Hollywood Stylists Help Fire Victims Rebuild Their Wardrobes

Last Friday, celebrity stylists Elizabeth Stewart and Jordan Grossman, who founded the nonprofit Chic Relief during the pandemic — were packing rooms for five personal friends who lost their homes in the fires. The idea was to help them rebuild their closets after losing everything. “And we thought, ‘You know what? We think we can do this for many more people! » says Stewart.

Since then, Stewart and Grossman launched an ambitious effort to clothe and help hundreds of families who lost everything in the Los Angeles fires. They are not alone. A growing network of Hollywood stylists, celebrities, executives and creatives have joined (or are working alone) to expand the reach of relief efforts.

Jeanne Yang (who dressed Keanu Reeves and Taika Waititi, among others), is one of them. “Maybe I have a pair of sneakers or boots from a music video that have been sitting here for years that will become the only pair of shoes someone owns now,” she says. “Clothes may seem insignificant, but we need them to live and feel comfortable. »

Several long-term programs are being developed, with a personalized, appointment-based approach to help soften the blow of feeling overwhelmed by many people. Many stylists, including Yang, are donating clothes or volunteering to support a large relief project on Civic Center Drive started by Ashlee Margolis, founder of the branding company The A List. The mix includes fashion and toiletries from more than 100 brands. The center plans to remain open for at least five months and is currently partnering with the Los Angeles Unified School District Education Foundation to help displaced families and employees.

“Jennifer Lopez was the first celebrity to contact us and she sent us insane amounts of fashion donations; more are arriving today,” says Margolis. Mark, Katie Duplass and Lucy Hale are among the volunteers.

“I think stylists jumped into action because we have the most access to clothes,” says Stewart, whose clients include Julia Roberts, Cate Blanchett, Jessica Chastain, Viola Davis and Amanda Seyfried. “We have a large cabinet that we work with, as well as our personal cabinets, so we are in a unique position to help each other and we all talk to each other. It’s not about saying, “Oh, these families need socks and underwear to get them through the next two weeks.” We wanted to start the permanent replacement of their wardrobe and boost their morale. The criteria is: “Would I give this to my best friend?” That’s how it started.

After Chic Relief’s detailed sign-up sheet on Google for people needing help was expanded to friends of friends, such as “teachers and single mothers in Pasadena and Altadena, who found with nothing,” Stewart says, the organization now helps 220 families. On Friday January 17, these families will be able to collect personalized goods, packed in suitcases offered by Ricardo, Herschel and BÉIS. Tory Burch, Hugo Boss and Cult Gaia are some of the brands that responded to a call for product donations. Even as this week’s event reaches capacity, the team will continue to gather and deliver care packages, while coordinating with other area nonprofits to acquire and transport needed items .

Stylists joining the Chic Relief effort include Wendi and Nicole (Miles Teller, Seth Rogen, Nicholas Hoult) who donated men’s suits; Jamie Mizrahi (Adele, Mikey Madison, Jennifer Lawrence) who drew on his personal stock; and Lauren Jeworski (editor Jennifer Lame, Nina Dobrev) who teamed up with friends in Santa Barbara to buy a line of baby and children’s clothing. Chris Horan (Charli XCX, Christina Aguilera) and Tabitha Sanchez (Olivia Holt, Hannah Berner) volunteered.

Innovative Artists Vice President Maury Di Mauro (Seyfried Brand Promoter) personally purchased all of the bins used to sort the items and distributed a registration link to purchase the wish list items on Amazon that families need. Troy Nankin, artistic director of Wishlab, sent “fabulous costumes from his personal wardrobe,” Stewart says, while photographer Robert Trachtenberg visited a Palm Springs mall with his husband to purchase items for the cause.

“I have a friend who went to a shopping center with her husband and they started crying. They couldn’t handle it and didn’t even know where to start,” says Stewart. Grossman chimes in: “A Palisades lawyer needed a lawsuit because she lost everything and she’s in court every day, so she didn’t have time to get anything. »

Ilaria Urbinati (whose clients include Dwayne Johnson, Barry Keoghan, Ryan Reynolds, Rami Malek, Donald Glover and Chris Evans, as well as Adam Brody and Leighton Meester, who lost their Palisades home in the fires) also started by emptying her own closet and continuing to give in response to DMs on Instagram. She says she has helped more than 60 families to date, distributing more than 200 pairs of men’s shoes, as well as racks and trunks of clothes.

“Someone I know lost their home; it was her first house with everything she owns in there, and she doesn’t have money like some other big superstar-type actors,” Urbinati said. THR. “So I gave her clothes, furniture, shoes, bags, makeup, cosmetics, everything. We can’t help everyone, but everyone can help at least one person. »

Urbinati was particularly touched when she contacted John Varvatos about a man of limited means who was a fan of the brand and who had lost everything. The company immediately offered him a free shopping trip at its store. “He cried three times with joy!” she said, adding that she compiled a list of “fire resources” on her Instagram highlights. “Another guy needed a suit for work, so we bought him three. Someone needed casual clothes, so we sent them jeans, T-shirts and sneakers.

Urbinati’s project is expanded by his friends, Los Angeles-based fashion photographers Mario Kroes and Shaye Babb, whose clients include Vogue and LVMH. “Illaria gave me a lot of clothes, so that’s really how it all started; I don’t think people want to sort through piles of clothes when they’ve lost everything, so that’s why we want to maintain them,” says Kroes, who first helped the parents of his best friend Travis, who lost their home of 40 years in Altadena. . Money raised through the “Support Shaye and Mario Hand-Delivered Relief Efforts” GoFundMe supports essentials like masks, water, fire extinguishers, grocery gift cards and bags IKEA to package items for families, including fashion donations from people such as stylist Sandra Amador (Lady Gaga, Sigourney Weaver). Lisa Rinna, Veronica Dash and directors Andrew Sandler and Jason Bergh are among the volunteers.

Yang and Jessica Paster (Miranda Kerr, Emily Blunt) reveal that they participate in a stylist thread that includes Urbinati and the duo Rob Zangardi and Mariel Haenn (Jennifer Lopez, Kerry Washington, Gwen Stefani). The group pools information to distribute donations.

“We all give what we can to who we can,” says Paster.

Yang sees the fashion community’s solidarity as a positive side to this widespread disaster: “I’m overwhelmed by the fact that people immediately came together and wanted to help,” she says. “Not only the stylists, but also the outpouring of designers, who don’t get any press, is incredible. So I feel an incredible sense of hope.

However, the path is not easy. Yang recalls: “It was so hard to see my friend Chris Tragos show up at my house in the pajamas he had been wearing for three days with a pair of socks he had received for free from Alo, covered in blood, because He was in his father’s room. shoes two sizes too small. He was in shock, so he didn’t even realize it. We washed his feet and bound his feet. His wife’s mother also lost her home. She’s a 75-year-old lawyer and she was at her desk, so she literally had nothing. I prepared packages of clothes. Shortly after, he sent me a text saying, “Things are just things, but when you lose all the pieces you love to wear, it takes away a little something from your identity.” I know this might sound silly or petty, but clothes have memories. Your clothes are part of who you are.

For branded donations to Chic Relief, email donateclothingLA@gmail.com; make monetary contributions on the site or by emailhelp@chic-relief.com. To help with List A efforts, contact firerelief@thealist.us