Historically, the job of a successful celebrity stylist has been to dress movie stars in clothing that feels purposely unattainable—red-carpet gowns by top-tier fashion houses, dozens of perfect outfits for every stop along international press junkets—so the idea that a famous person would pay someone to dress them in clothes they actually live their real lives in is surprisingly novel. “The actress thing is amazing and it’s fantasy, but it can’t be replicated,” says Reilly, who tells me it makes her happy when women re-create looks they see her clients wearing on their own budgets.
But what really sets Reilly, 34, apart from others in her field is the willingness to remake a celebrity persona in her own image. Reilly herself dresses the way she styles her clients, so the influence starts at the root. For better or worse, it’s hard not to compare Reilly’s effect to that of Rachel Zoe in the early 2000s. Both are emblematic of celebrity street style during a particular snapshot of time.
By no means is this comparison aesthetic: Whereas Zoe skulked around Robertson Boulevard with her emaciated acolytes draped in bohemian schmattas and bug-eyed sunglasses to avoid the paparazzi, Reilly is toned and strong like her clients and zips around L.A. in sweats, crop tops, those same rare Dunks (she recently splurged on the coveted orange and white “Syracuse” low-tops, she tells me), acrylic claws, tiny tats, iced wrists. If you could bottle 2021 as a vibe, in she’d go.
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Two decades ago Zoe would have been in that bottle, as she too had real women clamoring to copy the way she dressed. The difference, looking back, is that Zoe and her crew—you know who they are—emitted distinct you-can’t-sit-with-us energy (again, emblematic of the time), while Reilly is all about inclusion, decency, and surrounding herself with good vibes.
“The most important thing to me is if they’re nice,” she tells me when I ask her how she goes about deciding who to take on as clients. “If you’re not nice, I won’t work with you. I worked so hard on myself to make sure everything I do is from my heart, and so I find I’ve drawn in women who work energetically with me.” Reilly also says it comes down to a shared vision. “Women are drawn to my aesthetic, which is very tomboy, very edgy, very cool-girl. Most likely, I’m not going to attract a bohemian.”