About Bay Garnett
Bay Garnett is a freelance fashion stylist who, in her words, “got her training in thrift stores.” This enduring love of fashion and thrifting opened the door to styling shoots for Vogue and pioneering the art of using secondhand fashion editorial shoots, which up until then was unheard of.
Featured in Vogue, she has dressed icons Kate Moss, Chloë Sevigny and Cindy Crawford in her thrifted looks. In addition to being fashion editor at British Vogue, Garnett is also the Senior Independent Fashion Advisor for Oxfam and has led their London Fashion Week in 2017, 2019, and 2023. Working alongside Oxfam, she has leaned into her advocacy and in 2020, Garnett created a luxury Oxfam pop-up shop in London’s Selfridges and spoke at COP26 in Glasgow on ways to decarbonise the fashion industry in 2021.
More recently Garnett launched her book, Style and Substance – Why What We Wear Matters, and also hosts her podcast This Old Thing where she delves into her guests’ most memorable outfits from their childhood.
For the Love of Clothes
Garnett’s love of clothes started from poring over books at home, some of which her mother edited, like the Vogue Book of Fashion Photography. Garnett credits this particular book as her introduction to the world of fashion. However, it wasn’t until Garnett entered thrift stores that everything started falling into place. She let us in on some amazing anecdotes of thrifting with actress and style icon Anita Pallenberg, in New York over the years and finding the most incredible pieces.
Garnett took her love of thrifting and started doing shoots for friends’ zines. The shoot that got her noticed by Vogue was her subversion of advertising campaigns. She styled the models in all-thrifted looks and it was shot exactly like an editorial but the twist was changing the designers’ names but retaining the brands’ fonts. Burberry became ‘Borrowed’, Saint Laurent morphed into ‘Salvation Army’ and Calvin Klein was ‘Cancer Care.’ That innovative theme landed her a role as a fashion editor at Vogue.
Vintage vs Commercial Styling
Bay Garnett’s role and career in the fashion industry is unique. Starting with styling shoots in looks pulled from her own wardrobe and thrifted pieces, to working on shoots with commercial briefs, Garnett candidly spoke about the adjustment and learning process.
Commercial styling has a different thought process to styling vintage and thrifted pieces. In commercial shoots, you are styling with a consumer or a person in mind that would want to buy the pieces or at least find the look interesting. It’s working with brands and sometimes building a story around a full look. In comparison, Garnett’s experience with styling vintage pieces has been based solely on creativity and creating something visually interesting. There’s more room to mix and match pieces but you’re also at the mercy of working with what you can find and not always having the right sizes. It was interesting to see both sides and because of Bay Garnett’s work we have an established middle ground where the two categories intersect.
Buy Bay Garnett’s ‘Style and Substance – Why What We Wear Matters’
Kate Moss & the Banana Top
We wouldn’t be able to speak to Bay Garnett without finding out the backstory for the famous Kate Moss shoot with the banana top that went on to inspire Phoebe Philo for her S/S 2004 collection for Chloé. The shoot shot for Vogue by Juergen Teller in 2003 features Kate Moss in a thrifted top (salvaged by Garnett and Anita Pallenberg) patterned with bunches of bananas. It is clear to see why Garnett was drawn to the top; it has a classic seventies look to it from the colours to the placement of the print, which she paired with brown boots, a wide braided belt, and white shorts. This wasn’t just a first shoot for Vogue for Garnett, it was also a first for Vogue. Garnett credits the then editor Alexandra Shulman for trusting her with this concept, which has now become an important piece of fashion history.
Making Your Mark as a Stylist
Speaking in depth with Carson who is in our MA Styling course, Bay Garnett imparted some all important advice for stylists entering the industry. She spoke at length about the conventional route that aspiring stylists embark on to start their careers. Many stylists start as a styling assistant, which involves supporting a stylist on shoots and calling in clothes. It’s a great way to meet photographers and other creatives who will become your future peers and colleagues, as well as understanding the role of a stylist in a creative team.
However, for those who want to take the less conventional route, she encouraged sharing and learning. In the same way Garnett was discovered by Vogue after seeing her advertising spoof shoot, she encouraged our students to not be afraid to utilise tools like social media to share their portfolios and to keep learning through books, courses and media.
“Share what’s interesting to you and your work.”
That being said, Garnett’s biggest piece of advice was understanding that the role of a stylist was being a storyteller. Using clothes, you’re creating characters and ambience. When you’re approaching styling, think about the narrative and message you want to tell.
Key Takeaways from Bay Garnett’s talk:
- Styling is about storytelling
- Being different is a superpower
- Utilise social media to share the things you’re interested in and your portfolio
- Keep learning and exploring to develop your skill set and expose yourself to more creativity
Photography by Annelee Kiliddjian, MA Creative Direction for Fashion Media student
