Bay Garnett is a British freelance fashion stylist, author and editor. She pioneered the idea of "thrifting", the art of shopping in second-hand stores, as being relevant to high fashion by including items she had found in magazine shoots. Garnett is the Senior Independent Fashion Advisor for Oxfam, and has led their runway shows during London Fashion Week in 2017, 2019 and coming up in 2020. This is part of the LFW schedule, and is uniquely styled by Garnett out of second-hand items donated to Oxfam. She also worked with Oxfam on 2019's Secondhand September campaign, with plans to repeat the initiative in 2020. Her thrift-inspired work is credited with having made its way into mainstream fashion. Published in 2016 and 2017 by IDEA Books, Garnett co-edited Fanpages: a collection of one page zines by different contributors, such as Beth Ditto, Chloe Sevigny and Louis Theroux. Garnett was appointed Contributing Fashion Editor at British Vogue 2002 - 2017,and then Fashion Director-at-Large of the Evening Standard magazine in 2017 until present.
Background
She is the daughter of Andy Garnett and Polly Devlin. Her mother, who received an OBE for service for Literature, worked at both British and American Vogue and wrote the Vogue Book of Fashion Photography.
Career
After studying art history and modern history at the University of Exeter, Garnett gained initial experience in galleries such as the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, Pace Wildenstein in New York and working for photographic agency Art Department. In 1997, she co-launched the New York version of underground, anti-fashion magazine Cheap Date, started in London in 1997 by Kira Jolliffe, which won them the title 'thrift pioneers'. The magazine had contributors such as Anita Pallenberg, Chloe Sevigny, Liv hTyler and Debbie Harry. She is also the co-author of The Cheap Date Guide to Style. From 2002 to 2004, she was Style Director for British designer Matthew Williamson, and continues to be a Contributing Fashion Editor for British Vogue and a consultant to Louis Vuitton amongst other projects. In 2004, she designed a limited edition range for Topshop and consulted for the label Chloé. While there, the Bay bag was developed and became one of its most successful bags. Garnett has collaborated with photographers including Juergen Teller, Bruce Webber, Craig McDean, Nick Knight and David LaChapelle. She also worked on a digital film for Louis Vuitton with Sam Taylor-Johnson. Her work has been featured in various publications and print advertising including British Vogue, Italian Vogue, V Man, 25 Magazine, Selfridges, Centrefold Magazine, Lula Magazine, and Solange Azagury-Partridge. In 2013, Garnett took part in a joint exhibition with her partner, photographer Tom Craig, at the Vogue Festival in London. Garnett is the Senior Fashion Advisor for Oxfam, and has led their runway shows during London Fashion Week in 2017, 2019 and coming up in 2020. This is part of the LFW schedule, and is uniquely styled by Garnett out of purely second-hand items donated to Oxfam. She also worked with Oxfam on 2019's Secondhand September, with plans to repeat the initiative in 2020. Bay Garnett created Cheap Date magazine and Cheap Date Guide to Style, both celebrating secondhand and vintage fashion. This started in 1999, gaining Garnett the credit of pioneering second hand and vintage fashion.
