The super-stylists helping women dress like fashion insiders
With red carpets on hiatus, two of Australia’s most formidable fashion gurus have teamed up on a game-changing venture that shares the tricks of the trade with women everywhere.
You might not know their names but you’ll definitely know their high-profile clients. Over the past few years, fashion and celebrity stylists Jess Pecoraro and Elliot Garnaut have emerged as two of the most influential people in Australian fashion – Pecoraro is the mastermind behind songstress Delta Goodrem and supermodel Georgia Fowler’s red carpet looks, while Garnaut’s client list reads like a who’s who of Melbourne’s social set.
Now, the duo has teamed up on a project that promises to shake up the style landscape. That project is Selected, an industry-first subscription-based online styling and fashion advice platform with a curated shopping component. For $29.99 per month, members get access to a suite of styling tutorials that are size, income and profession inclusive.
The idea for Selected came to fruition last year, as Garnaut and Pecoraro – whose friendship and ensuing collaboration is somewhat unusual in what tends to be an individualistic industry – reflected on the impact and changing nature of their work.
“We both get contacted by so many women – whether it’s a stranger on the street, in person at an event or via Instagram message – who are just asking for styling advice,” Melbourne-based Garnaut tells The Australian.
“And it’s not confined to people of a certain age, or demographic. There’s just confusion around where to start.”
The knowledge – and confidence – gap that exists between ‘everyday’ Australian women and A-listers was something these super-stylists understood they had the ability to fill.
“We went back to a lot of women we’d worked with to see what they were actually looking for,” explains Garnaut. “Our work is about creating narratives and instilling confidence in our celebrity clients, and we saw an opportunity to take what we’ve learned and share it with other women.”
Selected seeks to democratise the professional styling experience, by offering video tutorials that revolve around how to shop for and wear essential pieces, as well as party looks. A bit like MasterClass for fashion styling.
One ‘edit’, as the tutorials are called, is about different ways to wear a black blazer – an item many Australian women already own.
“Our work is about creating narratives and instilling confidence in our celebrity clients, and we saw an opportunity to take what we’ve learned and share it with other women.” “We show different black blazers from multiple price points,” says Pecoraro. “There are pieces from Cotton On to Camilla and Marc to Balenciaga. It’s a mix of high and low, because we want to show people that you don’t need to be wearing head to toe designer to look like you’re wearing head to toe designer.”
While items from big luxury brands will be featured, the stylists say the bulk of pieces they use in each demonstration are by Australian labels. Contemporary brands like Scanlan Theodore, Aje and Melbourne-based sustainable label Arnsdorf all have garments featured.
Each edit includes a video how-to, a magazine-style photo shoot to demonstrate the finished look, a corresponding beauty tutorial as well as links and information on where to buy each of the items featured in the video and shoot.
Every month, a ‘selected muse’ from the stylists’ professional orbit will also host an edit. The format will change with each new celebrity muse – while some will take the shape of intimate wardrobe tours, others will revolve around showing members how to pull off an aesthetic that muse is known for. Melbourne fashion favourite Sarah Lew is first up, with Sydney designer of P.E. Nation Pip Edwards also down to guest edit.
“The muses are women whose personal style we’re really loving,” says Garnaut. “They all have really unique looks and different takes on fashion.”
But it’s not all about pushing products. “We want to re-educate women about how to wear pieces they already own,” gesticulates Garnaut. “A lot of the lessons in our ‘wardrobe essentials’ edit are based around showing women new ways to wear things they’ve already got.”
“And it can be something as simple as untucking your T-shirt. That can change a whole look,” adds Pecoraro. “When we were researching, we found the demand was for advice, not necessarily styling in the hands-on, tools-of-the-trade way.”
When it comes to the occasions women find most difficult to dress for, Pecoraro admits it’s the “in between” that people find the hardest.
“Things like lunches, baby showers, even weddings,” she says. “It’s those events you don’t want to be too dressed up for, but you don’t want to be underdressed for, either.”
Tutorials on taking pieces from your work wardrobe into the weekend to ‘creating a uniform’ aim to help members problem-solve dress codes like the ‘in between’ one.
Selected is launching with a suite of prerecorded edits, but the duo say that one-on-one styling is something they hope to deliver in the future.
Currently, there’s an expressions of interest-style form on the Selected platform, where members can apply for a personal styling session with Pecoraro and Garnaut, with themes ranging from dressing for a specific event like a birthday, to doing a complete wardrobe overhaul. “That will involve us coming in and helping clients work out what they want to get rid of,” explains Garnaut with a hint of excitement.
But the practical pieces of advice – the tips that are common knowledge among those whose job it is to make women feel a million bucks in clothes, but that the everyday dresser is largely oblivious to – might be Selected’s biggest draw card.
Tips like this one, from Pecoraro: “Sometimes it’s as simple as planning your outfit the night before, instead of doing it in the morning. Even if you just do it in bed, map it out in your head. It can make getting dressed the next day so much easier.”
Garnaut has similarly sage advice to offer. “A good outfit comes down to fit,” he says. “You can go down to your local seamstress, get your pants hemmed for $15 and it makes something that’s off the rack look like it was made for you. Having something altered is not that expensive.
“If you get the fit right, you can look a million bucks having only spent 15 or 20 bucks.”
This brings the pair back to their original premise – sharing the tricks they’ve learned from years in the business with regular women. “People forget that when they see celebrities on the red carpet, everything is altered and fitted to perfection,” offers Pecoraro. “It’s very rare that we find something in a store and a celebrity wears it as is, without it being altered.”
It’s really that simple. And while these fashion powerhouses can’t guarantee we’ll emerge from a Selected tutorial looking like Goodrem, or Jesinta Franklin, another of Pecoraro’s clients, they are handing us the tools required to look and feel like the best versions of ourselves. And that’s worth something.
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Style file:
Jess Pecoraro
Lives: Sydney, Australia
Famous clients: singer Delta Goodrem, media personality Kate Waterhouse, designer Pip Edwards, and models Georgia Fowler, Bambi Northwood-Blyth and Roberta Pecoraro, who’s also her sister.
Styling aesthetic: Feminine and sophisticated with a touch of glam. “Jess doesn’t shy away from the glitz and the glamour. She loves a sequin. There is a level of camp to her styling which I have and will always love,” says Garnaut.
Known for: being one of the nicest yet hardworking people in fashion. “My personality is very relaxed,” says Pecoraro. “I’m super manic work-wise, I’m always stressed! But with my clients I am pretty relaxed.”
Follow @jess_pecoraro on Instagram.
Elliot Garnaut
Lives: Melbourne, Australia
Famous clients: influencerRozalia Russian, model Elyse Knowles, Lindy Klim, fashion blogger Nadia Fairfax, and Rebecca Harding, partner of Andy Lee.
Styling aesthetic: fierce and directional, with subtle references to the moment’s hottest trends. “I would say my styling leans towards the masculine,” says Garnaut. “Tailoring is prevalent. Rarely prints, rarely pattern. I’m not the stylist to come to for a pretty frock.”
Known for: his savvy social media presence, and natural ability in front of the camera – Garnaut is an ambassador for the Victoria Racing Club and retail payment services company Klarna. If you’ve come across the Instagram hashtag #garnautgirls, you’ve seen the next-gen stylist’s handiwork.
Follow @elliotgarnaut on Instagram.
Selected will launch with an introductory offer of $19.99 per month for new members. You can register your interest here.
Follow @selectedco_ on Instagram.