How stylists are rethinking fashion during Covid-19: three Asian insiders talk storytelling, creativity and using clothes to dispel gender norms

By the time she travels again, Sabina Vitter will have had ample time to slow down, learn and experiment – it’s one of the positives to come from the pandemic

Covid-19 has meant Perpetua Ip has had to look for talent closer to home rather than from abroad, and she has ‘found a lot of really good people’

Reading Time:5 minutes

Styling by Perpetua Ip. Ip started out her career as a fashion editor, and this mindset has set the groundwork for her approach to styling.

Published: 12:15pm, 18 Aug 2020Updated: 7:27pm, 18 Aug 2020

On the street, fashionable expression is limited to a wearer’s imagination, but there are no such rules in the styling world.

This is especially true in China, where stylists are breaking free of convention to produce magazine photo shoots that use tools such as CGI (computer-generated imagery) and experimental photography in addition to make-up, and feature emerging clothing brands.

With the Covid-19 pandemic creating barriers to travel and in-person shoots, the schedule of a stylist looks a little different these days.

Still, these three trendsetting stylists are pressing on – even if, in one case, it’s from nearly 4,000km (2,500 miles) away.

Sabina Vitter

On a normal summer’s day in Beijing, freelance stylist Vitter can be found solo skateboarding and brainstorming for her next creative project. This summer, until she is able to return to her home in China’s capital, she’s stuck in her hometown in Kazakhstan, coordinating remotely with her team in Shanghai to complete a number of photo shoots.