Polishing the stars: The Wall Group's Kate Stirling talks Hollywood talent

It’s common knowledge that celebrities get a lot of help when it comes to looking good on the red carpet.

Before an event like the Oscars and The Golden Globes all manner of preening and preparation takes place. Wardrobe fittings and jewellery loans are a given, but there’s also the very hectic business of last minute beauty fixes: pedis, manis, facials, brow/eyelash appointments as well as a whole other host of ’tweakments’ are carried out en masse before a big headline-grabbing event. Lacklustre locks (yes, celebs can have them too) are seemingly transformed into waves of caramel or treacle thanks to tonsorial 'artistes'; make-up is expertly applied by magicians who somehow manage to enhance a star's natural beauty whilst creating a shield of perfection that can’t be faulted by high definition pap pictures - even when you zoom into those pixels (you know you’ve tried it).

In short, we are all aware that there is an army of sartorial and beauty gurus working in the shadows, but who are these silent geniuses who consistently create 'Cinderella moments' for the rich and famous. And how do they operate?

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The Wall Group, founded in 2000 by Brooke Wall, is one of the most significant and successful businesses specialising in this field, representing makeup artists, stylists, manicurists and hairstylists. Top names on its books include Elizabeth Saltzman (who regularly dresses Gwyneth Paltrow, Saoirse Ronan and Uma Thurman), Karla Welch (recently described as one of the most powerful stylists in the world by The New York Times), Leith Clark (stylist to a legion of coquettish beauties including Keira Knightley) and Ben Skervin (hairstylist to Rachel Weisz, Cara Delevigne, Jennifer Garner and many more). At this year’s Golden Globes ceremony, 122 artists signed to The Wall Group worked with 152 celebrity guests, including Glenn Close, Rami Malek, Alfonso Cuarón, Christian Bale, Sandra Oh and Richard Madden.

Kate Stirling (below), Director of The Wall Group Los Angeles, has played a pivotal role in developing the agency’s global reach: The Wall Group, acquired by sports, entertainment and fashion behemoth WME/IMG in 2015, now has offices in New York, LA, London and Paris.

What’s more, the agency is run by an all female cast: founder Brooke Wall, Kate who was hired to head up the company’s West Coast operation and co-director Ali Bird who is based in New York.

Portfolio caught up with Kate Stirling following this year’s Oscar ceremony to find out more about what it takes to build a leading talent agency.

You joined The Wall Group in 2002, how did this opportunity come about?

Before joining The Wall Group, I was working with Ashton Kutcher as his assistant. It was while spending time on-set that I had my first introduction to the world of celebrity stylists, makeup artists and hairstylists. I was introduced to Brooke Wall through a friend who knew she was looking for someone to open an LA office and the rest is history. When I tell people what I do, most aren’t even aware that there is an entire business around hairstylists, makeup artists and stylists. There is a lot that goes into being part of a celebrity glam squad that the majority of people don’t know!

Could you talk me through the company’s involvement in this year’s Oscars?

This year our artists worked with 196 celebrities, getting them ready for the Oscars and surrounding parties. There are a lot of logistics involved in the lead up, and it’s an ever-evolving puzzle up until the last minute. We look closely at longstanding artist and client relationships [so] who is available and who can realistically make a time or location work, and start to map out a plan for the ‘night-of’. It’s a busy time, and many artists will be scheduled to work with multiple clients, but we do a lot of work on the back-end so all runs smoothly the day of the awards.

Presumably this takes a lot of forward planning…

We start to look at which movies are getting buzz at the film festivals in the summer and try to pair our artists with potential nominees and talent who we think will be working through the awards’ season. We also work closely with the team at WME [US talent agency William Morris Endeavor] to create strong matches between talent and our artists. For the Oscars, some publicists will try to book an artist up to a year in advance, but the sweet spot for us is when nominations are announced. By the night of the Oscars our job is done and it’s in our artists’ hands. We get to sit back and watch it all unfold from our couches!

Have you encountered any problems and, if so, how have you overcome them?

We are often managing last minute changes in schedule. It can be anything from someone wanting to get ready an hour later when an artist’s schedule is booked down to the minute, to talent getting sick and being unable to attend at the last minute, then trying to find jobs for the artists who were on hold. There are a million different things that pop up daily, but we know to expect them at this point and we’re always ready with a solution.

How does your team scout for talent?

Our most trusted scouting method when looking for emerging artists to sign is looking at assistants who have strong recommendations from our artists.

When we are looking for up-and-coming talent to pair our artists with, we rely on WME, IMG and our assistants and managers, who all have their finger on the pulse about who is about to have a big break across models, actors, athletes and musicians.

In which ways has The Wall Group grown? Perhaps in directions you hadn’t expected?

In 2000 The Wall Group had 40 artists signed, and we currently have over 250 of the best artists across styling, hair, makeup, grooming and nails in the world. We have offices in New York, LA, London and Paris and are continuing to grow internationally. Social media has also changed our industry in unexpected ways. When The Wall Group was founded, Instagram did not exist. Artists now are looked to for their expertise, which has turned them into a different kind of influencer and allowed them to work with brands in creative and non-traditional ways.

In a similar vein, social media has allowed artists to step out from behind-the-scenes and has given their followers an inside look at what it’s like to be part of a celebrity’s glam squad. Social media gives artists a direct line of communication with their followers and has opened up new opportunities to work with brands or to be discovered for their work.