At the moment, the only thing on the minds of fashion insiders is New York fashion week. Jen Rade, the Hollywood stylist behind Angelina Jolie’s winning red-carpet looks, is the exception. The L.A.-based Rade, who came in at number six on The Hollywood Reporter’s 25 Most Powerful Stylists list this year, is in New York this week to promote her new gig as a spokeswoman for T.J.Maxx and Marshalls, and she doesn’t plan on staying in the city for next week’s madness. “Other than the editors and buyers there, most people at the shows are just scenesters,” Rade tells Style.com. “So instead of going and sitting in the dark scribbling little shorthand notes and hearts on the program, I’d rather go on Style.com and look at each look slowly without all the clamor and illusion.”
Surprisingly enough, Rade doesn’t really have any favorite designers or labels, either. “It’s about the individual piece. It makes no difference to me who made it, where it came from, if that designer’s hot or not right now,” says Rade, who also dresses Pink and Kim Kardashian, among others (and originally started out in the business doing costume design for hip-hop videos for the likes of Snoop Dogg, Tupac, and LL Cool J). “Sometimes there will be a year where I hate everything from a certain designer, and then all of a sudden our aesthetics will align.”
So how does she create so many smash hits (think: Jolie’s now notorious Atelier Versace gown at the Oscars this year and the sky-high slit that went with it)? “They’re not my dolls to dress and we have to agree on what they like. Ultimately, confidence is the best accessory,” she advises. “After all, these women are the ones who have to walk around with all the lights blaring and photographers up their asses. I’m like, ‘Take a Xanax and good luck to you.’ It’s very nerve-racking for all parties involved, but I have to just put them in the limo and let go.”
—Brittany Adams
Photo: Courtesy Photo
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