Fashion Week Prep With Stylist Avena Gallagher

By Bee-Shyuan Chang
September 9, 2011

Career trajectories aren't always linear. Take, for instance, fashion stylist Avena Gallagher. The Washington state native did some soul searching in NYC before settling on the fashion stylist route. These days, her work can be spotted in the pages of Muse, i-D and Dazed & Confused magazines or on-set for Nike, Diesel and Shopbop.com. This New York Fashion Week, Gallagher collaborated in the studio and backstage with designer Rachel Comey, who she has been working with for a few seasons running. Here, Gallagher talks about how it all started, how she preps for Fashion Week and what fashion trends she predicts for fall and spring ahead.

Avena Gallagher The Inside Source: How did you become a stylist?

Avena Gallagher: I came to NYC immediately after high school to attend FIT. After dropping out in my third year and dabbling in advertising, acting, writing and dancing, I had a job as a waitress, and one night after I told her the specials, Patti Wilson (the stylist) asked me if I was interested in assisting her. I also assisted Lori Goldstein for a short while, and Camilla Nickerson for several years before styling on my own.

The Inside Source: Wow, that's called fate. Now that you're on your own, what are some of your favorite parts about the job?

Avena Gallagher: I love the hunt, especially when I don't even know WTF I'm hunting for and then suddenly "it" appears! I also really love building the images before the shoot, working to flesh out the vision with the photographer and then having that image come together in real life. Also, I love working on fashion shows—putting a collection through a critical process of questioning and tuning until its messages and contours become clear enough to be understood in the format of a runway show. It's hard work, but it's worth it!

The Inside Source: On fashion shows—how does the work process go?

Avena Gallagher: It's different with every fashion designer, but the work usually begins with the design process. I begin a dialogue with designers early in that stage. Talking helps to generate ideas and to clarify them. Once a collection is designed, then comes the process of testing and perfecting those fashion designs. Then styling becomes an act of shuffling all of the pieces and combining them in a series of outfits or "looks." Hopefully, it fulfills the vision and message that the designer intended and that is relevant to editors, buyers and customers.

The Inside Source: How do you deal with the craziness and pressures of Fashion Week?

Avena Gallagher: I usually throw a bunch of vitamin bottles in my purse that I never end up taking. By the end of the week, I have so many strange things in my purse: apples, Emergen-C packets or a bra I didn't have a moment to put on before running out the door. Once I was home late after show prep and reached in my bag to look for my keys and I came up with a loose croissant.

The Inside Source: What fashion trends are you expecting for the Spring 2012 season?

Avena Gallagher: I expect to see a lot of color! I think that many of our staple pieces will be offered in unexpected colors... I also expect to see various '90s trends represented: clean minimalism, long and lean silhouettes with a technological edge...

Rachel Comey Spring 2012 Runway

Rachel Comey Spring 2012, styled by Avena Gallagher (Photos by Craig Barritt/Getty Images)

The Inside Source: Do those fashion trends influence your styling decisions?

Avena Gallagher: I usually find that the trends influence things in a more organic way—less as an intention to represent them, but that they tend to emerge because the pieces I'm working with are trendy in and of themselves. Sometimes I will decide against pieces that are too trendy and don't have a timelessness about them.

The Inside Source: If we peeked backstage before a show, what would we likely see you wearing?

Avena Gallagher: Haha... Oh dear. I must admit that for show time, comfort trumps style. If a show is happening, I am literally flying all over the backstage area, diving to fix broken shoes, running to straighten a skirt or button a blouse or correcting something that a dresser has done wrong. It all happens in a matter of seconds! I've learned to wear things I can bend over in, run in and that have pockets for lint rollers, scissors, pins, etc. Actually, I think I need to get one of my designer clients to make me a special show jumpsuit. I better get on that.

The Inside Source: That handy show jumpsuit aside, what are some Fall pieces or fashion trends that you're looking forward to wearing?

Avena Gallagher: So many things... I'm mostly looking forward to being experimental. I feel like there is a lot of freedom in fashion right now—lots of different trends colliding and one can find exciting mash-ups. Perhaps it's wearing very clean lines in a strange color combination that I haven't tried before. Or I'm interested in the simplicity of monochrome dressing: all white, or layers of reds, or (never fails) all black. I'm also looking forward to some time travel: '40s elegance, '90s clinical minimalism, performance fabrics and high-tech sports gear. '60s shoes are a fave, and I always love the '70s no matter what's trendy.

Rachel Comey Fall 2011 Runway

Rachel Comey Fall 2011 Runway, styled by Avena Gallagher (Photos by Randy Brooke/WireImage)

The Inside Source: Have you ever shopped eBay for some of your personal pieces?

Avena Gallagher: Yes! I love shopping on eBay. I have bought many Comme des Garcons pieces and Issey Miyake, Pierre Cardin, Kansai Yamamoto, Gaultier, Claude Montana... the list goes on. I love eBay so much, honestly!