'Models had become so expensive that no one could afford to use them': Veteran stylist on why celebrities replaced the supers

How-to guide: Sasha Charnin Morrison has written a book for aspiring celebrity stylists

She's said to be one of the most powerful people in fashion and has worked with everyone from Jennifer Lopez to the Real Housewives of New Jersey.
Now stylist Sasha Charnin Morrison has revealed her industry secrets in a new how-to guide for aspiring celebrity stylists.
In a new interview, she reveals why the jobs in which she suffered the most verbal abuse were the ones where she learned the most, and how celebrities came to replace supermodels.
She told Fashionista.com: 'The girls were so expensive that no one could afford to use models anymore.
'Their fees were outrageous and they were never available and celebs were there and they were eager to promote their movie. That was the pressure cooker.
'Suddenly there was a name behind the dress and suddenly the star is the stylist.'
According to Ms Charnin Morrison, 1995 was the year that transformed celebrity styling.
'Everyone I spoke with pinpoints the moment that Barbara Tfank dressed Uma Thurman in Prada for the 1995 Oscars as the time when everything changed,' she explained.
'It wasn’t a costume design by Helen Rose, it wasn’t a Bob Mackie creation, it just wasn’t a costume. It was a piece that someone could buy off a rail. Before then, you just just didn’t know where red carpet gowns came from.'

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She added that the stars who didn't use stylists have a very specific look. She named Blake Lively, Diane Kruger, Kate Moss and Sienna Miller as celebrities with great personal style.

Career break: The role of stylist developed when stars replaced models in campaigns and on magazines. But some, such as Diane Kruger, Sienna Miller and Blake Lively are style-savvy enough to dress themselves

But most women in the public eye, she explained, have limited time to source clothing for all their public appearances, and often lack the eye for fit and shopping address book of a professional stylist.
But even celebrities with stylists are not infallible, as Ms Charnin Morrison reveals in the Fashion Crimes section of her book.
She uses Gwyneth Paltrow's 1999 Oscar dress as a key example, describing how the actress had decided to remove padding from the bust of the Ralph Lauren gown at the last minute.
'As she walked down the carpet the dress started to grow,' she recalled.

Fashion history: Uma Thurman changed the industry when she wore Prada for the 1995 Oscars (left), while Gwyneth Paltrow's decision to remove the padding from her Ralph Lauren gown in 1999 was a poor one (right