EXPOSURE – THE SHINING OF THE MUSES
You are now in a section dedicated to what inspires a stylist, called “The Shining of the Muses”.
Every act of styling starts with inspiration. A fleeting image, a memory, or a feeling that sparks creativity. Stylists draw from everything around them: runway shows, editorials, films, art, textures, or even childhood memories. These influences form a personal visual language that guides their work.
In the studio or online, stylists gather these sparks and transform them into something new. A 1990s silhouette, an old Hollywood portrait, or a street photograph becomes a starting point, reinterpreted through the stylist’s perspective. Inspiration can appear anywhere: in a model’s pose, a runway soundtrack, or a scrap of fabric. The stylist’s job is to recognize it and turn it into shape, texture, and gesture.
Every look exhibited in this section carries traces of these sparks, turning craft into expression and technique into poetry. Creation begins with wonder, and the muse shines through every finished image. Let’s explore a few of these iconic looks.
BJÖRK – MAIKO TAKEDA
Can you see the halo-like bodypiece composed of strips of colored, transparent plastic?
For the visual world of Vulnicura, her eighth studio album released in 2015, artist Björk collaborated once again with ITS Contest 2014 designer Maiko Takeda, whose ethereal, sculptural work merges fashion with atmospheric illusion.
This headpiece by Takeda is constructed from thousands of translucent, hand-placed acrylic prongs which created a luminous halo effect around Björk, shifting between armor, aura, and living organism.
Paired with a latex bodysuit, the design amplified the album’s themes of emotional exposure and self-protection, transforming Björk into a figure suspended between vulnerability and futurism.
Takeda’s piece embodies the avant-garde visual language that has become central to Björk’s artistry: an exploration of identity, transformation, and the merging of the human form with otherworldly architecture.
HARRY STYLES – ARTURO OBEGERO
Now look for the black and light-blue striped men’s ensemble composed of a sleeveless top and a pair of pants.
This is a look that was worn by singer, songwriter and actor Harry Styles for the visual world of his album Harry’s House, a record that became instrumental in shaping the new “Styles era” we recognize today, expressive, fluid, yet deeply personal.
To create this look, stylist Harry Lambert involved emerging designer Arturo Obegero, who ended up producing around 20–30 pieces in a very short window of time. “I’ve still got sequins all over the house,” he famously reported.
Defined by its bold diagonal striping and elongated, dance-inspired silhouette, it reflects Obegero’s sculptural, performance-driven approach to fashion, echoing influences from modern dance and 1970s stagewear. Designed to interact dynamically with movement and light, it embodies the era’s blend of intimacy and theatricality. Obegero explicitly quotes artists like Freddie Mercury, David Bowie and Mick Jagger as touchstones, capturing Harry’s ongoing exploration of gender-fluid style and contemporary pop iconography. It also shows Harry’s ongoing interest in collaborating with emerging designers, something his stylist was strongly involved in.
CHAPPEL ROAN – MAXIMILIAN RAYNOR
Now let’s focus on the final look of this section, the last look on the right, composed of a grey tailored jacket and a red skirt created from stripes of fabric.
For her 2024 feature in Rolling Stone magazine, American singer and songwriter Chappel Roan was photographed by Dutch-American fashion photography duo Inez and Vinoodh wearing a theatrical ensemble by London designer Maximillian Raynor, winner of ITS Contest 2025. Blending Victorian gothic references with exaggerated pop-surrealism, the look pairs a sharply structured grey jacket with flared sleeves and a distressed gingham skirt, layered to create a sense of deconstructed nostalgia.
The look is a revisitation of one of Raynor’s outfits for his ITS Contest winning “Manor for Heaven” collection, composed of costume designs for a short fashion movie of the same title. Each look dressed one of the characters of this protest movie, surreally set in purgatory, where a cast of outsiders live in the grounds and corridors of a manor house, awaiting entrance in a metaphorical heaven representing criticism of traditional patriarchal society. Maximilian’s work displays historical traces and a conscious use of artistic codes from theater and music, which fit perfectly with Chappel Roan’s theatrical stage attitude.
Our journey in Exposure – The Power of Being Seen, from Harry Styles to Lady Gaga ends here. And from all that we have seen it is now clear that a stylist is a quiet architect, hiding behind every unforgettable celebrity image. They bridge the private and the public, the ordinary and the unforgettable, turning fleeting appearances into symbols that linger in the memory. Styling is authorship, collaboration, and quiet devotion, an art that shapes not only images, but the way we understand fashion itself.
Their impact defines how fashion enters culture. A signature no one sees but everyone feels.
We can now leave the gallery, and head to the Wunderkammer to discover Rise and Shine, the exhibition dedicated to the ITS Contest 2026 winners.