Written in Partnership with John Hermann
The fashion shopping platform is out to overhaul how fashion stylists make us look great — and turbocharge their take-home pay in the process.
In a perfect world, we’d all be able to afford a permanent personal stylist. And the stylist would have visibility into our closet on an ongoing basis, so that they can tweak and refresh it in real time, ensuring that we look our best every single day.
That’s what’s happening right now at Encore. The company today unveiled the Personal Stylist Program, a new technology solution that enables stylists not only to transform clients’ closets in real time, but also something unprecedented until now: To participate directly in the $367 billion that fashion retailers earn each year from consumer spending on clothing in America.
“Fashion stylists are ideally positioned to impact how good we look and feel,” said Omar Azmy, the founder and CEO of Encore. “Yet they lack the tools and means necessary to deliver their full impact — resulting also in severely limited earnings. We’re out to change this radically.” Personal stylists today earn an average of just $44K a year, according to the latest national data.
THE ENCORE STYLIST PROGRAM
With the Personal Stylist Program, the company wants to see stylists triple their income, while freeing them to maintain independence and neutrality. For their clients this means unrestricted freedom of choice, as the program covers every clothing brand and retailer we can think of — from mainstay giants Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Farfetch and Macy’s to luxury favorites such as Gucci and Dior, to niche favorites like Lululemon and Revolve, and everything in between.
“As a personal stylist, my billings are limited by the hours in a day,” Jennifer Miller explained in an interview. “The Encore Stylist Program changes that, creating a brand new income stream from my actual existing work! Add this to the fact that I can now also manage clients’ closets on the fly, and it’s nothing short of game-changing.” Ms. Miller is a personal stylist based in Pasadena, focusing on clients in executive roles. “Two new income streams and a great way to attract new clients to my clientele. What a great time to be a stylist!”
The company reported that it has started accepting applications to join the program. Applications are currently open to select stylists in Los Angeles by invitation only, and are scheduled to open broadly to all independent consultants in fashion and beauty shortly after, at theencore.app/apply
Home to the largest community of fashion stylists in the country, Los Angeles boasts the likes of Kim Kardashian’s stylist, Veneda Carter, Mimi Cuttrell, and Dani Michelle among its pool of talent. While America’s fashion capital, New York, is where A-list celebrity stylists like Kate Young, Sofia Karvela and Elizabeth Sulcer draw their style inspiration.
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