Cardi B, Demi Moore and More Stars Celebrate Their Power Stylists at The Hollywood Reporter and Instagram’s Exclusive Dinner

There’s a myth in Hollywood that circulates around the start of every year that once all the Oscars have been handed, insiders can collectively catch their breath and resume a normal schedule. But that’s not really ever the case, especially for the fashion crowd that keeps a breakneck pace year-round.

That said, in the wake of the Academy Awards, there’s no better time to extend the congratulations and pats on the back one more round by honoring the linchpins of the red carpet season — celebrity stylists. That’s just what The Hollywood Reporter did on Wednesday with the rollout of the annual list of Hollywood’s Top 25 Stylists, published in print and online and toasted with a starry event at Sunset Tower co-hosted by Instagram.

There was no podium and no trophies were handed out, but dreams were realized and detailed during interviews as the honorees basked in the glory of being featured on the list, an honor that for some came with photo shoots and cover slots. “It has always been a dream of mine to be on the cover of The Hollywood Reporter,” explained Kollin Carter (in a blazer by Egonlab, turtleneck by Balenciaga, pants by Alexander McQueen and shoes by Prada) while standing in front of his actual cover, supersized and hanging on a Tower Bar wall featuring the image maker with client Cardi B. “This means the world to me. For years, I’ve felt overlooked a bit, so this is a moment for me. I remember seeing everyone celebrate their covers in the past and wondering when it would be my turn.”

Moments later, Cardi arrived, and the two posed for photos while flipping through the magazine to check out the spread. “It means a lot to us because since I wear the clothes, I’m always going to be recognized and people are always going to be like, ‘You’re so great, you’re so great,’ but with this, it’s stamped that we great,” said the rapper. “It’s good that my team player is recognized. I’m just so happy.”

Asked what it is about Carter that clicks, Cardi quipped, “He’s so sexy and Black and tall and chocolate.” But seriously, though: “He understands. Sometimes I like to dress a little different and if I’ve just done one aesthetic, I want to change it up the next time and he understands that. He fits every single aesthetic that I want to do.”

Her 168 million Instagram followers are well aware of the adventurous aesthetics they’ve played with, from the Met Gala to music videos, and she paid attention to the swell of positive IG comments that came after the cover reveal and Carter’s inclusion. “Sometimes we get our credit and sometimes we don’t,” said the rapper. “You’re not always going to get positive comments but it was good today to see that everyone was saying, ‘They deserve to be recognized,’ or, ‘They worked hard for this moment.’ It’s like, yeah, you already know, we in the motherfucking building, bitch.”

Also in the building: cover stars Brad Goreski and Demi Moore, Wayman Bannerman and Micah McDonald (featured with client Colman Domingo), Dara Allen and client Hunter Schafer, and Jessica Paster (featured with longtime client Emily Blunt), and stylists Warren Alfie Baker and client Glen Powell, Erica Cloud and client Awkwafina, Samantha McMillen, Enrique Melendez, Jamie Mizrahi, Elizabeth Stewart, Shiona Turini, Erin Walsh, Derek Blasberg and more.

The night was short on speeches, featuring brief comments from THR’s co-editors Nekesa Mumbi Moody and Maer Roshan, contributing editor and style guru Carol McColgin (who spearheads the Stylists package) and Instagram’s head of fashion, Eva Chen. “I’m so grateful to be celebrating all of you here, the best creative minds, duos, and we have some trios here as well, behind the biggest red carpet and styling moments that we see breaking on Instagram and across the fashion universe,” said Chen. “I’ve known so many of you for decades at this point, and I really see you all as being the real drivers of fashion conversation on our platform and beyond. You’re all so talented and inspiring, and the moments you create are the moments that are shared, saved and even memed.”

She continued by saying that the relationships stylists create with their star clients is “a joy and inspiration to behold,” and the window they provide into the creative process through content shared on Instagram has its own distinct power. “We love to see the story behind the look, and we know that can become a driver of cultural conversation as much as the event itself.”

McColgin, who was praised as a “force of nature” by Moody, knows the stories behind all of the looks featured in THR ever since the Stylists Issue debuted more than 14 years ago. “It’s really a testament to all of you that after this many years, all of the talent really loved to show up and support this issue,” she said. Speaking of support, McColgin also dropped the news that this year’s installment featured a record-breaking nine photo shoots and five covers, which were enhanced by a “fun” behind-the-scenes video that was shared far and wide on Instagram on Wednesday.

She closed her comments by giving a shout-out to Andrew Mukamal, named the top stylist of the year following a stellar year that saw client Margot Robbie on a Barbie blitz of a world tour followed by an awards season run for her while also shepherding ensembles for eventual Oscar winner Billie Eilish and Maestro star and Oscar nominee Carey Mulligan.

“The last 12 months have just kind of been one exciting, amazing thing after another,” Mukamal told THR during the cocktail hour on the terrace, where he was joined by his fiancé. “Today was just another example and it felt like of, like, holy shit, I’m on this list? It’s such an honor. Honestly, it’s kind of surreal. I’ve had just the most incredible time working with my clients on such exciting projects. Everything comes in waves, and it just so happened that I had three clients doing the awards season tour and campaigns this year and that’s not typical for me at all. I’m looking forward to a little bit of downtime.”

Mukamal received more good news this week beyond his top spot: He’s officially a New York Times best-selling author. The Rizzoli book he co-authored with Robbie, Barbie: The World Tour, snagged a spot on the coveted NYT ranking. The tome features photographs by Craig McDean of Robbie in looks styled by Mukamal that the pair worked tirelessly to re-create from iconic Barbie outfits, some of which were planned for the press tour that was cut short due to the SAG-AFTRA strike.

Like for Mukamal and Carter, the issue, and Wednesday’s event for that matter, meant a lot to others in the room. “I’ve followed this issue every year, and in the back of my mind, I always hoped and dreamed that I someday, maybe, would be a part of it. The fact that I am, I really can’t believe it. That’s the truth,” said Lisa Rinna, who landed at Sunset Tower with stylist Danyul Brown. He snagged a spot on THR’s list of rising-star stylists after making waves with the Real Housewives alum over the span of a year with head-turning ensembles by Balenciaga, Richard Quinn and Rabanne. “It is so beyond special what we’ve been able to do together in one year’s time. The fact that I’m even here, we all know it’s a really big deal. Come on — I came off a reality show. Let’s just acknowledge the elephant in the room.”

Brown explained that during the time they’ve been working together, the goal was to deliver a “shock factor” in all the looks while also “not being the loudest in the room.” In doing so, they tried to “elevate from the most recent to the next. We strive to be better the next time than we were the last.” To accomplish that on Wednesday, the pair went with a look by avant-garde experts Viktor & Rolf Couture.  

“We really wanted to step into masculinity and androgyny,” Brown explained. “We’ve explored so many different genres of fashion, and we always want to keep the conversation going. We watch all the shows and we’re always sending ideas back and forth to each other. This was one of the looks that we saw and sent to each other, hoping that sometime we could wear one of them. It was shipped from Amsterdam and it just worked. Tonight was the right moment to wear it.”

Cover stars Schafer and Dara also felt it was the right moment to wear looks by Erdem, for multiple reasons. “We wanted to pay homage to the cover, and so we’re in sort of the same color palette, and these two dresses are from Erdem,” explained Dara, who also works as fashion director at Interview. “Which is really special because it’s one of the first shows we walked together back when we were both modeling. [Erdem Moralıoğlu] is a really important designer to both of us.”

Schafer then explained their bond: “Before she was even my stylist, she has been my friend, since I was 18 years old and just out of high school. We’ve known each other for so long. Over the past, not even a year, we’ve been able to collaborate on this other level and that’s been really special.” Dara used the same word to describe what Schafer means to her, speaking directly to her: “You’re so genuine and your heart is so present for any and all moments that you appear in front of and with people. That’s why people can relate to this avant-garde fashion. Sometimes the clothes are challenging but they don’t feel challenging when you wear them because you wear them with love and you share that with the world.”

Aja Naomi King praised her stylists, Bannerman and McDonald, as storytellers as well: “They want there to be a meaning, a story, a journey with how they style you with an ascension from event to event, carpet to carpet. It is all such a beautiful way of demonstrating what they think and how they look at the world and how they look at fashion.”

Bannerman said on the drive over, they were having a conversation about their humble beginnings and the journey in between: “We have dreamed of this moment for so long and there were times that we couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel but we knew what we wanted for our future. Perseverance, persistence, dedication, manifestation, all got us here to where we are today.”

Goreski, as he was prepping to leave the party with a stack of THR magazines in hand and the oversized cover under his arm, explained what it meant to him to be honored alongside longtime client and friend Moore, with whom he has worked since 2008. “It’s a dream come true, getting to do this with Demi. We just have a very specific language and a very special way of collaborating together; she just makes everything fun. We’ve been on this amazing fashion adventure this year, and tonight is part of that adventure. It feels like the perfect way to end it slash start a new adventure.” And just like that, they were off into the night.