I wish I could say the question topping my list for stylist Ilaria Urbinati—the woman behind the fashion brilliance we’ve been seeing from the likes of Barry Keoghan, Sam Nivola, and Adam Brody—was something unexpected and cerebral. But I, a red-blooded woman who delights in masculine eye candy on the red carpet as much as the next lady, only had one searingly obvious thought on my mind: What is it like working exclusively with the best-looking dudes in Hollywood?
Urbinati, of course, is no stranger to the query. As someone in down-to-their-skivvies proximity to what she refers to as “the internet’s boyfriends,” her response is well-rehearsed and quite diplomatic. Like all people, she tells me, her guys approach fashion in different ways. (Hot famous men! They’re just like us!)
Rami Malek, for instance, is the type of fellow who might message her an exact YSL look he’s been gunning to wear. He loves and pays close attention to what’s happening on the runway and comes with specific options and references. But someone like her longtime client Dwayne Johnson would rather step out of the way and let her do her thing. Keoghan, meanwhile, is all about telling a story with his clothes: Last year he was big on emulating a Dickensian Artful Dodger type; lately, he wants to get in character for his upcoming role as Ringo Starr in the Beatles biopic—hence his Sgt. Pepper-esque Met Gala look.
Courtesy of Ilaria Urbinati / InStyle
Clockwise from top left: Urbanati, Adam Scott, Sacha Baron Cohen, James Marsden, Rami Malek, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and John Krasinski
All that said, Urbanati explains with a laugh that there is one major difference between pulling together a press look for a man versus a woman: They (as is so often the case with any dad/husband/boyfriend/brother/most men in your life) capital-H hate the legwork that goes into planning a formal look.
“Men want their fitting to go as fast as humanly possible and to try the least amount of clothes as humanly possible,” she says, noting that women clients are usually happy to spend hours going over options. “I’ve had men lying on the floor at fittings, like ‘Can we be done?!’ I have literally chased clients down the hallway, being like, ‘Wait, come back—one more jacket!”
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Dwayne The Rock Johnson at the premiere of Moana 2
Now she knows to prepare for these crucial meetings by unbuttoning every piece ahead of time. “I’ve figured out the fastest way to throw clothes on men,” she says, noting that she also pins every garment herself for the tailor to ensure the silhouette is exactly what she’s going for. Later, when everything is perfectly altered to her liking, she and her team will steam and pack every outfit and label it by event and date “as if they are going to summer camp.”
This attention to detail has served Urbanati, a self-described “Virgo Type-A,” well throughout her career. Not all creatives (who are notorious for being mercurial and messy) have the ability to be both meticulously organized and clear in their artistic vision. But perhaps it helps that Urbanati grew up steeped in the world of art and fashion in Rome, Paris, and eventually, Los Angeles. It’s the environment where she feels most comfortable. Her aunt Laura Urbanati is a famed fashion designer; her father was a photographer; her mother and grandfather are art dealers. “I grew up selling Picassos for my grandfather at his gallery in Monte Carlo,” she tells me so casually that I want to pass out over the nonchalant glamour of it all.
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Chris Evans in chic neutrals.
Opening her own clothing store, the L.A.-based Confederacy, in the late aughts was a natural move for Urbanati after years of bouncing from one art or fashion gig to another. It was there that she was able to merge her interests in retail, design, and styling under one roof. It’s also where she first encountered and began dressing some of her long-running clients, like Chris Evans and Adam Scott. But things really started to take off when she met Bradley Cooper. “He was like, ‘Can you come style me for Hangover press tomorrow?’” she remembers. “And then he blew up—and then I started, you know, blowing up, too.”
By the time she closed her shop in 2013, Urbanati had a robust styling business going for both men and women, but she noticed the most potential in the menswear space. “I just always had a love of menswear, and I felt a knack for menswear that a lot of people just don’t have,” she says, noting that at the time, styling in general was barely considered a career, let alone the idea of styling men. This, however, was beginning to change thanks to OG celebrity stylist Rachel Zoe and her hit Bravo show, The Rachel Zoe Project, which brought the behind-the-scenes action of dressing It girls and A-list actresses to a national audience. The shifting zeitgeist proved the ultimate opportunity for Urbanati, who happened to be working with some of the movie industry’s buzziest actors on their wardrobes. It wasn’t long before she was known as the go-to girl for helping men create a unique sartorial identity in a homogenous sea of bland, well-cut suits.
Perhaps you saw Johnson in London at the premiere of Moana 2 last fall wearing a cheeky turquoise palm tree-embellished jacket? Or noticed Aaron Taylor-Johnson smoldering in a chocolate brown shearling (complete with a matching sweater, playfully unzipped to show some chest hair, and espresso-hued trousers) outside Good Morning America last December? Maybe Brody, a newer client, has caught your eye lately—suddenly his suits seem to be of a leaner, more sensuous quality, no? These are not always the exact looks you’d expect from the hunky stars, in theory, but Urbanati has a knack for curating press wardrobes that surprise at first glance but then settle in as the perfect choice. The outfits are memorable but wear like a second skin.
“I do like to play with people’s expectations,” says Urbanati, who factors in the client’s current vibe, the events they’re attending, and, sure, a bit of the female gaze. Or, if we’re going to get really specific here: the female fan gaze. “There are just some clients I have where the fan base gives me a lot of feedback; they are just really paying attention,” she says, explaining that her DMs are often flooded with notes and requests after some of her guys step out in public. “Like Chris Evans: He has this movie coming out right now, and I’ll get a message being like, ‘The fans have talked and they want you to put him in blue for the next turn.’” Urbanati seems to be both amused and flattered by these missives—and tries her best to take them into consideration when it makes sense. “I try to keep it in mind, because if [the fans] get excited, that makes me excited.”
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Aaron Taylor-Johnson in a monochromatic outfit for ‘Good Morning America.’
Engaging with fashion lovers—digitally and in real life—is clearly something Urbanati likes to do. Our conversation, which veers from shared motherhood anecdotes to our mutual love of Muay Thai (her husband, Johnny Hunt, is her martial arts trainer and currently works with several of her clients, as well), feels easy and unforced. She tells me she tries to answer everyone who messages her on Instagram, especially if they are nice or offer up their own wardrobe queries. From a chemistry standpoint, it’s not hard to see why many of her clients have been with her for 10-plus years: She’s open and interesting to talk to, with pursuits and obligations beyond the scope of fashion (including writing a movie script and raising her three children), and always willing to follow strange and unexpected turn in a conversation. I imagine there’s a fun dialogue with the famous men in her orbit, extending well beyond chats about clothes and logistics. This is likely a relief for someone who needs to get dressed up for work, but sees it more as a more of a requirement than a perk of the job.
More than a decade in, crafting looks for other people’s big life moments is still what thrills Urbanati the most. “It’s fun for me to work with someone who’s doing exciting, fun things … to go on that ride with them,” she muses. Working with cultural movers and shakers—and always seeking out fresh talent—means never getting stuck in a rut. This, she emphasizes, is the key to staying relevant.
“I always joke that I could have been a casting director. I think I have a really good eye for which guys are going to really have a career.” Luckily for her, these men are keen on developing their personal style and looking incredibly good in the process, too. “I think the thing I pride myself on most is when my clients look very individual,” she says. “My favorite look is when I can see someone and go: ‘I love this, because I feel like no one else could wear it but you.’ That’s my ideal look.”
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