“I’ve never felt really hot or beautiful until late in life,” Talia Cassel says, despite being a mere 27 years old. She’s in her Lower East Side studio before running over to Lena Dunham’s house. Cassel has been styling Dunham for nearly two years, orchestrating the buzzy outfits donned by the Girls creator for her recent book tour. A copy of Famesick sits on a filing cabinet next to MM6 sunglasses and some of the little rosette-like cockades that Dunham wore on the Famesick press circuit. The chemistry between them shows. Today, Dunham is moderating a Q&A with designer Isaac Mizrahi at Film Forum for the restoration of his legendary 1995 documentary Unzipped. She’s wearing custom Mizrahi just for the occasion.
When Cassel started styling, she always said Dunham was her dream client. “I’ve watched Girls a thousand times, obviously,” she says. Serendipity stepped in. Dunham’s previous stylist, Michael Handler, was looking to step down. “You’ll love her, she’s so fun. She has bunnies running all over the place,” Handler told her. Cassel stepped in for a New York Times shoot before later taking over full time. It was during the shoot that she came up with the idea of using the rosettes. After getting the gig, she went to Retail Pharmacy, one of her favorite stores in the Lower East Side, which stocks fun statement accessories alongside hot local indie brands like Twink Next Door, Blondita, and Zoe Gustavia Anna Whalen. It was there she found a rosette with two bunnies on it. “I feel like a rosette is a kind of professional nod. But then [with the bunnies], it was kismet,” Cassel said. After the shoot, Dunham wanted to make the rosette her signature.
Dressing Dunham for a book tour, Cassel took a refined sartorial approach, looking at pantsuits and dress sets for inspiration. “I just thought it was classy and chic and professional. It felt on brand since she was turning 40 this year,” Cassel said. It was a new approach for the young fashionista, who previously dressed rapper Travis Scott and indie rock band Fckers. “I might come in a sexy latex outfit,” she laughs. But Dunham’s looks became an instant success. Instagram and indie fashion mags blew up, and Cassel started doing profiles. She felt like she skipped a step, suddenly becoming a hot ticket seemingly overnight even though she’d worked as a styling assistant for years and behind the scenes with brands like Miaou.
