The Anatomy of a Press Tour with Stylist Karla Welch

0:28Hello, everyone. Welcome back to Let's Get Dressed. and on and on. She has styled so many amazing people. We actually ran into each other at a Chanel event at Chateau Marmont earlier this year and started talking about fashion, her work with the period company, award season. And I was like, you know what? I wish I could hit record on this convo. So we are doing quite literally that. Today we are breaking down the anatomy of a press tour and what goes on behind the scenes of everything we're seeing right now in red carpet season. We talk about what award season really looks like from designing custom dresses to putting together multiple looks, how red carpet moments come together and what happens when they go wrong and why intuition has always been her number one over trends and anything that just feels cool in fashion.

1:12I loved this chat. I loved getting to know her more and I'm so excited to share it with you guys. If you loved the episode, make sure you leave us a review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. I always love to hear what you guys think. And of course, make sure you're following the show so you don't miss a new episode. Let's go get dressed with Carla Welch. Welcome to the pod. Thank you for having me. I've wanted to have you on for a very long time. Well, thank God we ran into each other the other day. I love your work, obviously. Oh, thank you. You have been a dream guest for me for a really long time.

1:42And someone whose brain I really have been eager to pick on what it's like to even run an award season. Right. From a fashion perspective. Okay. And so I kind of wanted to dive into like the anatomy of a press tour and what that looks like. For listeners who maybe are unfamiliar, could you give us kind of like what top line, what that even looks like? Like what is a press tour from a fashion stylist perspective? Okay. Well, a press tour, when one of the clients you work with, the talent you work with, or maybe someone you're going to work with has to promote their film or whatever they're doing, their album, et cetera.

2:17In this case, you know, an award season, we'll focus on films and mainly because I work with actresses. The press tour is the circus. They go on to promote their project to the world. And my job as a stylist is to dress them for all these engagements. And an award season press tour is a little bit different because the talent is campaigning for nominations. So yes, it starts at the Golden Globes. Everyone's like, award season's here. but really it starts back in May at Cannes Film Festival. So the big indicators for an award season. Yeah. It's like, wow. By the way, I have like two people already going to Cannes and I'm thinking about it, which is in five months from now.

3:03No, it's in May. So is it, is May five months from now? Yeah. I was like, wait, no. I was like, am I counting wrong? This is so embarrassing. No, no. I did great in math and that's why I'm a stylist. Yeah. So it starts like this. It goes like, well, for a lot of people, it starts in Sundance with a little independence to get picked up. But really, it kind of kicks off with Cannes. Then Cannes turns into Venice, which turns into Telluride, which goes to Toronto, which goes to then Academy Gala, which then the Governor's Ball nominations. Here we are in January. So award season, and it never really used to be like this.

3:42It never used to be the mass onslaught that we find ourselves in. But my first really big award season run, well, actually my second award season run was like maybe 10 years ago with Ruth Nega for Loving, and that started at Cannes. So right now I have two girls going for nominations, Tessa Thompson for Hedda and then Renata Rensvi for Sentimental Value. Favorite movie of the year, by the way. Sentimental Value? Yeah, it's beautiful. Beautiful. I loved it. Beautiful. Heartbreaking at the end. I mean, it's a family. It's a beautiful, I think the way it's shot is beautiful. Everything about it to me felt.

4:16Joaquin. Yes, I loved it. So good. But did you love Worst Person in the World? You know, I never saw it. You have to. Which I think I know is a fatal flaw. It's not a fatal flaw. I'm so excited for you. Yeah. Look at it and like how exciting that you get to watch this film because that's one of the most amazing characters and that's when I started with Renata was for that movie. So I just started with Tessa in the summer though we've known each other a long time and really the goal is to kind of, for me, is to back out of the Oscars. The Oscars is the biggest moment, if you're fortunate that they get there, and you just kind of plan backwards.

4:54Or when you're in a really good, I like to get into a real flow state with my clients. So it's like, you kind of know what you're landing on, what energy you're giving, who you're working with in terms of designers, in terms of jewelers, et cetera. And then you just start telling your little story, hopefully having fun. I think now I've done it being a stylist for 20 years. I like to make sure I'm having fun and that we're really on a bullet train, but also we're in a rowboat, you know, where it's like, yeah, it's like that. What does that look like to start off? So Tessa, for example, you know, you're working with each other from Toronto.

5:36know, are you mood boarding? Are you deciding on an aesthetic, a vibe, what you want to accomplish? Like, what is the goal if we're speaking pragmatically? If you're speaking pragmatically, well, the goal is to help them get a nomination by turning them out and by allowing them to feel amazing in what they're wearing. Because like, they're on everything. You know, it could be three events a day where they're talking to voters, they're promoting, you know, that is a a dredge. So I want them to feel amazing. Someone like Tessa, who already has incredibly innate style, it's like helping that along.

6:12But it's also landing on like a vision. I don't really mood board. It's just not. When someone asks me for a mood board, I'm going to disappoint them because the mood board's in my brain. Right. Mood boards are so hard for me as well because— I love one. I love seeing one. Me too. But it's pretty. I'm like, is this too literal? Yeah. You know what I mean? I hate, I can't explain to someone why this image moves me, but it does. And it could be random. Yeah. Well, that's great. It should be random. I feel like we've gotten to a point of in culture, you know, maybe not really in culture, but in, in our visual landscape right now where it's so homogenized.

6:55And I don't want to give you an image that you've seen before because everything's in my brain, which is maybe not the best place for it to be. But I have a depth of like 40 years of watching movies and listening to music or going to that show where I like felt something and could find a way to visually articulate it. So I'd rather just concentrate on like a few words and where we're going and then finding it you know practically speaking you also have to have the clothes right and what's been a real challenge that never used to be you know 10 years ago even five years ago is that we're in a real different landscape and fashion where a lot of girls are tied up in contracts a lot of brands are coming in and they're wanting every single piece of of the pie so it gives less freedom to real storytelling that's why i love like another reason i love musicians too is like they kind of aren't really obsessed with that idea and they they tell bigger stories but i love it if a girl's not too tied up in a contract because it gives you a lot more freedom but the flip side of it too is because of all the changes in fashion over the last few years of shifting of creative directors you'll find a collection for example like sarah burton's last collection for mcqueen nobody got to wear it which I just think is so such a crime it's a crime of an I I'm gonna say something people might find controversial and I I don't know the decision making behind these decisions so I'll preface that but like it's a bit of a crime of an ego to think that a brand can't show the work of the designer who was just there that's your that's your legacy and it's such a waste of dresses.

8:41So we've entered, we were in a real desert, a closed desert for a while of like no gowns, no nothing. And every stylist was dying because at the same time, because of all the new media, which is amazing. And like traditional media is like, okay, it's a TV show. That's not what matters anymore. It's like everything else, the pods, the Instagram things, et cetera. It's like, there's not enough clothes and people aren't making gowns. And so you're all like, ah, so it's it's a different landscape for sure what does it feel like now with so much new designers new collections does it feel exciting overwhelming there's a lot out there now yeah but we've run out of clothes already my assistant grace and i were just saying that it was like oh my god we're at the time where it's like we've seen everything everything we want is being placed you know often by ourselves okay great there's fashion shows coming up but it lends for a bigger conversation too outside of this one where it's like we see so much right away.

9:44We're back in the day. You didn't, right? You'd see, I mean, you used to have to fax. Do you know what a fax machine is? Of course. Okay. I'm just making sure. No, I know. I wouldn't hold it against you, but like you used to have to fax in your request and then it would come back and like it moves slower. Now we see everything. And so people are technically tired of it when it actually comes into season. I'm curious if while you're working with a client on a press tour for the award season. If you're like, I want her to exude this aesthetic. Sometimes I feel icked by that word. And I'm curious if as a stylist, you feel drawn towards it because it helps like with the framework or if you're like, if it feels limiting.

10:23I look for more like flow, which is like, but I do find it, the aesthetic by, but I have this method I work on where it's like, okay, if I'm going to, I'm going to start working with this new girl and it'll be South by Southwest. And right now I'm thinking about her in a way that it's very internal for me. And I'm trying to find out where we're going, but I'm not looking at like a mood board or Instagram and thinking, I want to be like that. I think that's amazing for people's personal style. Like if you aren't finding your own, if you're having a hard time locking in on how you're dressed, this is a great place to be, find inspiration.

11:03But for me, it's got to be a little bit more. And it doesn't always work for everybody, but that's what I try to do. I really like that a lot of what you're saying right now is based on your own intuition. Yeah. That's why I'm a really specific type of stylist. And I'm sure it's not, of course, it's not exclusive to me, but I'm really the captain. And your mind drives the ship. Yeah. I love also what you said earlier about the fact that it's inspired by things that you're seeing in the world that aren't just about fashion. Right. And I think that that is something that even in my journey, I always try to nail down.

11:46It's like the world outside of fashion is what's going to inform your thoughts about the world inside of fashion. Yeah. I had to like kind of give it to my team and my team is so I've I'm one of the things I'm most proud of. And it it goes back to 20 years ago. I've always had amazing team. I've been so lucky. But I think that's also my skill set of picking great people, being demanding in the way that I demand excellence because excellence has always been demanded of me. But I did say to them the other day, I don't want anything to look like it's on fucking Instagram. like and they're out pulling you know I still make all my selects but then I would say okay and then go find me these things but I'm like I just don't want it to look like that anymore I don't want to see this on my racks I don't want that top laser combo slack you know what I'm saying you everybody knows that aesthetic and it's beautiful but I don't that cannot be what everybody looks like.

12:48I want the person to look like themselves, but better. And I want it to be like, that's Renata's style. This feels like Tessa looks like she could have styled herself. That is my goal is to look like I'm not there. And in my brain, I can see that so clear. Yeah. Especially with Renata. Yeah. I'm curious how you have been able to cultivate that like trust in your intuition. That is very hard, I think, for women specifically. Right. It's like, how do you trust that feeling of like that works and you do it so well. Even like I can see in the way you move and even what you wear, like you know exactly what's right for you and what is right for other people.

13:25And it's a skill. Thank you. I have no other skills. So that's not true. Well, no, no, no. But I had deep intuition as a child. And I think like if you and I think everybody has intuition if you I mean, some people don't like sometimes I think to say to my son, I have a 19 year old son who's amazing, an amazing artist. And I'm like, are you listening to any of these other voices? Like, come on. But I think if you have, yeah, I just have always had really strong opinions. I met an, I met like an expert in, in a intuition expert. There we go. Last weekend, I spoke on a panel with her and I actually was really curious at the correlation between personal style and intuition.

14:07And I think that there's just like a huge unlock there of the two things together, like knowing what feels best for you. And I asked her, I was like, what is a immediate gut check that you say to someone who doesn't know their intuition? And she was like, go to someone and say, is your name Carla? Yes. Is your name Olivia? Yeah. You're supposed to feel it in like two different places in your body. Like you feel when I say to you, is your name Olivia? And you say no. I think she said the no. I said yes over here. I was like, yeah. Yeah. I was like, I was talking. I was speaking for you. She said that the no is in your stomach and the yes is in your heart.

14:42And you should feel that. You should be able to kind of feel that instinct in your body. Yeah. And that that's a good practice to just feel where instinct comes from because it comes from a physical place in your body. I have to try it out more. But I was very curious. And I think I'm going to do an episode eventually on intuition practice. I love that. I think for someone like you, someone who like the tactile things aren't important, like the mood board, the things. Yeah. It's all coming from inside you. Many, many, many years ago, there was an issue of Vogue. I mean, well over a decade, maybe 15 or so.

15:15It was this photographic series of the designers and their muses. And I got to my favorite, Mrs. Prada, and her photograph was herself looking in the mirror. And I was like, I ripped it out. I still have it to this day. I love her. the muse and the muse is in the mirror is what she said and I was like yeah same and you don't have to think like oh I can't compare myself to Mrs. Prada I'm certainly not comparing myself to Mrs. Prada like there's no it's not that but that tapped into something like it's inside of you and what's interesting is you know I was with Virgil rest in peace who was incredible to so many people.

15:58And we were at this, you know, we were like, I was the first person to place his women's wear when he created it for Office White. Michelle wore it to the CFDAs. And I have this text from him. And then we saw each other at a business or fashion dinner and we got seated together, which was like the one of the best dinners of my life. And we were chatting and I mean, we were more than chatting. We didn't talk to anybody else. We were laughing. We laughed like hard about it but I said that to him and he was like unlocked and I was like unlocked you know know all your references or learn your references it's not about knowing everything and I think that's one of the greatest things I've learned my whole life it's like you don't have to know everything but be open to exploring everything and learning and I think that's like and then and then spit it out I'm not you don't have to come up with original ideas but you can have original feelings or the feelings that are right for that person.

16:56That's what I'm after. I want to ground that kind of in a real life example. Okay. I love Renata, obviously. I loved the movie. I love her personal style as well. And my favorite look from the Golden Globes was the custom Louis Vuitton that you styled her in. She walked out and I was like, oh, I can turn the TV off now. Correct. We're done. Yeah, I know. It was spectacular. It was spectacular. Incredible. What does that process look like from the beginning when you know you're working with someone like her and you want Louis Vuitton to make a custom piece for her? Well, the amazing thing about Renata is she just lets me do it.

17:32But we know each other so deeply in a way that's like, I remember when I first started working with her, it was like, nobody knew who she was. And I was like, no, no, no. I just know who this girl is. And came in, it was like, we did 20 looks. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. under an hour and she was just like she's someone who feels her clothes and so for the award season run with her just she is a louis vuitton contracted ambassador you know we had a call in post can we did the can can looks great and then and i think in july we started talking and then we'd landed on sketches but like i'm obsessed with french like i'll put french i mean there's a little bit of wool fringe.

18:15I'll put fringe on anything. It's like putting a bow on something for me. It's like, fringe? Yes. And so I'd ask them about, you know, and it was like, of course, like Diana Ross, a little Cher, a little that, but I just visually love how it moves. And the Globes is such a great place to have a fun dress. You can't have a really big dress because they're sitting on really tight tables and everybody moves around. So you, I have to think about that you don't want to be super cumbersome but that dress really was exactly what I wanted and we kind of started fitting it but not really at the London Film Festival they just had a little like muslin there were there but I was just like you can't give me enough fringe and this is the gray I want and they just nailed it it was actually two pieces because it was so heavy you couldn't And it would never hold up just as a dress.

19:07So structurally, it was so interesting to be a skirt. But she, like, put it on. She's amazing to watch. Like, I get so inspired by, obviously, the women I work with, right? Because, like, there are these amazing vessels for stories. So I'm really in awe. Like, I really have to love somebody. Like, I keep a good boundary between, like, you know, I'm still working with someone. But I have to, like, deeply love them, which is kind of sweet. But she put it on and it was just like perfect. It worked. It worked. And you know it works. You would like, the Globes was like a real like no notes. There were no notes.

19:45It was impeccable. Yeah. And she had Louis Vuitton jewelry on it all. It really just worked. And just one, like I had thought about a bigger piece of jewelry and we put it on and we were both like, nope, doesn't need it. The dress speaks for itself. Also, she's so tall. She looked even taller. She looked even taller. She looked like a statue. Yeah. It was unbelievable. Do you know what I hate though now? I don't hate this. I find this a little bit sad, but like back in the day, and I, that sounds, I sound so, back in my day. No, back in the, like, we're moving so fast all the time visually. And with this content machine we find ourselves in because of streaming and because of projects and just, I mean, because of capitalism, there's the stream of output.

20:33That you don't linger anymore. I think Sam McMillan and I were, or someone and I were talking about this. It's just like, you could have a dress on a carpet and you could talk about it for months. Like, oh, that was such a look. But like, now we're at a point where like on Monday, there were 30 more looks. Right. Yeah. So I'm like, ah, you want it? You want? There's the reason for nostalgia is because people like that slowed down time, right? Where they're like, the greatest dress is then. don't come from right now. But they should because that was one of the greatest dresses. One of the greatest dresses all over place.

21:09Another one of my favorites that you did was America Ferrera's custom Versace for the Oscars. Oh my God. For the Barbie press store. And I actually remember hearing you say in that that you knew exactly what you wanted for that. Yeah. I went to Versace with I want this pink chain mail. I know exactly the vision for that. Yeah. Is that different than Renata's look? Are they sending you drawings or are you always for custom coming to the table with a concept? What does that really look like? You come with a concept. Well, first you ask and you are like kind of praying that they're into it. Right.

21:40You know, one of the most important things as a stylist, especially for young stylists when you're out there is like, don't bite that hand that feeds you, right? Like the greatest thing is having one of these designers say yes to you that they're going to make you address. For me, it is. And I never want it to not be perfect for them. Like, that's their art. So I'm constantly thinking, like, is this the right glam for the look? Is this the vision? You know, that it works for everybody. But yeah, of course, with America's Dress, you know, we didn't do on-theme Barbie. We kind of avoided pink the whole time.

22:20But I was like, I know when we're going to do pink. Because you knew the movie was going to the Oscars. was the greatest surprise that she got nominated. Amazed. Deserved. That monologue lips spread forever. Best monologue ever. You know, thank you, Greta Gerwig, for writing that monologue in America, for delivering it. But I think in November, I went to them and they said, sure. And I was like, all I want is a classic Versace chainmail dress. That's it. Because they invented that fabric, right? Well, not invent. They didn't invent chainmail, but they invented a really specific type of how they do it.

22:53And years before, Lord wore a piece to like a pre-Grammy event when the Grammys were in New York. I couldn't even tell you what year that was. And so that's when I saw how they made it up close. And I just knew it was going to be perfect. And, you know, they sent me like 20 pinks to pick from, which that was the hardest part, right? They sent about five sketches to choose from. And then they sent all the pinks. So that was, oh my God, that dress was spectacular. incredible yeah it was one of my favorites of yours I'll never forget it I will never forget it either it was just like also I love her deeply again like it's that love and you just we it was such a great press tour because at the end of the day and I'm meaning this with like the most love like fashion only likes a certain type of girl right and America maybe wasn't isn't fashion everybody everybody loves America she's brilliant she's a badass everybody's on her side the fashion industry isn't chomping at the bit to dress, wasn't chomping at the bit to dress her all the time.

23:58But like we turned out consistent looks one after the other. Like she, that press tour, I would say to my team, like you have to be really proud of yourselves. Like this press tour is absolutely perfection. And it doesn't always get to be like that for every girl. That's the harsh, harsh truth of the industry. And of course, I respect designers who say no. That's the thing about what I was saying before of like, you got to be nice about it, right? The biggest mistake I think a stylist can make would be like, well, fuck you if you don't want to lend to this person. Yeah. I'll keep asking because one day they're going to say yes, and then I'm going to show them how good it is.

24:38You know, I get less no's now, of course, but—and it's not that there was a lot—there wasn't great options for America. There was. We had banging dresses. We made her body look amazing. She felt incredible. But like that was a real, for me, one of the best press tours I've ever done. I just loved it. And it was like, again, the perfect ending. It was like, I know how we're going to end. I mean, that's to me the perfect case study of how transformative fashion can be. It was such a moment. Yeah. It really was. Yeah. And Donatella came and she was like, ah. I remember those images. They're kind of seared into my mind.

25:11Yeah. It was a moment. It's a moment. It's a moment. Yep. I want to double click a little bit on this relationship with designers because, one, you have relationships with all the top designers, but what does that look like on the back end? How have you gotten to that point? And what is cultivating a good relationship look like, especially now? I'm sure for a stylist, it's very interesting when the musical chairs happens. Yeah. You know, you have Pier Paolo at Balenciaga with Tessa now. He was formerly at Valentino. What is that whole— Rest in peace, Mr. Valentino. He did. He passed away this morning.

25:42Life well lived. Beyond. Wow. What a man. What? Thanks for the beauty. Truly. Truly. And like smart. Went out on top and then just enjoyed it. He did. Yeah. I love that for him. You don't have to work forever, everybody. Amazing. Amazing legacy in life. Yeah. You always knew if you got a Valentino dress just how spectacular it would be. You know, I've interviewed a lot of stylists and everyone has said that. Yeah. Everyone has said it's the Valentino. Yeah. It's just a pinnacle. Yep. But so what does that look like? It's a thrill. You know, it's like knowing a rock star. But I think like the fashion community is so pretty wonderful.

26:24I think at the beginning, you're like a little scared. And it seems really intimidating. But you know, everybody puts their pants on the same way. But But for me, I like, they're my rock stars. I won't say I'm never not in awe. Like I was DMing or WhatsAppping with Pure Paulo. And like, it's amazing to become friends. It's amazing to get to a place where you knew them when they started, right? And so, but also like, I have to just give mass, like be super respectful. It's their process. Be supportive. Like, I don't know. It's pretty wonderful. I remember earlier when you were saying you have to go to Versace and kind of hope that they say yes.

27:06Yeah. I'm assuming you're sending kind of multiple bids if someone's not on a contract to get them to dress them for an event. What does that look like when you're trying to keep the relationship good? Like, how do you keep that? Oh, if you have to say no? Yeah. Oh, it's the worst. It's the worst, I'm sure. Like, how do you keep those relationships in good standing? Yeah, by being transparent. When life happens. You have to be super honest. Yeah. And listen, you're not going, you're not really bugging. I mean, I did, I asked Pierpaolo to make Tessa the dress. And that dress was all him and that color was him.

27:41And, you know, it came at the last minute. And then it knocked every other dress we were looking at off the table. It was beautiful. The color was exquisite. Yeah, the color was spectacular. But, you know, you're working with like the most amazing love and the flip side of all those stylists, then it's all the PR teams. And, you know, those are your community that you've worked with for 15, 20 years. And so you have, those are the relationships too. Like, yeah, I can have a relationship with all the designers. You better have a good relationship with their PR people because they're the gatekeepers.

28:14It's funny because I did a stint where I kind of worked on the PR side, helping them with the show dressing last year. And I saw their side and I was like, I'm never going to request anything during Fashion Week from you ever again. I've learned my lesson. I see what you're going through. So it's like perspective is everything. But the key is if like custom's tricky and the globes are particularly tricky because the nominations come late in December and then all of a sudden everybody's gone for the holidays. Like by the time— You don't have much time. No, there's no time. There's like—and you kind of don't want to—you're hedging that you're going to get a nomination.

28:50So you've started. Like Renata, you know you're going all the way through. Hope, knock on wood. Well, you know, you never know. You have to. Of course. But like other nominations come in or presenting comes in. And a lot of times I don't love doing custom dresses because I want to have the options. Yeah. It's risky. It's scary. It's super risky and it's super scary. But what I just have learned is you just have to be like super transparent. This brand, hey, she might have a deal. I'm speaking broadly now. This client might have a deal with this other brand. This one brand's asking you to dress.

29:23I'm like, you just have to know. There might be an offer here. If you want to participate, go for it. But I just want to be transparent about it. And that's where we ended up, you know, last week as well, where I was like, I'm not sure that this is going to work because I'm a real, like, the best dress wins. But it's the season of disappointment. Like, I had an ulcer last week because, no, I didn't have it. I just had a metaphorical ulcer. I wouldn't be surprised. It was just like, it's so stressful because then you're like moving things around and people are like, we wanted it for this and not this.

30:00And like, you're like, ah. But at the end of the day, like, good stylists know how to pace things. And there is a pace game that happens as well. Like, Renata wearing that Givenchy to Palm Springs was like important for Renata. She got a lot of attention. And like attention is something you want at this time of year. I don't know. So it's fun, but like you, I hate disappointing people. It's the worst part about the job because you love brands, these brands and the people at the brand so deeply and you like don't want to disappoint anybody, but you ain't doing costume changes. Have you been having a lot of fun with a lot of the new collections?

30:42Because personally, I've been having a lot of fun watching it. New Chanel on Tessa Thompson was beyond. That was my favorite look from the show too. Oh, amazing. It just, I thought, was the most wearable, emotional, but new era. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I loved it. Yeah. And she looked so good. What's—how are you feeling about it? I love. It's so good. I love. That New York show was so good. You're just like, okay. Yes, please. Yeah, for you, I'm sure that's like opening up a treasure chest. You're like, okay. Yeah, but you love it when you have a girl who gets it. Right. You know, and when I say gets it, it means the brand has validated and says yes.

31:16Let's get into that a little bit because I distinctly remember where I was sitting and what I was doing when Sarah Paulson came out and knew Bottega two weeks after the show. Correct. She was one of the first people I saw wearing the collection. She was the first person wearing it. That's what I thought. Well, Vicky Cripps, of course, in advance. Right. But like that collection, the collection, she was the first person to wear it. What does that negotiation look like on the back end? I'm a psycho. Yeah. Yeah. You know what? I'm not a psycho. I am relentless. I'm which I kind of pride myself in being relentless still because it's not like I mean I'm like I am 20 years in but I still work really hard for my clients and it's not a given because now you know this whole fashion works it's like the show shows the press re-see then it's immediately going into sales because sales are god like I want every designer I'm never mad if a designer and says, I can't have it because it's in sales because I want them to be successful.

32:16And the only thing that is successful is selling your clothes. But that look in particular, and I am a longtime huge fan of Louise Trotter from Joseph to Lacoste to like Carbon. I have so many Carbon pieces. No one sleep on Carbon because the legacy is continuing with the designer who's there now. And you know, of course, I was a huge Matthew fan at Bottega. I love like the clothes you want to wear, like the clothes I want to wear. Every day. And then Louise's collection came and I was like, oh my God. And so it looks a lot like just asking for it in a way. Like I'm sure like so many of the press people just laugh when my emails come in because they know that I'm not going to stop.

33:01And I'm like, I want that dress. And I know how much like Louise liked Sarah, you know, and we worked, we did so many placements with her at Carbon. So you kind of had that like relationship already. But yeah, I was like, give me that look. And Sarah was like, interesting about it. I was like, that's like, Sarah and I have like, you know, it's like secondhand. And she's like, is it enough? Is it enough? I was like, yeah, girl. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Like, and I have to like sometimes chill look because I'm like you're wearing it this is the look like I know like I know in every fiber of my being that this is the look to wear and you know that that's going specifically for Sarah yeah yeah that's the only person who I'm calling it yeah yeah but also in in your in the back of your mind you're like these relationships can give us a layup for this yeah it's all math back there It's all for someone who wasn't good at math.

34:01Yeah. Well, no, I'll never forget hearing you say on a podcast that stylists are power brokers. Yeah, for sure. That stuck with me. I remember listening to that podcast episode and saying, that is something that needs to be shared more. You guys do so much behind the scenes to bring talent to brands, broker deals, elevate their brands to a whole new level. I mean, even you saying that moment where Renata wears Givenchy, like that really changed a perception for her. People saw that. That was a moment. Yeah. Those things can change careers. Correct. And listen, like when you're working with someone like that, who's going to be a working actor for her whole life as long as she chooses to be, I'm not changing her roles.

34:41Of course not. I don't want to take that much. You don't want to take that much credit, but you can shift something in how the fashion world sees somebody. And that's dollars. What does it look like when you're one styling multiple clients on an awards day. What does that look like? Well, for me, the work's done. You're just showing up and making sure it's perfect. Yeah. Because what I love to do with my girls is have all the decisions done. You know what I mean? So it's like you want to relieve the stress as much as possible for them on that day. So you're aligned with hair and makeup. You're aligned with each other and then you align with everybody else and we're just so prepared you know like our what would happen if a zipper broke well the tailor's there to sew them in what if the shoe breaks there's a backup shoe you know what I mean like so everything so war days are kind of like nicely chilled for us but you know I have an incredible team everybody gets a person I have a rule it's like of how who I go to.

35:47It's like the nominee is who I go to. I had two nominees. I had three nominees this time. So it was like a little trickier, but you know, this is going to sound harsh, but it's like I get paid by a specific brand a lot more than the other one. So that's like kind of how you have to do it. I don't think that's harsh. I think that's business. Yeah, it's business. That's showbiz, baby. I know, that's showbiz. Life of a showgirl. Yeah, life of the showgirl. But I feel, I hope, and I know that my gals feel really well taken care of because I'm also with them. Like, I was with Tessa at, like, midnight the night before landing on all the last bit of tailoring.

36:24So it's like, I've done the work. And sometimes I think, like, a lot of, like, glam people don't realize that for the stylist. We're like, because they roll in the day of. It's like, no, babes, we've been working on this for months. And this last week, we've been working on it 24-7. Hair and makeup. You're deeply involved in all of those decisions. Yeah. Yeah, because I'm sure you've had a moment where you've styled an incredible look, and then the glam team just goes opposite direction. Yeah. Yeah. Which is devastating. Devastating. Devastating. I feel like it was so close. We were right there.

36:58Yeah. You're like, huh. Yeah. What happened? So those decisions are being made ahead of time. Yeah. Everyone's aligned. Yeah, and because it makes it better for everybody. And listen, the glam squads I work with are all incredible. And there's so many of them that you can just be, yes, what do you think? Because obviously they're artists as well. But like the best days are the ones where you've landed and then you execute. All about the plan, which is very practical, but it like keeps the train running on time too. Like I don't want that chaos. I have been in those chaotic situations earlier in my career.

37:36and it's just like not for me. No thanks. I want it to be chill. I want to like all of us to have a glass of wine and have a great time. Send you with love out the door, not being like stressed out. So it's that energy you have to bring. Have you had something go wrong on a red carpet? Yep. And what'd you do? What happened? I internalized it and carried it for like six years of my life. Yeah. Yeah. Virgo. Aquarius, but I do the same thing. Yeah, where you just like wake up in the middle of the night and just be like, what was that? Me last night at 1 a.m. Oh, no. 45 minutes. Thinking about things from five years ago.

38:12Yeah. Are you allowed to share what went wrong? No, I don't want—no, it was, like, just a dress that I just hate it. Oh, okay. And then everything about it, I just hate. Just—it just went wrong. Yep. And it was, like, ouch. But I'm assuming you took a lot of learnings from that, which is, like, we all have to have the bads to really know when something's good. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Also, it was like a different time. It was the time of like worst dress, best dress, which I just like, we like, you know, the early 2000s were pretty savage. Totally. For that, that culture of like, we're going to eat you alive.

38:49It's very interesting. I find red carpet criticism very fascinating. And I find it, I know it's a business. I'm all here for it. People want to be entertained. Yeah. But I think once people listen to episodes like this, they're like, oh, there are so many things happening in the background. Yeah. That it's almost an unfair judgment at the end of the day. Well, come to me and my clients and say it to our face. Right. If you can do that, I'm going to respect you so much more. Right. Like someone the other day wrote on, it looks like she's going to a picnic. Well, okay. I'm glad. And this was a person who was like, had a business.

39:27And I was like, you're putting that out. Yeah, and in a comment section. And it was like, I mean, I didn't reply. Sometimes Jessica Pastor will reply to people. And I'm all like, Pastor, I love you so much because it's so funny. But I'm like, it's kind of wild. Like, I'm like, what are you, are you going to say that to someone's face? Like, there's always going to be the keyboard people. Right. And some things, I'm never afraid of criticism. But I'd hate, like, idiots. You know, I'm like, but when you're dumb, I just can't like, I don't put too much stock into it anymore. You can love me. You can hate me.

40:05As long as I made you feel something, love it. Or I'd rather you love it or I love rather you hate it. Because if I'm in the middle, I'll just be like, blah. I can take criticism, but I hate idiots is really a line. Like, I love that. Okay. I'm going to take that for myself. Please have it. Because it's true. Like, I'll take criticism, but don't be dumb about it. Yeah. Yeah. Also, like, also just like you just don't, and I don't expect everybody to know how the business works, but it just doesn't work like that. Is there anything you're itching to come back in fashion? Individuality. I didn't even say the word fully there, but individuality.

40:44I just want to see a little, still a little more fucked up. I don't want to see perfect all the time. I want to see, I don't want to see your Instagram feed all the time or that Instagram feed of like that real taupey, beige-y, or we're both wearing, you know, I don't know. I like seeing like, I think there's a little more. Yeah, I just like seeing a little more energy and I don't think everything has to be this huge moment. I want to see how a girl puts a belt and tucks a beat up sweatshirt and ties a scarf around her neck and maybe adds like a chandelier earring to it. I want to see that. I want to see like that feeling of like when Robert Redford went on a press tour and he was wearing his own clothes and they had that nice amount of wear to them and that tactile-ness.

41:31And I want to see people who like are in their clothes. Odessa from Marty Supreme has been doing that on the red carpet, wearing all her own clothes. And I loved it. Yeah, why not? She wore to the premiere, she was like, people were like, what are you wearing? Yeah, it was from like Santiali. Santiali. Yeah. She was like, and then I had a tailor put a corset and I cut the arms. And I was like, that is super great. Amazing. Yeah. That is fun. Like if you love your style, wear what you got. Yeah. Nothing wrong with it. What are your thoughts on AI and fashion right now? Especially I feel like for a stylist, there are a lot of styling apps coming out and things.

42:09I'm curious. I do. I have a styling app too. And we, of course, use a little bit of AI to like narrow down selections. I don't know. I think it's such a slippery slope. I mean, listen, it took me like, I'm a late adapter to like most things tech over here. So I don't know. Is it worth the energy that it's costing the planet? I think, listen, if it helps you, I know the power of how it can feel really amazing to feel how it feels when you feel good about how you're dressed. So if that can help somebody. Okay, but yeah, I don't know. Sometimes I think about it, like in what way? Like expand. So there was an app that I saw recently that is like entirely AI styling.

42:57You digitize your closet and every day it gives you new options for outfits to wear in your closet. There's part of that that I think is really valuable. Yeah, sure. Yeah, like especially for the masses who don't have access and are looking for inspiration to shop their own closet, to maybe mix things up a little bit. I think there's a lot of value there, but I have no desire to see it get any bigger than that. Yeah. Leave it there. Yeah. I was listening to, I mean, I think it was Ben Affleck said something about the learning, or there was this article about just like it's not learning at the pace.

43:32Like, I don't know. I don't know. I don't think styling and fashion needs to be exclusive, but I don't think it's going to give you anything that you can't do yourself. Unless if you're like crazy busy and you need help packing or that sort of thing. But it's like we're losing each other too much. Yeah. And I think even when you give away the small little tasks, we're still losing each other in a way that I just think we shouldn't. I think time is the biggest problem. People aren't willing to give the time to spend an hour or two in their closet and do it themselves. You've got the time, though.

44:07You've got the time. Like, I'm really busy. Yeah. But, like, last night I went in because my closet is an utter disaster. And I was like, okay, I'm just going to, like, tackle these few drawers. Feels good. It feels really good. It feels good. My favorite activity. Yeah. It's like, hmm, this is nice. So I don't have the answer to that question. I'm going to try to avoid it as long as humanly possible that said I do my wishy is an app that but you work with stylists people and there they have a little like AI aid to help you like find the sizing and that so like I get it I totally get it but don't have to like it my favorite of all your ventures while we're talking about ventures is the period company oh thank you which I love.

44:56Thank you. I feel, I love that you started something that helps the world, but also seamlessly fits into your career. But I want to hear a little bit about the business and how you started it and where the inspiration came from, because it's incredibly unique and you've done so much good. It's incredible. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. It's really funny. I mean, I think I'm a person who, when I was little, I just kind of wanted to be just one of those helpers in the world. And then I ended up in fashion and I am helping, but I, I just thought maybe that I needed something else, less superficial, even though I know fashion isn't superficial.

45:34So when I, when I say that, I always want to catch myself because I'm like, but it just, yeah, it did fit quite seamlessly. And so it's called the period period by the period company for exactly that or for your period period underwear and period underwear being on the market, but I just had, you know, my child got their period quite early and it was really impossible for him. And I'll say him because I have a son who gets a period and to blow everybody's minds out there. But we, I just needed something that was easy for my kid. And at the same time with my own period, I was like, oh, all this plastic is such a drag.

46:10And then I was like, oh, these period underwear that I bought are okay. They're super expensive. They were like a backup plan for a leaky tampon. Everybody knows your tampon is going to leak on you. It's a human experience. It is a continual experience of being human. And so I was like, I know what I'm going to do. I'm going to make these underwear and I'm going to make them really affordable so that anybody can have this option. Because I thought this is the greatest option in the market. And then my co-founder, Sasha Markov, is an incredible creative director, ad genius. She, like, some of the biggest campaigns in the world.

46:49But she was leaving it because she only wanted to work on things that were good for the planet. She's like, I'm going to go represent the wild horses of Colorado. And so she's like, no, this is a really interesting idea. We have to, while you're building a product, let's build the brand. And she was like, actually, let's rewrite Genesis because, you know, pre the Bible. The periods were pretty revered in the world, like in mystical times and pre-man times. pre-man being the authority. It was pretty tapped in power of creation, right? That's been used against us. So yeah, besides being really affordable, we thought, why don't we just completely take on how we felt about our periods for the last few hundred years by introducing a new idea that it's actually incredible, which is a lot to ask.

47:42I know this because I've had a period for 40 years. It's a lot. But then something really clicked where I was like, huh, what if I had 40 years ago acknowledge that, A, it's coming every month, so there's no escaping it, right? But what if I had tapped into something that, like, this is incredible. This is the center of, like, everything in the world or in my world, in my body, and there's this health thing that is happening. And by the way, when, of course, periods are essential to creation. I don't think anybody with a period has to create life. Not a chance. But like, it's a pretty powerful, powerful thing.

48:25There's a reason it's being stigmatized by men. It's like, because they didn't get one. So what if we could just like really start shifting how we talk about it? what would happen? And like TMI for people who don't get a period, but like the first time I rinsed out my period underwear and I saw the amount of blood that came out, something in my entire being changed. And I was like, well, I know what I'm going to do for the rest of my life. I am going to go talk about my period and I'm going to say, hey, if you've got a person who's getting in their period for the first time, don't make it all doom and fucking gloom.

49:02Make it like, yeah it's gonna suck but there's something more there and like if you actually talk to every person on the planet who's getting their period that way what kind of shift would you see so we're asking a lot of questions that's kind of the basis of our work we're activating people who are tired of the status quo and the status quo or products that had chemicals in them that don't decompose, that are horrible for the earth. Questionably, how good are they for your body? And we're giving them another option. We love to say, like, if pads and tampons are Democrats and Republicans, like, we're your third party.

49:43There you go. There we go. The optionality is important. Yeah, listen. And then another driver of the company, just to not go on and on about it, is that what we really, like, we kind of thought we were a sustainability company and we thought we were this mindset company. but then when we launched, we were inundated with people asking for products, and of course, I knew of period poverty, but I didn't know that it's a human rights crisis and that 80%, close to 80 % of people who have a period right now don't have products. Wow. Yeah, and all the violence that comes with that, including the violence of not having dignity, is just unacceptable.

50:27And so we really shift it quickly and we have a mission vertical and mission is the incorrect word, but we have a helper vertical, I guess, that will work with anybody. Really doesn't matter who you are. If you're willing to get product out to people, we will sell you product at like our cost. And we've distributed over a million pairs since we've launched. That is incredible. Yeah. Wow. This is the year we're actually going to start talking about it. Yes. I'm so glad you're here talking about it now. Yeah, me too. Thank you for asking because, you know, I know the fashion's a little more fun, but for me, this is kind of where I really want to be is in this, in talking about it.

51:05It's like, it's a solvable crisis. It's not necessarily solvable when you give someone just a few pads, you know, it's like sustainable routine for them yeah but it's lifelong yeah and when you give someone like what we do is we give people a five pack that lasts for like 10 like can last up to 10 years so you're really taking your baseline we give someone dignity and I could just be done with that but I have a great example is like we worked with this this group in Kenya and they support these women tea pickers and so the women pick the tea leaves and they're paid by the weight of how much they can pick each day you know much like migrant farm workers in america right this is not exclusive to developing nations at all it's here in the united states it's brutal it's a brutal brutal crisis that we see but this is one of my favorite little case studies we've done is that so we gave like we worked i think around 300 farmers and we just gave them a pack of like four pairs of underwear.

52:13Some of that, a lot of women didn't even have underwear of the people we work with. So within one cycle, they had five more days of income. Oh, wow. Because they weren't going to work with their periods. They couldn't go. They weren't allowed in the field if they didn't have period products. Not all of them didn't have access to pads, but the majority of them didn't. And so we see these women having five more days of income. That's incredible. It's a power shift. It changes their life. It changes their community. It changes their status in their households. It changes everything. And so that's the big focus.

52:50It's like, who can we partner with to distribute? The biggest issue for us is distribution. It's like finding ways to work with local governments and NGOs. And it's really on the ground. And the people who are distributing it, we pay them as well. Because I don't think this too often, like nonprofit work falls on women to do for free. and we don't believe in that. And so we're just like, we're the product and we're trying to get it to as many people as possible because I know that it can shift the world because we all know if women do well and girls do well, like everybody does well. Absolutely.

53:27This is a key part of their lives that needs to be helped. You've done so much incredible work with it. I'm excited to see what you do this year. Yeah, me too. Me too. Congratulations. Thank you. Of course. Thank you for coming on the show. Oh, what a pleasure. If you guys are interested in learning more about The Period Company, it's linked in the description of this episode. You can buy them as well. I just got myself a pair. Thank you. Very excited, of course. Let it flow. Yep. Thank you for being here. Oh, what a great combo. Thanks, love.

54:07Thank you.