Stylist, model, and Interview magazine fashion director Dara Allen always thinks one step ahead. When fashion’s front-row stars were fixated on manufacturing viral moments, her subdued pencil skirts and neutral tones stood out from the sea of ostentatious outfits that were in desperate need of some editing. And now, amid the obsession with quiet luxury and timelessness, Allen has decided to embrace her personal style’s playful and experimental side. “For a long time, I was frustrated because everything I was seeing was just too much. I wanted to see chicness and elegance. Well, mission accomplished: Chic has come to rule the world,” Allen, whose clients include Calvin Klein, Balenciaga, Tom Ford, Miu Miu, and Euphoria star Hunter Schafer, says. “So now, I’m ready to see something exuberant and fun and silly and stupid. Instead of looking like a really elegant woman, I’m making fun of her.”
Excellent foresight not only helps shape her style but also helps inform Allen’s decisions as a stylist. Just last week, everyone was talking about a look she styled: Addison Rae at the MTV Video Music Awards in a custom Miss Claire Sullivan bra-and-panty set. People either loved it or hated it — which was the whole point, Allen explained in a TikTok. “Some of y’all may not have been conscious during all of the VMA’s references that people like to throw around willy-nilly. But I was, albeit very young, and these moments had a profound effect on me,” Allen said in a viral video. “All of those moments that y’all want to love and gag on now, in hindsight, people were mad. They were not loving it [at the time]: the snake, the blood, the kiss … To everyone asking for it to be a bodysuit, corset, bra that fit: I’m so sorry, my dear, but had that been the case, we wouldn’t be here having this conversation.”
“I remember in 2007 when Britney did ‘Gimme More,’ similar questions were raised,” she continued. “Flattery is a low bar as an arbiter of pop. Everything needs a little friction. Art is meant to comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.”
This season, Allen built her fashion-month looks around her freshly yellow hair and collection of emoji hats, which are heavily inspired by pop artists such as Roy Lichtenstein. “I’ve been thinking about style icons who always had amazing headpieces and hats. Turning my head into an emoji is my version of that,” Allen says. “You’re kind of supposed to wear sunglasses and be super stoic in the front row; it’s all about hiding your emotions. I thought, I’m just going to show how I feel instead and do it in the most obnoxious and obvious way possible.”
How do you define your personal style?
I like showstopping simplicity. My style is sort of cinematic and character-driven. I like silhouettes that are quite clean and classic.
How did you develop your sense of style, and what has that journey entailed?
I think personal style is always a work in progress because you’re constantly discovering new things about yourself throughout your life. That’s part of the fun and the challenge of fashion; you get to continually reiterate, recontextualize, and reevaluate yourself. When I was young, I experimented a lot and tried everything. Every day was a new look, a new story line, a new character until I eventually settled on a uniform. This season, I felt like that uniform was really cemented, so I felt ready to elaborate on it. I dyed my hair and changed things up a bit. I’m in a new era; my style is back to being more open and fun and experimental.
Which individual pieces or silhouettes do you gravitate toward to create your signature look?
I love a pencil skirt and a sharp silhouette. I gravitate toward chic sheath dresses, sunglasses, button earrings, and a pair of classic pumps. That’s been my look, and I mostly wore neutrals. But this season I’m feeling inspired by Lichtenstein and various Pop Art pieces, so I’m wearing more color. I’ve been looking at a lot of cartoons and movie characters from film noir. I like the idea of dipping these characters that I always dress like into some color, charging them up in a different way.
What sparked this new era?
We tend to sanitize ourselves and get into this rut of being a certain way. I wanted to kill all of that and turn it on its head. I got bored of myself. That’s my motivation right now. I grew up obsessed with fashion. The front row was always filled with amazing characters, like Anna Piaggi, Manuela Pavesi, and Isabella Blow. We still have people like Lynn Jaeger, but now you look around and everyone’s wearing a chic little coat. I love their chic little coats. And I love my chic little coat! But we’ve got to give the kids something to look at, you know? I was like, I can’t say this and be upset about it and not do anything about it. So that’s my tea.
What’s your process for finding and working with new designers?
It’s quite organic. Sometimes something pops up on my feed that I love, so I’ll send a DM. Sometimes I hear about a designer through a friend or a friend of a friend.
Staying in the know, essentially?
Yeah, you have to live it and the right things will find you.
As someone with a large social-media platform, how do you differentiate your style from what you see being recycled repeatedly online?
I think it’s more about the way I’m interpreting trends and the way I’m spitting them back out into the world. I don’t know that I’m looking at anything so differently than anyone else. I love to look at what everyone else is looking at, because, to me, that says something about where we are. That pings something in my brain. I think that’s where my points of references come from. There’s just such a ridiculousness to life in the current moment, and so that’s sort of the motivation for looking ridiculous. To me, existing as a glamorous woman is one of the most tragic experiences. Like in movies, a female character is always best dressed when she finds out someone died or someone cheated on her. There’s something about the tension between glamor and tragedy — I see so much tragedy in the world, so glamor is my response. Finding yourself and defining yourself is about boundaries and limitations. It’s about editing down what you’re seeing and saying, “This is me but this other thing is not, and that’s okay.” I find it very freeing.
How do you approach getting dressed during fashion month?
I go with a concept and storyboard it out, similar to an editorial spread or working performance concept. It has different levels and shows different versions of the same girl in all the different scenarios she’ll be in. That helps me organize myself. I love it when clothes speak without you saying anything. If I put all of my fashion-month looks together in this way, I’m able to say everything I want to say without directly explaining it. You never know exactly what you’re going to do or how many events you’ll have to go to in a day during fashion month (and sometimes you don’t find out until the last minute). If you have specific outfits planned out that you have to plug in somewhere during the week, that doesn’t always work. But if you have a wardrobe of options you can mix together, then you can build your looks with ease and flexibility. I’m so instinctual and emotional about what I put on my body, and it just has to feel right. I think you really have to pay attention to your mood in the moment. If you don’t, you end up being uncomfortable.
Do you have any packing tips for fashion month?
I don’t think anyone should ask me for packing tips. My suitcase is wide open and exploding all over the room right now. No one should ask.
Are there any style rules you swear by?
I love white pumps — even after Labor Day — because, growing up, my mom would always tell me that only trampy girls wear them.
Where do you shop?
Oh, I’ll go anywhere. I’m not super specific about where I shop. My favorite thing to do is walk through the little stalls on Canal Street.
