Stylist Gro Curtis gives an honest look into fashion’s ruthless beauty

By Anastasia Vartanian

Mission’s Contributing Fashion Director, who’s worked with Austin Butler, Gisele, Jessica Lange, and styled our latest cover shoot with Ryan McGinley and Hari Nef, speaks openly on the appeal and challenges of his job.

Gro Curtis is opinionated but not mean-spirited, which makes him a pleasure to listen to. My Zoom interview with the prolific stylist starts as he’s in a taxi in NYC from a photoshoot to his hotel, which gives me a glimpse into his fast-paced life. The shoot he has just rushed back from is with Steven Klein, the photographer and pop culture fixture. The fact that Curtis is so casual about working with Klein reveals the type of life he lives. “I live in hotels,” he tells me, spending most of his time between Milan and New York. He also takes around 100 flights a year for his work.

Curtis gets into his hotel room and settles down, switching the black and white filter on for our call. (“I really don’t like colors,” he explained.) With black blazer, dark sunglasses, and hands adorned with silver rings, he is what I picture a fashion editor to be, but he has none of that stereotypical fashion coldness. 

Nowadays he styles runway shows, works as V Magazine’s fashion director, and for the past few issues has been Mission’s contributing fashion director working with the likes of photographer Craig McDean. His dream as a teenager from a small town in Croatia, however, was to work in the United Nations, even going to school for political science. But when a friend invited him to volunteer at a PR office at a local Croatian fashion week, Curtis got that first taste of the fashion world. “I saw the adrenaline of it all. You know: the drama, the spectacle. Of course, this was on a much lower scale.”

Even now, “fashion still has that feeling–you feel like Alice in Wonderland. You went through this hole, and now you have access to all these amazing people.” He mentions private performances with Diana Ross and Stevie Nicks, or meeting artists like Jeff Koons and Marina Abramović through his work. The constant action, traveling, and insider cultural access fuel Curtis, a self-professed adrenaline junkie. “Once you taste the possibility and the beauty of the fashion world, you kind of become addicted to it.”

“Now, that’s the good side of fashion,” he says, noting that there are also many toxic sides to the industry. He calls it “the cruelest industry in the world.” Why? “Because, first of all, I judge every day and I’m being judged every day.” By that, he means judging models who come for castings, or photographers with whom he’s going to work. “Watching the shows. Is it a good collection? Is it a bad collection? Is it a good editorial? Bad editorial?” 

“Fashion still has that feeling–you feel like Alice in Wonderland. You went through this hole, and now you have access to all these amazing people.”

“All of us have bad days, but it’s very hard to have a bad day and to work in fashion. You have to keep your smile and play the game,” he says. “It’s an industry where you cannot put your guard down. [Also,] the concept of loyalty does not exist. You will help build up a designer from scratch. The designer becomes famous, the designer will drop you. That’s normal in the industry,” he confesses. It creates a constant awareness that you are replaceable, which takes its toll on your mental health.

Though his candid evaluation of the industry may sound pessimistic, it’s a kind of realism and acceptance that protects his sanity. It’s easy to become frustrated or bitter, he describes. “Because you’re like, oh, of course I’m not at that show. I didn’t get that job because so-and-so got it. But you cannot think in that way. You may try, but you will lose your gravitas and you will lose your sanity.”

A lot of things you have to brush off like snow on your shoulder, he tells me. “You have to protect yourself in the context of not taking things too personally. Of course, you’re going to take many things personally because we are humans. But you should be careful in selecting which things you take in, from which people.”

“Remember that the rudest people you will ever meet in life are the most insecure ones. There’s no point of you being rude on top of that, that’s a waste of your time and energy,” Curtis tells aspiring fashion professionals. He confesses that, in his opinion, a large percentage of people in fashion are “completely insecure,” so protecting yourself is vital.

It’s important to be aware of what you want, Curtis stresses. For instance, he doesn’t believe that a work/life balance is possible for him, as he dedicates his life to his work – not least because of the way that fashion is structured, with womenswear and menswear twice a year, couture shows, pre-fall, cruise, capsule collections and collaborations in between. Not to mention the fact that fashion has a short memory, a season off could mean being forgotten, and people are judged on their last collection or story. Outside of seeing fashion shows and doing shoots, the role of a fashion editor also involves a hefty cultural appetite. When Curtis has free time he goes to museums, reads, gathers new inspiration. “Imagine, in this circus, fitting a private life or someone you love.” But he doesn’t lament his destiny: “I chose it.”

“Nothing in fashion is fair. It’s ruthless. You can be talented. You can be groundbreaking.”

Curtis clarifies that this is “probably not a healthy approach”, and he doesn’t have advice that will universally work for everyone. “I think you have to know what you want. Which is very hard. But before knowing what you want, you need to know or make a list of things you do not want. And just go from there.” 

One thing he tells his interns is that if you’re looking for fairness, don’t go to fashion. “Nothing in fashion is fair. It’s ruthless. You can be talented. You can be groundbreaking. But, maybe some pretty boy will take that place that you want. Or someone with a good social background.”

The fact that Curtis is so candid about his experience is valuable for those who want to make informed decisions about working in the industry–one that is often glamorized. It’s an industry that can give people access to a world of excitement and beauty, but if you aren’t aware of its ugly realities, you can get hurt. “In the context of the lifestyle we are offered, the people we meet, the places we visit. It’s insane. Fashion gives you all of this on a silver platter. But on the other hand, that basic human level of kindness is still radically missing.”

As our conversation draws to a close, I understand why Curtis said early on that kindness is the ultimate form of luxury. At a time when fashion is concerned with proving its inclusivity, he says the industry should start with the basics: with how people treat each other on a daily basis. “You cannot resolve the diversity issue in fashion if you don’t step back and resolve the basic human issue of how we treat people.”

When working in fashion, particularly at the level that Curtis does, you need to be comfortable with yourself and your choice. “It takes time to be comfortable with yourself. And I think that’s the most important thing, not just in fashion, but in life.”

Homepage image Joshua Cummings by Steven Klein. Inside images left to right – Anja Rubik by Sølve Sundsbø, Pier Paolo Piccoli by Michael Avedon, Gisele by Blair Getz Mezibov. Middle images Rayssa and Anyiang by Craig McDean, Bottom images, left Rebecca Longendyke Blair Getz Mezibov and bottom right by Dominic Fike by Nathaniel Goldberg.

All imagery courtesy of Gro Curtis.