By Valentine Fabre
Ariana De Bose, Oscars 2022
The Hollywood writers' strike has had a knock-on effect on the UK celebrity styling industry, leaving many stylists with limited work and in precarious financial situations.
Contrary to popular belief, celebrity stylists do not live a life of luxury. In fact, they are often overworked and underpaid. A group of British celebrity stylists are joining the Hollywood writers and actors' strike to demand better working conditions and fairer wages.
A group of 30 celebrity stylists, including Michael Miller, who has worked with international talents such as Willem Dafoe, Jonathan Bailey, Robert Sheehan, and Anya Taylor-Joy, have joined forces with the Broadcasting, Entertainment, Communications and Theatre Union (Bectu) to create a new branch specifically for celebrity stylists. The goal is to eventually expand to the fashion industry as well.
Miller said, "We're trying to create more structure, more regulation, and make it safer and happier for celebrity stylists to come to work. Most of us don't even want to be there anymore. We don't have the money to cover all of our own expenses." Together with Bectu, they have developed a document that details the poor working conditions that many celebrity stylists face.
Jada Pinkett-Smith, Oscars 2022
The new union for celebrity stylists is aiming to create a more secure and fair working environment for its members. They want to push studios and production companies to be more transparent about their expectations and to better recognize the importance and workload of stylists. The union also wants to create an adjustable rate card that would include higher wages for off-hours and weekend work, as well as more detailed reimbursements for expenses such as shipping, travel, tailoring, and dry cleaning.
Celebrity stylists are essential for successful marketing campaigns, but they are often underpaid and overworked. The average salary for a celebrity stylist is £400 per look, which does not cover the cost of expenses such as travel, accommodation, and styling costs. As a result, most celebrity stylists cannot afford to take more than 60 jobs per year. Additionally, many stylists are not protected by contracts and do not receive payments for their work for up to 6 months. This leaves many stylists struggling to make ends meet, even though they are essential to the success of the entertainment industry.
Michael Miller is currently in discussion with the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and the Costume Designers Guild in the US, as he would like to develop a similar structure to the two unions. It also aims at drawing from the British Fashion Model Agents Association (BFMAA), which has helped models to have standardised terms and conditions and contracts.
Currently signed by 35 of the 100 stylists Miller contacted a year ago, the union aims at growing to help a larger portion of fashion freelancers “The end goal, of course, is to be able to have a union for other types of stylists, for photographers, for hair, for make-up, for art directors – any number of creatives, to be able to show them that you can form a union.”