Sèven questions with Barbara Loison on working with France’s style icons

Welcome back to the SèveN! For this edition our Fashion Director Audrey Taillée sat down with French styling legend Barbara Loison.

May 16, 2024

This week, we have the pleasure of featuring Barbara Loison, whose career in styling spans two decades creating legendary images at publications such as Vogue Italia, Elle, Stiletto Magazine and Obsession. Barbara’s talent for creating editorial stories with some of the biggest celebrities of our times has led her to forge long lasting creative relationships with women such as Catherine Deneuve, Laetitia Casta and Jane Birkin. Her discretion and true love of her craft serve as an inspiration for future generations of stylists and we are honoured to share insights into her journey.

Barbara, you have been styling for over two decades. Can you bring us back to your beginnings? How did you discover this profession?
BL: I’ve always loved Fashion, since I was a child. As a teenager I loved dressing my friends up. It was never really about designing clothes for me, more about creating a look, an “allure”, - but of course I didn’t know at the time I could make a job out of this!
I went to study in New York, and one of my classmates introduced me to Fashion styling. He had gone to New-York with one big dream to achieve: to assist Joe McKenna and become a stylist. One day he invited me to come help on a photoshoot. Steven Meisel was shooting Kristen Owens, styled by Joe McKenna for Italian Vogue. It was like a dream, I instantly felt at home on set, and realized styling was exactly what I wanted to do.
I will be forever grateful to this classmate and best friend ever since, Michael Philouze, who as you know succeeded in becoming a fashion editor, and a great one as he joined American Vogue.
Kristen Owens, shot by Steven Meisel, styled by Joe McKenna for Italian Vogue. Assisted by Michael Philouze. 1997.
Michael Philouze invited me to come help on a photoshoot. Steven Meisel was shooting Kristen Owens, styled by Joe McKenna for Italian Vogue. It was like a dream, I instantly felt at home on set, and realized styling was exactly what I wanted to do.
I started assisting Paul Sinclaire who taught me everything from styling to art direction. Paul was between New York and Paris, so I was also back and forth for a while. Then I moved back to Paris and worked at Italian Vogue as an assistant. At that time all Vogue publications had an office in Paris in the same building, Place du Palais Bourbon, so I assisted several stylists then shooting for Italian Vogue.
Then Laurence Benaïm, the Editorial Director of Stiletto Magazine, offered me the position of Fashion Director at Stiletto Magazine. I learnt so much from her! I got lucky to start my career surrounded by so many talented people that were bringing to life images that are still iconic and referenced today.
Do you feel that starting your career in styling in New York had an impact on your trajectory or your style?
BL: Probably yes. There was a certain minimalism at that time that I saw in New York and London which didn’t really exist in Paris. At the end of the 90s, there was a certain “anti-fashion” trend. It was the Calvin Klein CK One aesthetic era, when you could wear a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, or a slip dress and look very sexy, “à la Kate Moss.” It’s funny when you consider that today, this is exactly how Parisian style is perceived. Paris in those days was still a bit more pressured by the codes of elegance that made it the capital of Couture I guess.
Chiara Mastroianni shot by Nico Bustos, styled by Barbara Loison for Elle France.
You come from an editorial background early in your career, but you are also known for styling some of the most iconic French women in the world. How did you cross over into celebrity styling?
BL: It was « par hasard », as we say in French! I was working with a photographer, Patrick Swirc. One day he called me to say he was shooting Catherine Deneuve for Elle Magazine and asked me if I would style her for the shoot. I was quite young and probably in over my head, but I jumped at the chance and said: “Great, I’ll do it!”
Fresh out of New York, I proposed to her to wear a black bra under a white tank top on set that day. She had always had such a sophisticated image and asked “Are you sure?”. She ended up going for it and we created such an iconic image that it was exposed at the Cannes Festival a few years ago. This image, like Catherine, is timeless and we’ve been working together ever since !
Catherine Deneuve shot by Patrick Swirc, styled by Barbara Loison for Elle.
Quickly after I met Catherine Deneuve, I met Laetitia Casta. At that time, magazines were not dealing with celebrities directly, which seems crazy now. There were production companies organizing shoots that were then proposed to magazines. These agencies called me more and more and this is how I met the celebrities I’ve worked with. “Celebrity styling” wasn’t what it is today though, nobody had stylists - it didn't exist as such! It started from a very editorial perspective as we were shooting fashion stories. When I joined Obsession, every cover was a celebrity with the idea of shooting them in their most authentic light, including a close up portrait on the cover. It was an incredible playground and I loved the personal dimension of these shoots.
What is the creative process like when preparing a shoot with a celebrity?
BL: You do a lot, A LOT of visual research. Research on their work, on what they love, what relationship they have with fashion. I read a lot of interviews and try to project myself into their universe. It’s important for me that the creative direction I propose fits the talent and the stage they are at in their careers and lives. I always do research. First of all I think it’s respectful. When you dress a celebrity, it’s not just about your vision. It’s a collaboration. You need to know the person you are dressing and try to understand them to propose something that makes sense and fits them.
With a celebrity, you are building the story around them. We work on mood boards to propose what we would like to do. It’s been helpful that I am quite passionate about music and cinema, as it allows me to share references with the people I am styling. Our job is to bring the person to the story, make them feel comfortable, and agree to it.
Lastly I would add that building trust is capital, otherwise it doesn’t work. And to be discreet. You share intimate moments with public people so it’s important that they feel safe with you.
For example, when we shot Michael Fassbender with Jean-Baptiste Mondino for Obsession, we had this idea to capture the moment when the curtain drops at the theater and the characters portrayed slowly disappears to give way to the artists behind them. This was aligned with the vision of the magazine which was to show celebrities in a very simple and natural way.
We started the day with a very sophisticated look, a suit and a bow tie, and as the day went by, we all felt the idea behind the story was so meaningful and the set so intimate, that we got to the moment when he wanted to push the idea to the end. It was truly an amazing shoot!
Michael Fassbender shot by Jean-Baptiste Mondino for Obsession. Styling by Barbara Loison.
Building trust is capital, otherwise it doesn’t work. And to be discreet. You share intimate moments with public people so it’s important that they feel safe with you.
Is the process different when working on a red carpet for a celebrity?
BL: Yes! With an editorial you can create a story while on a carpet the celebrities are appearing as themselves, so it’s important that they feel like themselves. Everything needs to be worked on in advance so that when the moment arrives there is absolutely no stress linked to the fashion. Everything must be smooth. It’s a balance between being true to their style while adding some “out of the box” thinking and proposing looks they would not always think of wearing. Our role as stylists, I guess, is to make them feel like the best version of themselves, and put our expertise to the service of that feeling.
Celebrities, like everyone, have preferences and complexes. The most beautiful woman in the world might have a least favourite part of her body and you must take in consideration how they feel in an outfit. You can push to try, but you can never force someone to wear something. I always ask : “Does it feel like you? Do you feel comfortable in the clothes?” No matter how famous you are, the adage “when you feel beautiful, you look beautiful” is always true. On a red carpet, you never want a celebrity to feel like they are wearing a costume. If their job is to play someone else in a movie, it’s often important for them to feel like themselves on a red carpet.
New media has also added pressure to these red carpet events. Before, you were seeking a moment. Now, it’s important to think of the look in every context, standing still, sitting, walking, as their every move is recorded and photographed. If there is an incredible dress that when in movement creates a magical moment, but it doesn’t photograph well while standing, it will not be the one that is picked. We will choose the look from an image, a picture, or a video, more than with what your eye sees these days.
On a carpet, you never want a celebrity to feel like they are wearing a costume. If their job is to play someone else in a movie, it’s often important for them to feel like themselves on a red carpet.
The roster of talent you have styled includes some of the most iconic French women like Catherine Deneuve, Laetitia Casta and Jane Birkin who represent French style globally. How would you define “le style à la française”?
BL: I guess it’s about not seeing the effort. In the United States, part of the idea of “glamour” is to show off the effort, that the hair and make up are done to perfection, that the dress is magical… French style I would say is to never show the effort. I think the trope about French style is true, the goal is to look “effortless”.
Top left: Laetitia Casta shot by Jean-Baptiste Mondino for Obsession. Top right: Catherine Deneuve shot by Nico Bustos for Elle France. Bottom left: Léa Seydoux shot by Patrick Swirc for Télérama. Bottom Right: Jane Birkin shot by Nathaniel Goldberg. All images styled by Barbara Loison.
You’ve had an incredible career, thank you so much for sharing some of your insights with us! Do you have a fun anecdote to leave us with?
BL: Being a stylist you often find yourself in incredible situations, as we know. One funny moment I will always remember is when I was in LA to shoot a Dior Campaign with Sharon Stone. The outfit needed to be shortened. Suddenly Sharon has taken the task into her own hands and is explaining to me how she stitches a hem. It was incredible!