Celebrities, however, were cottoning on quickly to the benefits of looking good in public - they noticed that it got them featured on TV and in magazines - and designers twigged soon after that these photos resulted in multiple mentions of their name. The most successful example of this is when Uma Thurman wore an ice-blue silk dress by the then relatively obscure label Prada to the 1995 Oscars, helping to make the label one of the most famous fashion brands in the world. "I didn't dress her in that," says Bloch regretfully. "But she did look fabulous." Bloch's success has made him a huge celebrity in his own right in America, with his own TV shows and several books; he even has a role in a forthcoming feature film, called The Unseen, as a blind, abused man, which, he admits, "was a bit of a stretch".
Many more have followed in his path. There's Jessica Paster, who styles Jennifer Aniston, Kim Cattrall and Naomi Watts. Andrea Lieberman is another popular name, dressing Drew Barrymore and Gwen Stefani. But the stylist of the moment, the one every aspiring young starlet wants to dress her, is Rachel Zoe.
The impressively hard to get hold of Zoe (rhymes with "low") is almost certainly one of the most influential people in the fashion industry today. She is the personal stylist to, among others, Keira Knightley, Lindsay Lohan, Nicole Richie, Kate Beckinsale and The OC's Mischa Barton, all of whom are fashion trendsetters for the lucrative teenage market. Zoe's trademark style, which she refers to as "fallen 70s chick, a little boho glamour", consists of glamorous vintage tops and dresses, designer jeans and slightly messy hair - currently the most popular look among teenagers and, increasingly, older fashion-conscious women.
"Stylists are now critical to the fashion market and Rachel is incredibly important in the fashion industry," says Astley. "She has kickstarted many of the trends you see today. She, and others like her, have opened up the fashion industry so it's not just for insiders. Now everyone knows about labels because they read about their celebrities wearing them." Zoe was originally a fashion editor of YM magazine in the US before leaving and "making it my mission to bring the world of fashion to celebrity and the world of celebrity to fashion". At New York fashion week, she admits, she was primarily trying to find an Oscars dress for Knightley, who is nominated for best actress. Did she find something? A long laugh: "I'm not telling! But I will say there were one or two interesting pieces ..."
With their power to bring such fame to fashion labels, designers keenly woo stylists. Does Bloch accept bribes? "Not really." He hesitates for a momentary beat. "But I'm always happy to accept a glamorous thank-you. People send me clothes and, yeah, that's nice." He pauses again as he tries to find an anecdote that demonstrates his non-mercenary nature: "But you know, I've done a million things for Valentino and I've never had anything from them! Just, like, an orchid or whatever, here or there."
Zoe, however, has gone way past the point of merely being given orchids. Designers are now so keen to make clothes that she deems suitable for her influential clients that many now ask her to help them devise their collections. "Yeah, that happens a lot. Like that red strapless Calvin Klein dress Keira wore to the New York premiere of Pride and Prejudice - I co-designed that with Francisco [Costa, the creative director of Calvin Klein.]" So how much input did she have? "Not much. Just the fabric, the cut, the style ..."
Even when she doesn't literally put her hand to the collection, Zoe's touch is increasingly apparent in the clothes. Faux-vintage tops, babydoll dresses, enormous designer bags, bejewelled flip-flops, cropped jackets - all of these are now commonplace in designers' collections and all are trademark Zoe garments. Last year Glenda Bailey, the editor of US Harpers Bazaar, rushed up to Zoe in a restaurant and cried, "Look at the new collections! All the designers are inspired by you!" "And I think when someone you really respect says something like that," she muses, "you do listen."
But while stylists were once required just for big events such as the Oscars, now they are a daily part of their clients' lives. "When I was working, the icons were actresses such as Sandy or Salma, and I was friendly with them, but it was always a job," remembers Bloch. "Plus, they were always busy shooting movies. With Rachel, it's a different vibe. The girls today - Nicole, Mischa, the Olsens - they're not, and I'm not being rude, they're not career girls, they're party girls, so Rachel can be friends with them." Zoe herself says she spends "an abnormal amount of time" with some of her clients: she talks to Richie "every day" and describes her and Mischa Barton as "my closest friends".
We have now arrived at the situation where a young woman, who is not a model, can become very famous indeed simply with the help of a clever stylist. Before Zoe stepped in, Richie and Lohan in particular were far from fashion icons, wearing ill-fitting dresses and ripped leggings and fast in danger of becoming tabloid jokes. Since Zoe started putting them in Chanel and Missoni and took away their goth eyeliner, they have become celebrity princesses, their every outfit documented faithfully by the weekly glossy magazines.
This realisation that one can change one's celebrity status simply through fashion has been a remarkable boon to celebrities. One stylist, who wishes to remain anonymous, recently worked with a celebrity who'd had some trouble with the law. "So I made sure they always looked really clean-cut every time they stepped out of the house, and pretty soon the public forgot all about it." Looking good is, Zoe says, "a huge career booster for some people. But it does shock me sometimes, though, how image really is everything these days."
Bloch agrees: "All this celebrity stuff, I've created a monster! Yesterday, at the fashion shows, I was sitting next to some girl from [American TV show] Laguna Beach. I mean, who?"
The difficulty with having one major stylist working with so many celebrities is that many of them start to look the same. Despite all the hysterical secrecy surrounding who's wearing what this year, it is actually pretty easy to guess. Knightley's look will almost certainly come straight from last month's catwalks, probably one of the highest-end labels: "For red carpet I tend to go Chanel, Valentino, De la Renta, Dior, Chanel, YSL or Gucci. They usually design for Park Avenue women but I think it's cool for the girls to bring out the youthful elements," Zoe says. Alternatively there's always - "of course" - vintage. "Particularly Azzaro - it just works so well on my girls."
Unsurprisingly, both Zoe and Bloch insist that stylists have improved the Oscars: "We've made them more glamorous than ever," Bloch says through a mouthful of sandwich. "Now everyone looks good except those who deliberately don't, for the attention."
However significant their influence, stylists know better than anyone that the fashion world is fickle. Bloch's high glamour style is now seen as passé next to Zoe's younger look (she, too, admits, "At the moment, this whole situation is just a trend, my look is just a trend and all trends pass"). Bloch is not styling anyone for the Oscars this year because, he sniffs, "None of my clients is likely to win and unless you're doing someone who's nominated, well ..."
But no matter, he is keeping busy. During our lunch, various TV networks, including CNN, call to ask him to cover the event for them. "So, you know," he says, "I like to say I'm now the smallest star in the fashion galaxy, but I shine just as brightly." So does he think the point will come where people can become famous simply for their clothes? "It has to. I mean, Laguna Beach? Come on!"
...
...
