Styled in LA: 10 Working Los Angeles Stylists to Know

Styled in LA is The LA Note’s monthly look at the people who decide what artists wear: the wardrobe stylists and costume designers behind music videos, tours, red carpets and TV. Most of them never get named in the credits fans read. This first edition rounds up 10 working Los Angeles stylists, from an R&B veteran who dressed Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown to the costume designer behind Childish Gambino’s “This Is America.”

Each entry covers what they do, who they’ve dressed and where to see their work.

1. Lisa Smedley-Calderon

Lisa Smedley-Calderon grew up in Cincinnati, the daughter of fashion model Joan Smedley, and moved to Los Angeles at 18 for college. A job at Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills led to an introduction to an agent, and in 1989 she styled her first artist, Chuckii Booker, on his debut CD and his music videos. His referrals did the rest. Her résumé runs through the R&B and pop of that era: Whitney Houston’s “My Name Is Not Susan” video, Bobby Brown, Bell Biv DeVoe’s “When Will I See You Smile Again?,” Ralph Tresvant, Boyz II Men and Color Me Badd, whom she dressed for SNL and Jimmy Kimmel Live.

More than 30 years in, she is a Costume Designers Guild member with lead costume credits on Color Book (Netflix) and season five of OWN’s Greenleaf, and she still takes music work, including K-pop group BOYNEXTDOOR’s “Hollywood Action” video. “When I style an artist it is usually for that moment,” she told ShoutoutLA. “For an event, CD cover, red carpet or tour.”

Find Lisa Smedley-Calderon: fashionstylingbylisa.com · Instagram @lisaloveslife0229

2. Natasha Newman-Thomas

If you have watched Childish Gambino’s “This Is America,” you have seen Natasha Newman-Thomas’s work. The costumes earned her the Costume Designers Guild Award for short-form design in 2019, and she won it again in 2023 for Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Perfume Genius’s “Spitting Off the Edge of the World.” Her music list also includes Florence + The Machine’s multi-chapter film The Odyssey, Adele’s “Oh My God,” Paul McCartney’s “Early Days” and Maggie Rogers’s Don’t Forget Me tour.

She got here by an unusual route. After leaving the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, she came back to LA to train as a helicopter pilot, until a former professor asked her to help with costumes on a TV show. She told the Los Angeles Times she knew right away: “this is literally made for me.” Her TV credits now include HBO’s The Idol and season three of Euphoria.

Find Natasha Newman-Thomas: natashanewmanthomas.com · Instagram @neverhavetotweet

3. Raf Talaat

Raf Talaat has a business degree from George Mason University, and he came up the way most working stylists do, assisting on other people’s sets before building his own client list. Today he leads styling for Saint Levant, including his tour and his “Nails” music video, where Talaat dressed Saint Levant, Mia Khalifa and the background cast. He has also styled tour looks for singer Q Marsden and works with pop artist NAIKA.

His agency, The Only Agency, lists Miguel, Tommy Richman, Karan Aujla, Big Sean and Mustard among the artists he has styled, and his portfolio includes a Fear of God Essentials campaign and Naomi Osaka’s work with Nike. He covers music videos, tours, album art, editorial and red carpet.

Find Raf Talaat: raftalaat.com · Instagram @rafnosimons

4. Alabama Blonde

Alabama Blonde started as a musician. The Australian-born artist was working as a session player in New York when long studio hours pushed her into leatherwork, and she began making lace-up patent-leather pieces that performers could actually move in. She launched her own label in 2017, and the clothes pulled her into art direction and styling for musicians and record labels.

She handled band wardrobe for Korn’s “Start the Healing” and “Worst Is On Its Way” videos, and was costume designer and stylist on UPSAHL’s “Summer So Hot” and Palaye Royale’s “Closer.” Her custom pieces have also been worn by Charli XCX and Noah Cyrus in their videos. Now based in LA and a member of the Costume Designers Guild, she designs costumes for film, including The Last Stop in Yuma County, and works as a casting director and artist coach. “I am an artist – in the true sense of the word,” she told CanvasRebel.

Find Alabama Blonde: alabamablonde.com · Instagram @alabamablonde

5. Carolina Levi

Carolina Levi grew up in Buenos Aires watching her mother sew matching dresses for her and her sister on her grandmother’s Singer. She tried painting, interior design, acting, TV hosting and stand-up comedy before all of it came together in costume design. After working in Europe and New York, she has spent the last decade in Los Angeles.

Most of her work now is scripted film and TV, but music is a steady part of it. Her portfolio includes Saweetie’s “Shot O’ Clock” video and work with Future and Tinashe, and her site names Billie Eilish and Travis Scott among the talent she has dressed. “For me, costume design is never just about fashion,” she told VoyageLA.

Find Carolina Levi: carolinalevi.com · Instagram @carolinalevi_

6. Mandi Line

Before television, Mandi Line spent her early career in rock music videos. After graduating from FIDM she worked on Linkin Park’s “Crawling,” System of a Down’s “Sugar,” 30 Seconds to Mars’s “Capricorn (A Brand New Name)” and Godsmack’s “I Stand Alone,” alongside celebrity styling.

Her move into TV came as head costume designer on ABC’s Greek, followed by six seasons in the same role on Pretty Little Liars, which led to a Pretty Little Liars clothing line with Aéropostale. Her credits since include The Bold Type, BH90210 and Fox’s country-music drama Monarch, and she has been nominated for both a Costume Designers Guild Award and a CAFTAD Award. During lockdown she started Convos with Costume Designers, now more than 50 interviews deep.

Find Mandi Line: mandiline.com · Instagram @mandiline

7. Joleen Garnett

Joleen Garnett is from Seaside, California, and studied communication before starting out in fashion PR. She moved quickly into styling music artists, dressing Timbaland and OneRepublic for music videos, tours and TV performances on Saturday Night Live, the Grammys, the American Music Awards and the MTV awards. She also handled red-carpet and press-tour looks for Robert Downey Jr. around Tropic Thunder and The Soloist.

Today she works mostly in live competition and unscripted television, designing costumes and styling talent for NBC, Fox, CBS, Netflix and Nickelodeon, with commercial work for brands like Adidas, Coca-Cola and AT&T.

Find Joleen Garnett: joleengarnett.com

8. Carly Barnette

Carly Barnette has spent about a decade on LA’s East Side working two jobs that feed each other. She writes and records her own songs as Clayre, and she styles other artists under the name Styling Witch Carly, often showing up on music-video sets with a rack of costumes. She credits her great-aunt, 1920s silent-film star Claire Windsor, as her muse.

Her music portfolio includes Gavin Magnus’s “Psycho,” Nya’s “Jaded,” Magnus Riise’s “From the Ground Up” and Dresage’s “Dancing On My Grave,” plus Elephante and Dresage’s show at the Hollywood Palladium. After her career stalled in 2020, she rebuilt it from scratch. “Whether it’s singing or styling, I think my work is vibrant, glittery and bursting with magic,” she told ShoutoutLA.

Find Carly Barnette: clayreslayer.com · Instagram @stylingwitchcarly

9. Jaden Burnett

Jaden Burnett grew up in Phoenix making costumes of movie and TV characters, and saw FIDM as an exit. “I knew this would be my ticket out of the desert,” Burnett told VoyageLA. After COVID interrupted school, Burnett re-enrolled, moved to Los Angeles in 2021, assisted working stylists after graduating, and landed a first solo client in Sean from Netflix’s Selling the OC.

Working as STYLE by Jaden B, Burnett now covers music videos, celebrity and influencer styling, commercials, editorial and short-film costume design. The music credits include Rosa Linn’s “The Music I Love,” Max Maryott’s “Cold In California” and Ice Nine Kills’ project with Scream 7, alongside work with singer Stanaj, comedian Nick Kroll and brands such as Nike and JNCO.

Find Jaden Burnett: jadenbstyle.com · Instagram @jadenbstyle

10. Summer Horchem

Summer Horchem started a fashion blog in her senior year of high school in Bloomington, Illinois, called “Only You Could Pull That Off.” The point, she told VoyageLA, was that “ANYONE could ‘pull off’ ANYTHING with the right mindset.” She studied fashion at Arizona State, found out about styling during a semester in Manchester, England, and built a portfolio during the pandemic before cold-pitching LA stylists and moving to Eagle Rock in 2021.

After years of assisting, 2026 is her first year fully on her own. She works mostly on editorial and commercial shoots, for brands including Frye, Sprayground and KraveBeauty, and also takes on music videos, red carpets and portfolio shoots for artists. Her look is easy to spot: heavy layering, bold color combinations and pattern mixing, drawn from the ’60s and ’70s.

Find Summer Horchem: summerhorchem.com · Instagram @styledbysum

Frequently asked questions

What does a wardrobe stylist do for a music artist?

A wardrobe stylist builds the looks an artist wears for music videos, photo shoots, album covers, tours, TV performances and red carpets. They pull or buy clothes, work with designers on custom pieces, handle fittings and alterations, and are on set to keep every look camera-ready.

What is the difference between a stylist and a costume designer?

A stylist usually dresses a real person as themselves, for press, performances and events. A costume designer dresses characters for a story, in film, TV, theater or a narrative music video, and often designs and builds pieces from scratch. Many people on this list do both.

How do I find a stylist in Los Angeles for a music video?

Look at the credits on videos you like, then check that stylist’s website and Instagram for a booking email. Every stylist in this roundup lists a way to reach them. Have your budget, shoot date, concept and the artist’s sizes ready before you reach out.

More stylists on The LA Note

• How Wardrobe Stylist Jiovani Cervantes Transforms Lives One Outfit at a Time
• Meet Celebrity Stylist Franzy Staedter
• Have You Heard It? R&B Artists for Your Rotation

Want to be in the next Styled in LA?

Stylists, costume designers and their agents can reach us through our submission page. Send your website, Instagram and two or three recent projects with the artists you dressed.