Oscar stylist's double duty is a great fit
NEW YORK — Meet Hollywood's most powerful stylist.
The Oscars are the world's glitziest catwalk and mom-of-two Leslie Fremar, 38, is responsible for dressing two of the night's most notable nominees: Julianne Moore and Reese Witherspoon, both up for best actress. With only a week left until showtime (ABC, Sunday, 7 p.m. ET/4 PT), Fremar, on a subarctic morning, is the image of zen.
"I've worked with both of them for a really long time," she says. "It kind of feels like you're doing their wedding, if you want to put it in real terms."
It's not every year that you wind up clothing two of the biggest name in the business, for most of the same events.
"I didn't expect it to be this much work, so we do a lot of planning," says Fremar. "There's no strategy. It just comes together."
What if there's a snowstorm, say, and a dress doesn't arrive? Fremar catches her breath.
"Oh, it shows up. It shows up. I can't even think that. I can't put that into the universe," she says.
At this point, Fremar isn't hedging her bets. Each of her clients has just one dress in the pipeline. "I like to work like that. The dresses we're making are going to work," she says.
Usually, the gowns will land in Los Angeles the Wednesday before the Academy Awards. Then Fremar fits each actress once a day until Sunday. That morning, Witherspoon and Moore get ready in adjacent hotel rooms, so Fremar can work with each of them without any extra stress.
Moore, the favorite to win best actress, has collaborated with Fremar for a decade. "She is talented and fun to be with, and truly has the ability to understand and develop an individual's style in a way that allows you to see the person, not just the clothes," Moore says. "She has an amazing aesthetic, and loves and appreciates fashion as an art."
In an industry of outsized egos and toddler-worthy temper tantrums, Fremar is just plain nice. She's calm, polite, and easygoing. And designers love working with her.
"We like to cook together. We cook whatever is fresh. Neither of us is a super-chef," says Jason Wu. "She's just cool. You want to hang out with her. But when she's working, make no mistake — she's on it."
For Fremar, "the most important part of it is the respect. If the dress doesn't work out for me, I want the brand to have the opportunity to get it on someone else."
"We play the game fair," she says. "I tell the clients that we need to give things back. I'm not shy."