ELIZABETH STEWART;
Stewart, the daughter of a Marine colonel father and Spanish mother, spent much of her childhood in Barcelona. She studied journalism at the University of South Carolina before moving to New York, where she worked as a Women’s Wear Daily editor. She then relocated to Paris to style covers in the Fairchild offices there, eventually moving to Los Angeles via Manhattan for the The New York Times magazine. Stewart met her first client, Calista Flockhart, during the actress’ Ally McBeal heyday. The power stylist and mom of two teenagers — daughter Ivy and son Ben with her TV writer-producer husband, Rob Bragin — lives and works in Santa Monica.
" There’s power in numbers — and from the Cannes Film Festival to the Oscars, Stewart dressed ultra-A-listers Cate Blanchett, Sandra Bullock and Julia Roberts in 102 looks in total, with nary a fashion misstep ".
PETRA FLANNERY;
Flannery first and foremost looks at silhouettes and color. “What shapes flatter that person, what shades work and what feels right in conjunction with the style of the dress,” says Flannery. “The wrong color can take away from the elegance of a design.”
She dressed two of this awards season’s majors: American Hustle‘s Amy Adams and Homeland‘s Claire Danes. But even with such high stakes, Flannery prefers not to play it safe, i.e., Emma Stone‘s love-it-or-hate-it Chanel separates at the Globes.
MICAELA ERLANGER;
After graduating with a fashion degree from New York City’s Parsons, Erlanger worked for six years as the late Annabel Tollman‘s styling assistant: “Annabel taught me everything about celebrity dressing,” says Erlanger, whose first client was Joely Richardson for the Anonymous and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo press tours. Erlanger met Dockery slightly more than a year ago when the Downton Abbey star’s makeup artist introduced them — their first collaboration was a white and gold Alexandre Vauthier Couture gown for the 2013 Globes. “Michelle was my first major client; her Globes dress was life-changing,” says Erlanger. Fast-forward to summer 2013, when Dockery befriended little-known Kenyan actress Nyong’o on the set of their action-thriller flick Non-Stop and offered to put the star of director Steve McQueen‘s 12 Years a Slave in touch with her stylist. “Michelle said, ‘When you’re ready, I have the perfect stylist for you,’ ” recalls Nyong’o. Adds Erlanger, who first outfitted Nyong’o in white-and-gold Prada during the Toronto Film Festival: “The rest is history.”
KARLA WELCH & KEMAL HARRIS;
The bicoastal styling duo styled nine actresses for the Globes alone, one of them co-host Amy Poehler. Her custom Stella McCartney wardrobe catapulted the Parks and Recreation actress from comic-cute to fashionably chic overnight, while Olivia Wilde‘s green Gucci made her one of the most stylish pregnant ladies ever.“It was a non-traditional design that was super flattering,” says Harris of Wright’s Ralph Lauren black gown with a graphic-print bodice at the Emmys . Adds Wright: “It had a female Matrix thing going on.” The stylist describes the actress as “drama free,” and Wright returns the praise: “Kemal doesn’t push, there’s no forcing the style.” Moss’ beaded black and red J. Mendel design with cap sleeves impressed at the Globes. “It was perfect,” says the Mad Men actress.
LESLIE FREMAR;
Charlize, Reese, Julianne, Scarlett — she’s one of the few with enough first name-only clients to rival this year’s top stylist, Stewart. While Moore and Theron spent much of the year off the carpet, 2013′s most powerful stylist delivered high-impact looks with Witherspoon and Johansson. Witherspoon had two fashion home runs Oscar weekend — a print Giambattista Valli Couture top and skirt at the Independent Spirit Awards and a plunging Hugo Boss dress at the Vanity Fair Oscar party. “I was nervous about Reese wearing it,” says Fremar. “People think of her as cute and pretty, but she’s sexy.”
Fremar lives with her two little boys and their dad in a cozy-chic Tribeca loft that longtime client and friend Moore helped decorate, and she’s now overhauling a small weekend farmhouse upstate.
RACHEL ZOE;
A celebrity in her own right, Zoe boasts clients such as Hollywood’s most in-demand film actress, Jennifer Lawrence (who commands more than $10 million per Hunger Games movie and recently upped her Dior contract for another three years for a rumored $15 million), and TV’s highest-paid actress, Sofia Vergara (who earned $30 million last year from Modern Family and endorsement deals with CoverGirl, Kmart and Diet Pepsi).
Zoe’s Bravo reality show was canceled in August, but she continues to design her fashion line. She will release her second book, Living in Style, on March 25 — a follow-up to her New York Times‘ best-seller Style A to Zoe — focusing on home decor, entertaining and beauty.
JEANANN WILLIAMS;
With her eye for finding simple yet impactful dresses, she consistently delivers crowd-pleasing looks, including client (and sister-in-law) Naomi Watts‘ white, sparkly Calvin Klein at the Oscars.Watts wowed at the Globes in a lustrous Tom Ford white-gold halter dress with chain detail — one of THR‘s top looks of the night. Williams’ favorite moment of the year was the custom Swarovski-beaded white Calvin Klein Collection gown that the Diana actress wore to the Oscars; the beading alone took two weeks. Says Francisco Costa, Calvin Klein women’s creative director: “Naomi’s look blend[ed] the most luxurious beading with a very youthful cap sleeve.” The addition of a diamond Bulgari necklace was an unconventional choice for a non-strapless gown, but the collarlike effect proved genius. Adds Costa, “Jeanann is a thoughtful, personal stylist, and it shows in her execution of each look Naomi wears.”
Williams, whose muse is Jane Birkin, says her style is “French, approachable, masculine/feminine, with an edge.”
ERIN WALSH;
Many of the stylists on THR‘s list are willing to take risks, but only Walsh has pushed the envelope with a pregnant client. Note Kerry Washington‘s baby bump-baring pink Prada crop top and high-waist-ed navy skirt at the SAG Awards. It’s not often one gets the chance to outfit her ultimate style icon, but luckily for Walsh, Parker hired her in the fall.
JAMO/ MAY 2015