QHow much work is hidden behind the hands and gaze of a stylist? There are still too few people who can understand this. Speaking precisely of those who have dressed the greatest personalities of the musical world for years, an international perspective will offer it Exposure. When the world is watching you, from Harry Styles to Lady Gagafourth exhibition presented by ITS Arcademy – Museum of Art in Fashion in Trieste, from 26 March to 3 May.
A great way to clarify your ideas about this universe a little, thanks to the vision and experiences of one of the great protagonists of contemporary styling, Tom Eereboutwhich traces the history of many meetings over an 18-year career. Belgian stylist and fashion consultant, Tom Eerebout took his first steps in London, to the point of dressing names like Lady Gaga, Kylie Minogue, Banks, Austin Butler, Rita Ora and many more. His work, he explains, goes beyond styling, however tell compelling stories through clothes with a high visual impact.
In Trieste the exhibition on stylist Tom Eerebou
The various moments in which the stylist’s work unfolds are presented in the seven rooms: from preparation in the hotel room to the red carpet, up to the stage. Accessories are also analysed, to demonstrate that even a single detail can infuse an iconic aura into the most classic garment: adding something, but also removing, becomes a statement. In the exhibition catalogue, in an interview by the philosopher Emanuele Coccia with this child prodigy, Eerebout himself reveals much about his origins.
How to become a stylist for the stars
During childhood, spent in residential camps where his parents worked, he was looked after by unconventional characters. «At 16 I started taking the train to Antwerp. There I found people like me: queer, creative, obsessed with clothes and art.” At the Royal Academy of Fine Arts he met talents such as Demna Gvasalia (now creative director of Gucci) and Glenn Martens. So he decided to move to study photography.
Rita Ora with Taika Waititi, and a look designed by Tom Eerebout at the 2023 British Fashion Awards in London. (Photo by Darren Gerrish/WireImage for British Fashion Council)
But his love for styling exploded in him in 2008, admiring Kylie Minogue on a date of her X Tour. «He only wore couture by Jean Paul Gaultier. I remember sitting there thinking: someone built this world, these looks aren’t random, they tell the story of the show. By the time I turned thirty, I promised myself I would dress Kylie Minogue.” He became its stylist at 24, ahead of his own dreams. «I don’t have synesthesia with colors, but when I listen to music I see images. The concerts have become cinematic experiences, worlds in which sound, clothes and light merge.”
Tom explains to Coccia that he sees styling as a form of curation. «The designer builds the bricks, the stylist decides what to build with them. I take vocabulary from a collection and transform it into sentences.” In reality, he says, before the 1980s that role existed, but without a name: every designer had muses, friends, lovers or confidants who helped them give voice to their vision. But recognition came when fashion went public, with the rise of magazines and the explosion of social media.
Having to prepare the video of a rock star, he describes his work as that of a mediator who brings balance between the idea of the stylist called to design the clothes, the artisans who make them, the artist who wears them, the story that is told. «A stylist is, in a certain sense, a therapist. You hire one not because you don’t know how to dress, but because you need someone to make you feel right. It’s emotional work. We interpret people’s identities and translate them into form.”
