Celebrity Stylist Micaela Erlanger on What She Was Doing at 25

On hand at Omar’s La Ranita restaurant in New York City on Feb. 7 to celebrate Donald J Pliner’s new fall 2017 collection, stylist to the stars Micaela Erlanger shared what she was doing at 25 and touched on red-carpet dressing with FN.

“At 25, I was trying to break into the fashion industry. I was assisting. I always knew I wanted to be a stylist, so I was educating myself on all things fashion, working my tush off and going on coffee runs and pulls, and really just learning every side of the business that I possibly could because I knew one day, this is what I hoped to do,” said the New York native who was named a power stylist in 2015 by The Hollywood Reporter.

Erlanger earned her chops assisting Interview magazine editor Annabel Tollman for six years and worked at many others at publications such as Harper’s Bazaar and V magazine. While she will be styling best actress nominee Meryl Streep for the Oscars this month, she also has worked with Lupita Nyong’o, Jared Leto and many more A-listers. So what’s her secret for looking your best on the red carpet?

“You have to feel like the best version of yourself, and you have to feel comfortable in whatever it is you have on, including your footwear, because your confidence shines through when you feel really great about yourself and what you have on, so that’s the number-one priority,” she said. And while Jimmy Choo, Christian Louboutin and Manolo Blahnik tend to be the go-to, red-carpet favorites, Erlanger said she likes to experiment with other brands as well.

“I think at the end of the day, I’m looking for the right shoe to complement the gown, so here we are at Donald J Pliner, and I’m seeing the most beautiful evening shoes with the fun accents and really beautiful details. … I work with so many brands and as a stylist, it’s a real pleasure.”

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