An internet search of Brad Goreski will give you hundreds of pictures: all feature the celebrity stylist with his trademark bow tie and large, dark-rimmed glasses. When tabloid! met the reality TV show and author, the glasses were present but hold your breath: his neck was bare.
“It didn’t go with today’s look,” Goreski laughingly said last week as he visited Dubai as brand stylist for US brand Kate Spade. Rachel Zoe’s former assistant chatted to tabloid! about enduring bullying as a child, dressing Jessica Alba and Demi Moore and being on the worst-dressed pages.
Who are your celebrity clients?
I work with Jessica Alba, Demi Moore, Rashida Jones, Christina Ricci, Mika Kelly, Stacy Kiebler, Josh Bowman and Kevin Jonas. The list just keeps expanding.
Tell us about Jessica Alba’s and Demi Moore’s style.
Jessica Alba is my pop of colour girl — she really embraced the colour trend and we are doing a lot of prints now. It’s very experimental with her. Demi loves glamour on the red carpet and off it she is very inspired by menswear trends and loves to look feminine but slouchy. She has that iconic, Hollywood edge to her.
How do you get these clients to trust your sense of style?
My hope always when I am working with a new client is that I will cultivate a relationship with them: develop a dialogue and a way of working. This makes it easy for a star to trust you. My current clients know that, when they walk into my studio or I go to them, I will have a rack of clothes with multiple options.
Stars like Blake Lively have famously claimed not to use a stylist. Do you think that is true?
I do actually. I think it’s a choice that celebrities make. There are very few, a small handful, that do not use stylists like Blake Lively and Diane Kruger but there are a lot of girls that do and keep all of us very busy.
Were you the inspiration behind the Kate Spade Spring 2013 bow tie dress?
Maybe. There were some bow ties and some glasses in the Spring 2013 looks. I am very flattered in any way if I did inspire that part of the collection.
Tell us about your work with Kate Spade.
I get to come in at the end after Deborah Lloyd, the Creative Director, has come up with the inspiration and work with her team on what the collections are going to look like. I get to come into a fantasy land of sparkle, prints, and patterns and put together the collection, hopefully, in a way that they never imagined it would look.
You’ve just been announced as one of the hosts of the Coca Cola Live Red Carpet at the American Music Awards, Will you be dressing anyone for the show?
Not at the moment. The event is in about a month and we usually get our requests a couple of weeks before. I have had clients go in the past but right now I am worried about my outfit.
What are some of the styles we can expect to see on the red carpet?
There was a big midriff baring trend on the runways this past season and I do believe that with an award show such as a music one it gives you that licence to go that extra step since there are less boundaries. We will see a lot of high fashion with nominees like Rihanna, Katy Perry and Beyonce and people like Nicki Minaj will bring the fun and the unexpected.
Have any of your looks or the ones you’ve styled ended up on the Worst Dressed Pages?
Yes and Yes. I think with the worst dressed pages it is usually an idea that hasn’t really seeped into the masses yet. Many a time it involves a crazy print, the mass media does not really understand a print on print look, for example a Peter Pilotto or a Mary Katrantzou. You have to look at it and laugh. My grandmother, in her retirement home, actually has a picture of me from Star magazine on their fashion police list. I think that’s hilarious but if grandma approves then I feel like I am all good.
In your book, Born to be Brad, you write about dealing with bullying and a drug addiction. Many youngsters have lost their lives to both. What are your thoughts on the issues?
Well I work very closely with the Trevor Project which is a foundation in the US that helps to end bullying and get the message out there. That’s the reason I wrote the book — I really felt like I wanted people to know that no matter what obstacles you face in your life that you can change your life for the better. Also you do not have to take on the things people say about you, rather you should develop a sense of who you are and what you stand for. The message I’ve tried to convey is that if you do not stand for something you will fall for anything. I had such strong role models growing up like the women in my life and I really want people who are confused and don’t feel like they have any way out to have an example of someone who has.
You are active on Tumblr, Twitter and Instagram. What is the importance of social media in the fashion industry today?
People love the insider perspective. With my website mrbradgoreski.com I am trying to show people the things that I am excited about. I like to communicate on my Instagram page with people: use it as a window to my world. Also with Twitter it’s a fun way of interacting with people and I love the excitement that people get from talking with me. I talk to people I’ve never met on a weekly basis: there’s a kid named Matt McDougal who lives in Australia that I chat with almost every single week. It’s a really fun way to show what I am seeing and express what I feel is really happening in fashion.
The advent of social media has seen the increase in ‘expert’ fashion blogs. What’s your take on them?
I think it’s really great, if I had an outlook when I was younger to express myself and just do photo shoots in my backyard of what I was wearing it would have been a really nice thing for me to have now to look back. Any dialogue about fashion is a good dialogue.
How do you like Dubai?
I love it. It’s been very interesting — I’ve been learning a lot about the people and their culture and their love for fashion and opulence. It’s beautiful.
