“One of Adele’s superpowers is the ability to give you déjà vu in the right way,” says Jamie Mizrahi. The L.A.-based celebrity stylist could be talking about Adele’s––who reportedly has a net worth of $220 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth––musical gift, but she’s actually discussing creating looks for the singer’s Las Vegas residency at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, which opened the night of Friday, November 18. (Adele performed in the same space Celine Dion once had hers.) Adele Net Worth
Along with Lorraine Schwartz jewelry, the superstar wore a silk velvet column gown with a bateau neckline and a drop waist sash with a gold buckle and pavé crystals, designed especially for her by Daniel Roseberry for Schiaparelli Haute Couture. “Even when she does something new or modern, it feels like the same Adele you first fell in love with,” says Mizrahi. “That’s the look we’re going for.”
In January, Adele shocked her fans by canceling the opening night of her first-ever residency, Weekends with Adele, by posting a candid video the day before the event with tears in her eyes, saying COVID-related delays made her realize that the show just wasn’t ready.
Mizrahi is known in fashion circles for styling her friends and celebrity clients, including Katy Perry, Ariana Grande, Nicole Richie, Taylour Paige, and Billie Lourd. Last year, she was announced as a West Coast advisor to Louis Vuitton. She’d bonded with Nicolas Ghesquière, artistic director of the brand’s women’s collections, at a small dinner party at the Chateau Marmont. “We stayed up talking and laughing all night,” Mizrahi remembers.
“You could say it was a crush at first sight,” Ghesquière says. “Jamie has such a vibrant sense of humor, and we had an instant connection.”
Mizrahi, 34, was raised in Short Hills, New Jersey, and graduated from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. As a student, she spent a summer interning at the Albright Fashion Library in New York City, a renowned archive of some of fashion’s hardest-to-find pieces. “Stylists come in and pull clothes for movies, appearances, commercials, music videos, you name it—that’s how I got introduced to what styling was,” Mizrahi says.
Eleven years ago, Mizrahi moved to L.A. and began working with other celebrity stylists, including Petra Flannery and Simone Harouche (with whom she co-founded the Kit Undergarments line in 2018). Her big break on her own was styling Eva Mendes for 2012’s Place Beyond the Pines press tour.
Mizrahi met Adele about four years ago through Richie. (At the time, Richie and Adele were next-door neighbors in L.A.) As the singer was working on 30, Mizrahi says Adele reached out and asked if she would style her for the album rollout.
Here are a few things Jamie Mizrahi and some of her clients revealed to WSJ. Magazine…
Mizrahi on how the wardrobe has changed in the 10-month residency delay:
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In the past 10 months, she’s rejigged much of the show, including the fashion. Originally, the plan was to incorporate many looks: “Imagine a Formula 1 pit stop, but with couture—and diamonds,” was Mizrahi’s first brief. But Adele wore a single frock for both her Friday and Saturday performances, changing her outfit every weekend. After the singer’s Hyde Park shows in London in July, in which she wore Schiaparelli couture one night and custom Louis Vuitton the next, Mizrahi says, “we realized that it was more authentic to her to stay in one look” per weekend in Vegas. So far, Mizrahi has commissioned 20 custom gowns for Adele, “which she’ll wear for one weekend [each], and then they’ll be archived.” (The residency is set to run until March 2023.)
Nicole Ritchie, Mizrahi client and friend:
“Working with Jamie is like sitting on the floor of your closet going through magazines with your best friend,” Richie says. “There is an ease, familiarity, and mutual love and humor for fashion.”
Katy Perry on working with Mizhrahi:
“Working with a stylist is an intimate experience, and it didn’t hurt that we loved spending time together,” says Katy Perry, who’s hired Mizrahi to help her put together some of her more memorable looks. “I’ll still never live down the time she was pregnant—and I hit her in the face with my Versace wings at the Met [Gala]! I think it’s turned into our personal meme.”
WSJ. spoke to Mizrahi from Las Vegas in between fittings with Adele…
Everyone knows Adele is incredibly serious when it comes to her music. But one of the most alluring things about her is her sense of humor. Is she funny when you’re working together?
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Are you kidding? All she does is make me laugh.
When was the last time she really had you howling?
The music video that we just did together for her song “I Drink Wine.” It involved this very intricate set. There was water. There were gowns. I was on the floor drying a dress with a hair dryer that she then had to put back on. It’s camp, and it’s incredible, and I wasn’t prepared for the day we had in store—but we laughed our asses off, and I loved every single second of it.
Adele is famous for performing in a specific look—typically a black gown to the floor. When you had time to revisit the style for this show, what were you looking for?
Black gowns. All black. Still. Silhouettes that work for her body type. We’re open to embellishment and accents of color, but everything will be a black gown to the floor, except for special shows, like New Year’s Eve.
Now that the looks are changing every weekend, have you planned as far as New Year’s Eve?
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We haven’t gotten that far yet. But that’s a new element to the residency that I find exciting. The constant newness. One of the coolest parts about this new concept is that it’s ever-changing, and we will have the opportunity to work with more designers, and we can change our mind and mix things up. Typically, on a tour, you commission costumes, and you’re sort of obliged to stick with them to the end of the tour. Here we have some flexibility, and we think that will be fun.
What are the physical requirements for these garments?
She’s going to be barefoot. Or, actually, we have socks if she wants them. So [the dress] needs to be to the floor. She needs to be able to move, so there needs to be a corset but one that stretches enough to breathe easily. No capes, no gloves. What’s important is that she can sing!
I know you’ve commissioned 20 dresses. Can you tell me from whom?
To date, I’ve worked with Versace, Loewe, Schiaparelli, and Louis Vuitton on custom looks, and…newer, younger designers too, like Julien [Dossena] at Paco Rabanne, Jack [McCollough] and Lazaro [Hernandez at Proenza Schouler] and Harris Reed, who was just appointed creative director at Nina Ricci.
What about the glam? Will Adele do her famous wing-tipped eyeliner?
Of course! Do you think she wouldn’t?! [Makeup artist] Anthony Nguyen has mastered her winged eye. No one can move in the room when he’s doing it. It’s a very precise, perfect line. I’ve never seen someone do it like that.
As the new album has rolled out, much of the media conversation revolved around “the new Adele.” Was that a part of the narrative you were constructing with the styling?
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I don’t think she thinks of it as the new Adele. She’s just her, and she’s just being authentic like she is…. When dressing anyone, I always look at what silhouettes work best for their body. We created looks that made her feel beautiful and confident.
Eva Mendes gave you your first big break, followed by Britney Spears. Are you still in touch with Britney?
Not for a minute, but I love watching her do all the things. I was a massive Britney Spears fan growing up. I was starstruck when I began working with her, and so were all of my friends! She was always very clear and direct about her [fashion] choices, with very little regret. She never chased the fashion trends and was always herself. She was also incredibly kind and was a pleasure to work with. Adele Net Worth
What’s the best piece of career advice you ever received?
Stay in your own lane, and by that I mean stay on your own path and stop looking at what everyone else is doing because it will distract you.
What’s the biggest misconception about being a stylist?
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That it’s just choosing clothes for people to wear. In actuality, it’s so much more. Of course, there’s the creative side, which involves incorporating an overall vision, creative briefs, collaborating with designers, dealing with measurements, fit. But then there’s the business side: managing budgets, hiring assistants, seamstresses, invoicing. And then there’s the social side, which entails fostering relationships with the brands, designers, clients, PR, and brand directors, making sure that you can get that one sample that’s in London on a shoot the day before it’s needed.
Also, it’s not just about picking out the most flattering outfit. Part of my job is to look at the larger picture of my clients’ careers. I have to take into account what their goals are. Do they want to be taken more seriously in their industry? Do they want to be less sexualized? Are they looking to step into a more mature phase of their life or looking for someone to help them take risks? Do they want a specific type of role that they haven’t gotten because they are looked at in a certain light?
My job is helping present my clients to the world. How you choose to dress is a clear statement of how you want people to view you—and shifting that perspective can change your whole career. And that’s a business in itself.
What’s the best part of the job? And the worst part?
The best part is the creativity. The idea of working with talent, creating characters, introducing new designers, and working with established designers. I love getting to re-create someone’s look and pushing boundaries. The worst part is handling fine jewelry.
Have you ever had any major blunders?
When I first started out, I dressed someone for a huge award show and I pulled jewelry from two designers and had her wear both brands. I didn’t know that was a major no-no. Let’s just say I’ll never do that again.
In addition to Eva and Britney, you work with Nicole [Richie], Katy [Perry], Ariana [Grande], Riley Keough. Is there a similarity in the way these women like to work?
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Everyone has a beyond-different way of working. There are some people who want to go on Vogue[‘s website] and look at every show and send the exact looks they want. Then there are some people who want me to bring 10 racks of clothes and try every single one on. Then there are some people who, after I’ve worked with them for long enough, I can show up with one dress and they’re like, “OK!” Adele Net Worth
Read the full article here.
Photos: Raven B. Varona for WSJ. Magazine
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