Behind the bevvy of beautiful images is a largely unheralded backstage collective of people. Few are as important as a stylist but for a long time now, they have remained usefully behind the scenes, receiving perhaps an iota of recognition of photographers or models, much less designers.

Among the many hands that shape what comes alive in the pages of a magazine, those of a stylist are crucial in every step of the process—be it going lengths to source a piece of clothing that may or may not make it to the final edit, sewing a button last-minute on set, or convincing a model to stand on stilts so that the dress billows out just enough to create a burst of theatricality. 

Stylists work on the minutiae of a visual—how an unassuming tuck or fold of a garment can completely change the appearance and attitude of the person wearing it. They see the resultant image in their mind’s eye while in the controlled chaos of an editorial shoot. They add layer upon layer—or strip them off completely—to create fresh styles or catapult those yet nascent. In the quest to remain relevant, they see the need to portray not just trends but the transformative nature of fashion itself, fashion’s ability to speak a cultural language, clothes as a signifier of who we really are.