Who does a fashion editor trust for style advice? These days, I’m all about tapping the luxury world’s top personal shoppers. They’re the ones with direct lines to the biggest and coolest brands, the gurus who can track down a special sold-out item when the rest of us gave up months ago, and the inside experts getting a detailed view of what people with big budgets (both celebs and non-celebs) are putting first dibs on ahead of a new season. They are, in essence, a more connected link between what’s being created and what consumers are actually buying in real time, and with the kind of access they have to fabulous things, you can bet your bottom dollar they are fussy as hell. Ergo, their recommendations should be accepted as gospel.
The prominence of the personal shopper is rising, and the concept is diversifying. Once upon a time, I thought of personal shoppers as the kind of so-called fashion expert (in inverted commas) lurking in a changing room ready to swoop in and overhaul your look if you were clueless, providing a sensible, probably quite commercial eye to, say, a workwear closet. These days, the vibe is very different and rarified. There are cool customers over the globe who are dipping in and out of using personal shoppers to find gold dust–like It items or collectables. There are pioneering companies, such as digitally native Threads, where you can get in touch with a personal shopper via WhatsApp as easily as you can order a sushi delivery. The job spec has changed so much in this realm that it’s perhaps more accurate to call these industry members “fashion sourcers.” Example? When Rosie Huntington-Whiteley needed to track down a Phoebe Philo–era Céline coat from 2017, she called upon the skills of super style sleuth Gab Waller (included below). The heart wants what the heart wants. So what are the fashion sourcers buying for their own wardrobes this autumn? I simply had to find out…
