Wouri Vice Knows Style Is About More Than the Clothes

For celebrity stylist Wouri Vice, good styling starts with the person, not the clothes. That approach anchors his work on JCPenney’s The Other September Issue, a fashion publication that puts five educators from San Marcos, Texas, on the cover as the style icons they already are.

“How people feel translates into the way that they dress,” Vice says. “That’s always going to relate back to how someone dresses.”

Vice has brought that philosophy to his work with H.E.R., Andra Day and Issa Rae. With JCPenney, the same attention went to women whose influence reaches beyond a red carpet.

Personal style, not a makeover

“It wasn’t like a makeover per se,” he says. “This was actual teachers being dressed and finding their personality.”

One teacher’s personality came through in cheetah-print pants and red shoes. Another paired Adidas track pants with a blazer. Vice was not trying to turn them into fashion magazine characters. He was recognizing what was already there and finding the JCPenney pieces that let each woman express it.

“Everyone is someone,” Vice says. “That, to me, was the power of JCPenney: that there was something there for everyone.”

The lesson for stylists is in the listening. The clothes support the person wearing them, rather than asking her to become someone else.

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Inside Wouri Vice’s JCPenney styling experience

That approach needs options: pieces to mix, accessories to layer and room to interpret a look. Vice describes walking into the JCPenney styling environment as a dream.

“There were so many earrings and accessories that were there,” he says. “As a stylist, it’s a dream when you’re able to walk into a job and you literally have every accoutrement that you need in order to get it done.”

The project also became a reintroduction to a retailer he already shops himself.

“I actually wear things from JCPenney,” he says, laughing. “People think I look like Shaquille O’Neal. I don’t think so, but I love his pajamas. And I’m literally wearing a Shaquille O’Neal T-shirt right now.”

Working with the brand gave him a different perspective on what JCPenney could offer his styling clients.

“I hadn’t really gone into it like that, for clients and things of that nature,” he says. “So this gave me a chance to really see what is available, what designers are available, what the quality of the clothing is there. It was truly, truly fascinating.”

A September issue with educators at the center

The Other September Issue takes a familiar fashion magazine formula and changes who gets to occupy the center of it. The entire issue is shoppable, featuring brands including Liz Claiborne, a.n.a., Stafford, Levi’s and Adidas.

Vice captured the idea in his own reflection on the campaign: “What if fashion’s iconic September issue celebrated style that feels personal, powerful and possible for everyone?”

For a stylist known for working with celebrities and artists, bringing that same editorial attention to educators makes the campaign matter. Their influence is already there. The styling gives it another way to be seen.

“I love the idea of taking something that could be everyday affiliated and making it aspirational,” Vice says. “It takes people out of that space of just putting your hair in a ponytail and going. It makes you want to take that extra step, add a little something, and make it feel special.”

Wouri’s work makes a clear case: style does not have to be exclusive, expensive or complicated to feel special. Sometimes it takes the right person to see what is already there.

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