Bryn Taylor

by Ron Sklar

“There is this mystique of the fashion industry itself that it’s all very glamorous,” says stylist Bryn Taylor. “I often talk to younger women who think being a stylist would simply be the greatest job in the world. But it’s about ten per cent glamour and about ninety percent grunt work when you first start. If you really want to be a stylist, you have to be prepared to really be in the trenches for a long, long time. You really have to commit yourself to it. You are not going to just go in there and be this glamorous person who gets to throw clothes on beautiful models. It takes a long, long time and it takes a lot of work.”

Bryn served her time in her share of foxy foxholes. In those trenches, she worked hard making a name for herself as one of the more preferred stylists in the highly competitive New York fashion market.

Originally, her goal was the stage -- on it and not behind it. The New Jersey native and Northwestern University graduate took her love for theatre and transferred it to the modeling industry.

“After school, I moved out to LA, and I tried acting for a while,” she recalls. “But I just kind of fell out of love with it. Instead, I really got interested in costume design. There wasn’t a lot of theater in LA, but I did find it, and I got into designing costumes for some small theater groups out there. When I moved back to New York, I was still part of a theater group, but I was really more into wardrobing and helping costume designers.”

Whether setting the look for a magazine editorial or a runway show, Bryn incorporates her love for theater, as well as some other passions.

“I tend to be struck by magazines that combine art, design, architecture, and fashion,” she says. “Paper magazine is one that comes to mind. Also, Surface. To see a building or artwork that they’re showcasing interests me, just the angles and the colors and how that comes together. I’ll get ideas for an editorial that I may want to collaborate on with a photographer. Or I’ll get an idea for colors or shapes that I might want to combine.”

Bryn prefers company when she builds her concept. She is more of a team player than a lone diva.

“Personally, I love collaboration,” she says. “I love to get input from people I am working with. I don’t necessarily want them to be doing my job, but I really love to hear what people have to say. I really don’t like putting something out there, whether it’s being photographed or walking down the runway, and having someone hesitant to tell me or critique me. I would love to just get input from everyone else. Everyone has an opinion about what it is going to look like.

“This business is absolutely based on taste and opinion. But once you find people who agree with your tastes and opinions, you’re good. There is a certain standard and aesthetic in the industry. From the feedback that you get and the jobs that keep coming in, you kind of realize that you are getting there; that you are on par with their looks, with the industry’s ideas. And you can shift and evolve from there.”

According to Bryn, that collaboration effort extends to the models as well.

“We love when models really give us something,” she says about creative teamwork. “The hardest thing is for a model to come in and we’ll start shooting and we’ll really have to direct her, down to how to pose her head and her face. The model often needs to take charge and give us some ideas in that way. Otherwise, it’s really kind of a lost cause. I say, bring personality and brains and assertiveness to it.”

Wise advice, but of course, often easier said than done in the thick of the fashion shoot, when the static electricity is not just on the clothes.

“Everybody is on edge,” Bryn says of a typical job. “When everybody walks on set for a shoot, you can feel that tension in the air. No one really knows each other, for the most part. You don’t really know how concepts are going to blend, how it’s going to work out. Models may be uncomfortable because they may not know us. I try to make it a relaxed, humorous environment. My personality really is laid back. I try to make jokes. I have a self-deprecating manner. I don’t want anyone to think of me as a pretentious, untouchable type. I always ask the models if they’re comfortable; if they want to change in another room or if they want me to be with them. It’s always about them first. It’s about their comfort zone. I’m not pushing myself on them. Once they understand that I am offering them a choice, then they relax and we get more out of it and the mood calms down.”

As more photographers and models gravitate toward Bryn’s comfort zone, she discovers more excitement that is waiting in the wings of the ever-evolving business.

“When I think of the New York market, I think more of art, of the edge,” she says. “I think of myself as creating art. I don’t think of it as much as from the glamour aspect or the va-va-voom aspect of it, which is why I think New York is the only place I can possibly do this. I can pull all these artistic elements into my art. The New York market, for me, is the only place I can think of where everything is art.

“I tend to go a little edgier sometimes. I love vintage pieces, but I’ll throw modern takes into them. I can’t really pinpoint my style per se, because it really does change all the time. It depends really on what we’re going for.

“I tend to be a little more minimal, accessories-wise. I’ll really try to focus on one piece, as opposed to throwing everything on the model. I like cleaner lines. I like bolder colors. I like the architectural type look.

“When I first started, I was very girlie and very romantic. It was very soft and feminine. I think now I am trying to focus more on the angles and the colors. It’s just fresher and more modern. But it always evolves.”

Much of it evolves from her theatrical roots.

“I approach it like a play,” she says. “That’s my background. If you’re designing something for a character, you have to know the background, know the story, know who the person is. I, as a stylist, pull all of these elements together, to create a character or to create a vision. If it’s for an editorial, it’s creating something that’s cohesive and has a common thread. I love to look for different ingredients and put them all together. As opposed to being a designer, where their talent is amazing. But they create from nothing. I like to have my raw materials in front of me, almost like my paintbrushes."

Watching designers on the upswing is one of Bryn’s favorite spectator sports; in fact, often she’ll get hands-on with these up-and-comers.

“I’m a real advocate of young designers and new designers,” she says. “It’s so amazing to me that they are trying to create a name for themselves. When I see a designer who is almost there, I just get so excited.”

The excitement, with Bryn on the scene, is contagious.

To see some of Bryn’s amazing and extensive portfolios, go to http://bryntaylormade.com