just saying – “I really want to do fire, pagan, summer solstice.” He just said – “Great, when?” And we made it happen. Casper’s work is stronger when he has something pushing against it. He has a very specific colour palette and putting my work in it, and the young designers I work with, putting their clothes inside his pictures, becomes very exciting. Our characters inside his world is a real clash.
“The internet has caused every one to see the same images. That is why a movement towards a more similar aesthetic, which I find very sad.” -Ellie Grace Cumming
How would you communicate your world to people you want to collaborate with but who aren’t familiar with your work?
For me, it was about building a visual library and archive through going to libraries, like Central Saint Martins and the British Library. I still find people that interest me. Over the holidays, a friend gave me a book about an artist called Marjorie Cameron, who was part of the L.A. scene. I had no idea about her, but I read her biography over the summer. I feel like I am always learning. There are always more references to add. For me, it’s nice to consume older imagery because that is another thing about social media, everything is so available. Before, finding the image was a journey, and that journey could fail, but in the meantime, you’d find three other things. The internet has caused every one to see the same images. That is why a movement towards a more similar aesthetic, which I find very sad. Vivienne Westwood once said – “If your work looks like everyone else’s you’re doing something wrong, cause it’s not your own.”
For me, it was about finding images that represent what I want to say and the mood I want to create. I would then meet photographers and spend a lot of time researching to find names of artists I like. I feel like I have endless lists now.
I like working with art photographers because then, you work with someone who doesn’t know fashion. It adds another point of view. I like the interjection of something raw, a street cast model or an art photographer. That gives a different angle.
I went to Margate one weekend and entered a bookshop. I was looking at a book about Corinne Day. The owner of the store proposed a local artist I had to check out and wrote down her name on a card for me. It turned out the owner used to work at Dazed, 15 years ago, in the exact office I entered in. It’s this strange thing that you naturally navigate towards the people who have the same interests. In all of Margate, I found the one person who used to work at the company where I work now. I had my agent reach out and I’m now working more closely with the artist he suggested. That just can’t happen through Pinterest.
“It’s expensive being a stylist, it’s hard to keep it going. You have to do commercial work to keep the editorial going.” -Ellie Grace Cumming
Can we sum up your advice as followed : Be patient. Don’t force projects. The good ones take time?
There is such a feeling of pressure from seeing people release so much work. But everyone has their own path. The people you see might be from a completely different financial background. It’s expensive being a stylist, it’s hard to keep it going. You have to do commercial work to keep the editorial going. My family doesn’t have the means to support me. Everything I’ve done, I’ve had to take time. That doesn’t make it any less valid.
“Very few people talk about that, so everything seems glossy and seamless. No one speaks about the look that got stuck in customs or the model that got covid. Fashion is a very magical place, but there is a behind-the-scenes.” -Ellie Grace Cumming
In the issue of AnOther that’s about to come out, Casper and I worked on it for three months. We shot two days, and when we got there, it was just pure creativity and excitement and joy. We were all buzzing, it felt like we had been at a club. It was in August, as the world was opening up. There was so much joy and adrenaline from creating, and I realized – This is what I’ve been missing. That is what fashion can bring and this is what creating means. It hasn’t come out yet, but internally, everyone loved the imagery. It is really important you do work you are happy with yourself. People will always have an opinion, but no one knows how difficult it was to get there. Very few people talk about that, so everything seems glossy and seamless. No one speaks about the look that got stuck in customs or the model that got covid. Fashion is a very magical place, but there is a behind-the-scenes.
And we know, fashion does not like talking about that.
It’s not discussed so much. It’s important to realise the perfect image doesn’t just appear. There are hurdles along the way and they happen to everyone on every level. It’s not just what is shown. I struggle to look at my work immediately after, a lot of people do, because you see everything that went wrong. Even if people talk about it positively on Instagram, it doesn’t mean they feel like that. That’s important to know. We live in a world where positivity is celebrated, but I struggle with that. I’m often at a place where I’m not 100% about it. When a project ends, you feel this huge rush of energy, but then when that emotion drops, you feel very empty and you only see the what-ifs. All you can do is learn from your mistakes.
Read the second part of this interview on my.mcq.com
