Assembly #1 Round Up
Thank you to everyone who joined us last Saturday for our first event! Community and conversation are so important in maintaining fair industry standards for stylists. By openly discussing our experiences, concerns, and insights, we not only gain a deeper understanding of the challenges our industry faces, but also identify opportunities for advocacy that drive positive change and benefit us all. So congratulate yourself on being a part of that!
I don't have a complete roadmap for the direction of Stylist Network just yet, but my vision is for it to be a casual and supportive hub that that encourages stylists to engage in regular conversations and support one other on issues such as rates, expectations, and industry standards.
Here’s a quick glance at some of the resources we talked about, go ahead and click the links below:
Limonata Creative- Stylist Contract- Guilietta Pinna is a prop stylist/art director/prop shop owner (basically, all around badass) based in Baltimore who has quite a few stylist-specific resources and articles available on her website. The contract in particular has been very helpful for me in advocating for myself, my boundaries, and my rate.
RSVP list for contact info- Quite a few of you asked for the contact list of everyone who attended; (please let me know if any of you would like to be removed from this!)
I’ve set up a channel on a communication app called Geneva. It’s got separate channels such as Resources, Rates, and Referrals where we can all discuss any issues/successes and keep up with on-going conversations. I decided to switch over from our existing Discord channel because Geneva is easier to use, and also it’s cuter :)
I’m currently working on creating a Notion page that will house some documents/resources, stay tuned!
——— Rate Averages ———
Thanks to everyone who filled out their anonymous rate cards! I wanted to pass this info along for anyone else who may find it helpful. Let’s keep in mind that although the information was anonymous and fairly comprehensive, this is just a small slice of the stylist community on the whole. I had about 30 entries spanning props/interior, food, and cosmetic/product, all obviously based in Los Angeles. I’m working on a way to collect more anonymous information from stylists across the country (similar to what A Photo Editor on Instagram does with photographer’s rates.) Rates will obviously vary widely on years on experience and type of project. The goal here is overall transparency that will hopefully help stylists feel confident in what they’re charging. Now to the nitty gritty-
Overall average spanning all niches: $1,000-$1,500, with $1,200 being the most stated fee. Rates varied widely over Commercial/Editorial/Small Business, but generally Commercial was $200-300 higher. A lot of you say you have the same rate across the board no matter what, which was interesting to me.
Props/Interior Averages
Overall average day rate: $1,100-$1,200
Lowest day rates submitted: $450/day with 3 years experience, $600/day with 4 years experience, and $600 with ~2 years experience
Highest day rates submitted: $1,500-$1800 with 20 years experience, $1,500 with 10 years experience, $1,300 with 8 years experience
Average amount of years: 7 years with 20 being by far the highest and 1-2 being the lowest
Overall average day rate: $1,100-$1,200
Average Assistant Rates: Lowest was $250 and highest was $500, with $400 being the average
Kit Fees: About half of you charge a kit fee of an average $120/day
Food Averages (less variance than props)
Overall average day rate: $1,300
Lowest day rate submitted: $600 with 4 years experience, $1,000-$1,200 with 17 years experience
Highest day rates submitted: $1,500 with 15 years experience, $1,300-$1,500 with 23 years experience, and $1,200-$1,500 with 7 years experience
Average amount of years: 12 years with 23 being by far the highest and 3 being the lowest
Average Assistant Rates: $500-$550
Kit Fees: Majority have a $150-$200 daily kit fee
Cosmetic/Tabletop Averages:
Overall average day rate: $1,400
Lowest day rate submitted: $1,000-$1,200 with 6 years experience
Highest day rate submitted: $1,500-$2,000 with 8 years experience
Average amount of years: 25 years being the highest by far, otherwise it was 6-8 years
Average Assistant Rate: $450-$500
Kit Fee: Everyone charged a kit fee of an average $150/day
Overall, props/interiors varied the most, but that’s probably just because I had more entries for these. Cosmetic/product was definitely what I had the least of. I hope this info can provide a bit more transparency on what is standardly charged, and encourage people on the lower end that have the years of experience to feel comfortable increasing their rate. As I mentioned, I’d like to continue collecting anonymous data from stylists around the country that includes specifics such as if someone is repped or not, how they charge for prep/wrap days, charging for use of personal props, and how often they’ve raised their rates over the years.
——— Where We’re Going From Here ———
After reading the Feedback cards that you filled out, I was able to get more of an idea of what you all would find helpful which was basically just more networking events, panels with people like producers/ photographers/ agents, online resources, and more communication. If anyone has any more feedback or ideas, please feel free to reach out to me!
Thanks again!
