BEHIND THE SCENES WITH AUSTRALIAN STYLIST KARLA CLARKE

If it takes a village to raise a family, it takes a small, vibrant city—teeming with creative talent and visionary minds—to bring a runway show to life. From the very beginning of preparing for our solo show at Australian Fashion Week, we invited Australian stylist Karla Clarke to join us behind the scenes. Together, we showcased Re/creation, a collection designed to liberate daily routines without compromising on style.

Karla began her career as an assistant at American Vogue in 2009 and is currently the Fashion Director at Harper's BAZAAR Australia. Her impressive client list includes Bella Hadid, Lara Worthington, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Cate Blanchett, and Elle Macpherson. Known across the industry for her exceptional 360-degree styling acumen and her unique vision for how collections can be styled, Karla is a frequent collaborator with P.E Nation, and regularly works closely with our design and brand departments on Lookbook shoots for upcoming seasons. Join us as we sit down with Karla to talk us through her process, from concept to final call.

When I finished school most people told me to pursue something I loved. Naturally I didn’t know what I loved and the only thing I knew was that I bought a lot of magazines. So I guess I wanted to work at a magazine before I knew what styling was. From there I studied communications at uni, and double majored in journalism and advertising & marketing. I interned at American Vogue which was basically where I learned that you didn’t need to be involved with the words to work at a magazine. It was my experience there that made me want to become a stylist.

When I was briefed on the overall direction for the show I asked a lot about what Pip [Edwards] and the business wanted to achieve by participating in AFW. It’s such a big investment for any brand so it was important that we were aligned on what these objectives were and why we were showing up. I had worked with the team on the first instalment of the new brand direction – so I was familiar with the overall aesthetic. With this in mind it was important to establish if we were truly all in. In my mind, fashion week is an opportunity to showcase newness, to win hearts and minds, and represent the essence of a brand.

Once I had won everyone with this MO, we collectively shared ideas on what else we could add to the collection to ensure we stood out and were remembered for doing certain things really well. It’s tricky to come in as a stylist when the collection is locked and loaded, it doesn’t matter how strong my vision or ideas are, the clothes are key and it’s what people come to look at, so I truly believe in the value of a collaborative stylist and design team partnership (not to sound like a complete meddler). 

I like to be across all of the other components of the show too because essentially the styling is only ever as good as the set, which needs to be as good as the sound, which needs to be as good as the casting. It all needs to come together to become one complete experience.

My goal with the collection was to show things in ways that audiences may not expect from P.E. There’s simply no point in showing looks in a way that someone is already wearing and styling it at home. I wanted to get more skin on the runway, I think more skin has a distinctly human feel and it means that we can have nice hero product moments, like the bombers with bikini bottoms for example.

I think I end up having every item of clothing in one room – trial one thousand ways of wearing, and then take a step back and work out what feels new and interesting. There are things in my head of course that just live there from watching the trends unfold – and I would ask things like do we really need pants with everything? Can we reverse layer to create new shapes and silhouettes? These things exist in the world already and are not my ideas. I used a lot of sheer socks, but I guess things like that were more to let the clothing sing and not create more interest at the foot to distract focus.

Controversially I think the value of a stylist is in a new perspective. The designer's vision is realised in a perfect garment. When I am briefed I write lots of notes on their influences but ultimately my job is to make that better. If I executed the vision exactly as communicated, there wouldn’t be a need for me. I take the responsibility of continuing to evolve and improve it really seriously and I think I fail if I can’t do that.

I think having Pip so emotional after the show was really memorable. You never really know if you did well because a) I don’t watch the show and b) it’s such an adrenaline rush people don’t really know what to do once it's finished. I always think tears are the biggest compliment so I was pleased with that.

I wear a lot of black so I think anything oversized and black. My favorite pieces are the black Award Spray Pant, Shelter Jacket, and the Foundation Long Sleeve and Short Sleeve tops.

I would like to think that I am well trained – I grew up in magazine land and learned all of the good systems that make me do things properly. If you are on set with people and working with stylists who have this type of experience, soak up all of those good systems because they in time will make you a stronger stylist. 

The only thing that supersedes this is having nice taste, and not just in fashion but art, design, music, all of the things. Just knowing what you’re looking at, listening to, thinking about whether you like it, refining what you like and then using that as inspiration to develop your own aesthetic. Look at what stylists are doing in your local market, but watch contemporaries in different parts of the world as well - familiarising yourself with those emerging people all over the world, will inspire you and give you confidence to do more creative work (and not only chase the paid). 

Also – you can only get away with being poor when you’re young, so move overseas and soak up as much creative opportunity as you can.

A holiday. And confirming the cover of the second volume of SIDE-NOTE.

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