Say what you will about the 80s and the pumped up fashions of the era, entertainers looked a lot more unique than many of the manufactured, cookie-cutter groups of today. "I hate that look of a girl group all wearing ripped denim skirts," Fee Doran, aka Mrs. Jones, the London-based music fashion stylist & designer recently told WWD. Her A-list client roster includes Duran Duran, the Scissor Sisters, the Zutons, Amp Fiddler, & Kylie Minogue – in that iconic white catsuit. "There's no individualism—I'm inspired by Eighties artists like Grace Jones and Blondie. When I was growing up, I'd see them on TV and I would just be like, 'Wow.'" In addition to Minogue’s space-age ensembles, Doran’s flamboyant sartorial creations include dungarees with patches worn over a bare chest (the Scissor Sisters), school uniform-inspired getups (the Zutons), and skintight shorts sprouting a horsetail (Alison Goldfrapp). "I want to bring out [the artists'] personalities—I'll ask what their favorite films are, what inspires them," explains the one-time underground DJ who collaborated on a "disco dolly meets mad professor" line called Doran Deacon with Giles Deacon, with Matthew Williamson on his spring 2001 line, and with Fred Perry. "If you have the opportunity to be on stage, it's a fabulous chance to dress up. You need that visual element, too." Explaining why she turns down clients, Doran notes, "I'll only do stuff if I like it. I've turned down people like Posh Spice [Victoria Beckham]. The music has to give me goose-bumps, otherwise there's no point in doing it." The fact is, stylists wield a tremendous amount of power in the fashion business. While they may not be household names, they are most often responsible for how the household names look when appearing in public. While celebs like Nicole Richie and Lindsey Lohan are lauded as fashion icons, their outfits are actually the handiwork of uber-stylist Rachel Zoe. As a show like "Sex and the City" showed, a stylist like Patricia Field can make a name like Christian Louboutin a must-have for the masses. Top tier stylists like Patti Wilson, Andrea Lieberman, Lori Goldstein & Joe Zee are responsible for some of the biggest fashion trends. Not only do they determine which clothing & accessories are photographed in the direction-setting fashion spreads in top magazines, but they put together the looks for the red carpet, music videos & album covers, and influential campaigns for houses like Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, Ralph Lauren, and Versace.

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