Celebrity Stylists Set to Unionize in the U.K.

Celebrity stylists are following in the footsteps of the actors they dress for red carpets by forming a new union. In a bid to improve their pay and working conditions, a group of U.K.-based stylists are in the process of setting up a new branch under British crew and broadcasting union Bectu. They were previously

Celebrity stylists are following in the footsteps of the actors they dress for red carpets by forming a new union.

In a bid to improve their pay and working conditions, a group of U.K.-based stylists are in the process of setting up a new branch under British crew and broadcasting union Bectu. They were previously part of Bectu’s live events branch but have implemented the first move to create their own. Women’s Wear Daily (WWD) was the first to report the news.

Celebrity stylists are hired by studios and streamers to dress talent for promotional appearances ranging from red carpets to junkets and other events, such as galas and global publicity tours. “Good styling is integral to a successful marketing campaign,” reads a guidance document from the new branch, which sets out its remit and purpose.

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But stylists say the average fee for a job, which has hardly changed since at least 2016, often leaves them earning less than minimum wage.

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Michael Miller, a stylist who has worked with Jared Leto, Shazad Latif and Matt Bomer, is one of the founders of the new Celebrity Stylists Union as well as its secretary. He told Variety the current conditions for stylists are often anarchical.

“There are no contracts,” said Miller. “There are no terms and conditions. There’s absolutely no protection for any one of us and to most people we’re disposable. We do not know what is coming from month to month. And even if we know what’s coming next month, we may not be paid for six months.”

According to the Bectu document, which Miller helped create, an average Netflix styling fee for one fashion “look” (a head-to-toe outfit for an event) amounts to £386 ($500) inclusive of expenses, which can include courier and shipping fees, tailoring, travel, transportation, dry cleaning and even underwear. In some cases, where the talent is less well known and it’s not possible to persuade a designer to loan clothes out for free, that fee is also supposed to cover the budget for purchasing a garment off the rack.

The fee is further reduced when stylist agency fees and self-employment taxes are taken into account.

One look usually takes a minimum of nine days to put together (including fittings and tailoring) and depending on the job stylists can usually juggle up to four looks concurrently.

With a full-time celebrity stylist able to take on a maximum of around 60 looks per year, the new union says that after expenses, fees, insurance, taxes and other costs many of its members are making just $8.08 per hour based on a 40-hour week, less than the U.K. minimum wage. By contrast, commercial jobs for fashion and other brands pay around $1,000 a day.

While top talent are sometimes willing to pay out of pocket for a stylist, new and younger actors may not have the resources to do so. Nor should they have to, some say, given they are usually contractually obligated to promote a film or series.

“Actors shouldn’t foot the bill if [the event] is pertaining to a project the studio is trying to promote,” one actor, who stars in a high-end streaming series and spoke on condition of anonymity, told Variety. “It’s part of our contracts to do publicity and if you want us to be able to do that and push the project out in a certain way then obviously we’re not going to be rocking up to the red carpet in sneakers and jeans.”

The actor said on a recent press tour their preferred stylist was charging £1,200 per outfit whereas the streamer had set out a budget of less than £850 per look, meaning they couldn’t use the stylist.

Under the new Bectu branch, stylists are hoping to negotiate with streamers and studios to create a rate card that takes into account a stylist’s experience, resources and value. They also want higher rates for out-of-hours work and last-minute requests and more reasonable payment terms, which currently can stretch to 90 days.

“We are seen as superfluous, a bit of extra stuff, and we’re not taken seriously,” Miller told Variety. “And I don’t think a lot of creators themselves even sit down and crunch numbers and break down the processes of what they do. I’m just trying to spell out to people that what we do doesn’t happen in 30 seconds. It is a real skill and it is a profession.”

And, as was evident from Margot Robbie’s showstopping series of doll-inspired outfits on the recent “Barbie” press tour, selecting the right red carpet ensemble can result in money-can’t-buy publicity on social media.

Variety reached out to a number of streamers including Netflix, Disney Plus, Amazon Prime Video and Paramount Plus for comment but they did not respond by press time.

While the focus is currently on stylists who work primarily with actors, Miller hopes the new union branch will eventually expand to include those who clothe musicians, athletes and television broadcasters too.

Bectu head Philippa Childs said in a statement: “Freelancers working in fashion face many of the same challenges common in the wider creative industries, including low pay, long hours and, at times, toxic workplace cultures. Exploitative practices are unfortunately all too common and can be hidden behind promises of work in a glamorous industry.”

“Bectu is committed to making the fashion industry a happier, healthier place to work,” she continued. “We encourage celebrity stylists to join us and get involved as we fight for change.”

Miller said his U.S. counterparts have also begun discussions about setting up a similar stylists union on their side of the pond. The situation in the U.S. is more complicated because celebrity styling has fallen into the crack between the Costume Designers Guild and IATSE. Some stylists who also work in costume are members of the CDG but the guild terms don’t cover styling work.

The attempts to form a new union branch for an otherwise unrecognized but integral area of the entertainment industry echo those of former “Real Housewives of New York” star Bethenny Frankel, who is in the process of trying to assemble a reality TV stars union.

Clearly “hot guild summer,” as it’s been nicknamed thanks to both the Writers Guild and SAG-AFTRA on-going strikes, shows no signs of slowing down.

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