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For celebrity styling duo Wayman Bannerman and Micah McDonald, the creative-director shake-ups could be a good thing when it comes to putting together looks for their clients during award season. "I actually think it will be a better award season because of that," Bannerman said. The duo known as Wayman and Micah has a stacked roster to dress. The pair works with some of the most in-demand stars in the entertainment industry, from Chase Infiniti to Colman Domingo.
On the latest episode of The Who What Wear Podcast, they share how they started working with Infiniti, how they take a look from sketch to reality, and more.
To read excerpts from their conversation, scroll below.
Can we speak about your girl Chase [Infiniti] for a moment? How did you guys start working together?
Micah McDonald: We knew that she was new, and we wanted to make sure that she was gonna feel taken care of and looked after versus just styled and explaining the industry from a place of compassion and excitement versus these existential "This is what you need to do. This is how this is gonna need to go, and if you don't go with us, you're just gonna go into oblivion," you know?
The meeting was great. It was a Saturday afternoon. Later that day, we just got a callback from her publicist. She said, "She has never made a decision this easy." She got off the phone, and she said, "I'm not meeting with anyone else. It's absolutely them."
We talk about custom a lot on this podcast, but we don't actually get to see what the real sketches look like, so I want to start with the beautiful Chase Infiniti at this year's Met Gala in custom Thom Browne.
MM: I mean, this is the best version of "what I ordered versus what came"—even the journey of this [and] every step along the way of them just adding and building onto the sketch and really listening to all of our "Ooh, what if?"-s
Wayman Bannerman: We took the inspiration of color from this Jamaican artist named Tamara Madden. She really experiments with color, and she uses color in the Black diaspora to really show African American women and the heritage of their women in a very prominent light and figure. So we took inspiration from her. We sent that over to Thom Browne, and they really captured what we wanted to convey with the theme and put it into a sketch.
Do you feel great now that all of the creative directors just about have landed? … It has been a little bit of a complicated time in the industry, only in that creative directors have been moving around. It takes a beat for them to settle in. Now, it feels like "Okay, we're a collection or two in. People are settling in." Do you feel like this is going to be an even better award season because of that?
WB: I actually think it will be a better award season because of that. Once they've settled in, some designers and creative directors are learning how the award-season campaigns work.
When you come from different houses that don't usually produce award-season looks, it's a trial-and-error process to learn how fast it can move and the pressure behind it as well. They're learning how to receive that pressure and how to produce creative work within that short time span, which we probably didn't see … from them in the previous season. I think it could be enlightening to see what they produce, and we're always excited to see new collections regardless. Seeing what designers do in new houses, also in the award space, could be very rewarding and gratifying to the audiences that love and adore those moments as well.
MM: Again, if you're not a house that's used to [being] able to produce shows and capsule collections, you need to bust out multiple customs week after week. I can only imagine … the learning curve that's had to take place.
I'm excited about the ease.
I always say this, and I probably should stop saying it because it's never taken place. But me and Wayman love to know what our award season remotely looks like before we go on Thanksgiving. Maybe this year might be the year.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.