It's only in recent years that people have begun to understand what it is that a stylist does – previously they were workers behind the scenes; now they're lauded as the creative and pragmatic powers in fashion, often becoming brands in themselves.
"I didn't really know what 'this' was for a long time," says Agata Belcen, stylist and fashion editor at AnOther Magazine. "At university, I went down the student newspaper route and it made me think I'd found something close to the thing I wanted to do when I grew up."
A philosophy graduate from Cambridge, 27-year-old Belcen studied a Masters in the history of dress in art at the Courtauld Institute, before assisting some of the biggest names in the industry – Cathy Edwards, Camilla Nickerson and Nicola Formichetti to name but a few.
She is a quiet and pragmatic stylist, with work ranging from the ultra avant garde to the more commercial, but always reflecting a subtle and considered take on contemporary femininity. "I couldn't describe my work without feeling ridiculous," she says, with characteristic modesty.
Inspiration comes in the form of archive images and ad campaigns. "I love every single Comme des Garçons advert ever made," Belcen says. "I don't often understand them, and like to imagine how the conversation between the creatives behind them went."
