Meet Benjamin Holtrop | Celebrity & Editorial Fashion Stylist / Art Director

We had the good fortune of connecting with Benjamin Holtrop and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Benjamin, we’d love for you to start things off by telling us something about your industry that we and others not in the industry might be unaware of?
One thing that stylists don’t often talk about is the the unglamorous physical work it takes to do the job. The amount of clothes that is we carry around is often packed in 70lb+ suitcases, garment bags, clothing racks, etc. and more often then not you have to walk these up stairs, thru airports, juggling these thru hotel lobbies. and loading in and out of photo studios & showrooms.

I joke sometimes that being a stylist is actually being a pack mule 90% of the time. Even though theres a lot of physical work in being a stylist, I would gladly lug around those gigantic suitcases for any of my clients.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Art and creativity has also been a part of my DNA. As a child, I remember always creating things (most of them being messes as told by my mom). It wasn’t until I went to university that I found my self in a drawing class. I looked around and immediately felt like I belonged here. I quickly switched my major from nursing to studio art that same week.

It was with my fellow art majors that I found a passion for photography & sculpture. I loved creating imagery through photography and the physical aspect of sculpture both of which I used as self expression. I also started a photo project called “365” which is where you take a photo every day for a year. At the beginning it was very casual photographs but within a couple weeks each photo turned into a photoshoot production. I experimented with different concepts and I often found my self creating the set design, fashion styling, and photography.

Soon after my fellow photography friends would ask me to do the fashion styling for their photoshoots and I found myself doing just that. I loved being part of the image making process whilst using my hands. Fashion styling to me felt like sculpture – using clothing as the medium to create shapes and silhouettes on the human body. It was the perfect intersection of all my passions.

My journey with fashion styling has been self taught which I found as a challenge but also a blessing. Some of the challenges of being a self taught stylist is the access to resources. If you assist another stylist, you are able to see the process of procuring clothes for clients but as a self taught stylist, you have to find & foster those relationships yourself. But the tremendous blessing is that you develop your own aesthetic voice and taste that isn’t influenced by another stylist. One of the most important lessons that I have learned as a fashion stylist is to listen. Listen to your clients, listen to your gut, and listen to your team.

I hope that whoever I work with feels heard & seen & that I was able to channel their essense in whatever story they are trying to tell thru their fashion.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Some of my favorite spots in the city are

Breakfast/Brunch – Definitely The Butcher, The Baker & The Cappuccino Maker Cafe, Franks (for the best breakfast burritos), Alta, & Met Her at a Bar

Lunch – Dune, Loqui, Mizlala, Malibu Seafood Fresh Fish Market & Patio Cafe, Gjusta, Sugarfish

Dinner – Jon & Vinnys, Oh Kook (KBBQ), Mother Tongue, Gjelina, & Olivetta

Sights – Academy Museum, LACMA, Rosebowl Flea Market, Farmers Market/ The Grove, Malibu

Shopping – Dover Street Market, The Webster, Bodega, DTLA the Row, Atrio, Platform

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I am so thankful for everyone that I have crossed paths with and has been part if this journey but it is my team that I am most grateful for.

Thanks to my assistant, Emily who we have been working together for 9 years. She is definitely become my right hand & knows exactly what I need even before I even know. The shorthand communication we have is invaluable.

Also, I would love to thank my agent/manager Anna at THE WALL GROUP who I have been working with the past 9 months for her constant support and the work she does behind the scenes to make sure I have the resources to do my job. I also am forever grateful that she saw something in me and my work.

Website: www.benjaminholtrop.co

Instagram: @benjaminholtrop