Fashion

PAT LYTTLE STYLIST & PHOTOGRAPHER

By Fused · On October 5, 2023

PAT LYTTLE

STYLIST & PHOTOGRAPHER

London & Tokyo based stylist and photographer Pat Lyttle is one of the quiet ones within the rush and crush of events such as London Fashion Week.

For decades the man has been quite apart from the herd. A useful strategy.

So-called influencers, self-appointed, self-deluded souls so full of their own effluence, rarely know how to assess a look, evaluate the construction of a garment, identify origins. Pat can. As with the American photographer and blogger Scott Schuman, who created The Sartorialist blog, Pat Lyttle has experience as a picture editor for Getty Images spanning many years. Pat is also a collector of valuable vintage womenswear that he sometimes incorporates into his work as a stytlist, with his sharp eye upon the publishing world in the Far East.

Schuman, who once worked as a sales associate at the 1980s chain Chess King before graduating with a degree in apparel merchandising and a minor in costume construction, once worked within the position as director of a men’s fashion showroom, before leaving to document the highs and lows of the dedicated followers of fashion when digi cameras became the thing.

Similarly, in the fast lane, Tommy Ton is a Canadian photographer known for his fashion blog Jak & Jil. His fashion week coverage on style.com and gq.com led to international recognition. Tommy Ton has gone on to design, most notably for the luxury label Deveaux. That mix photography and design is an interesting one.

As with Schuman, so much of the photographic work by these individuals is known as street style. Yikes. Street style photography differs greatly from fashion event snapping, but few ever dare to point this out. True street style photographers do not suck up to editors, brands or PRs.

As a street style photographer myself since 1976, I consider myself quite apart from the digital generation of cultural and critical observers who snapsnapsnap in a visually greedy manner at fash’ events, at which an audience are largely there to be seen and documented, rather than see a show. Fashion Week can be all about Look at me. Look at me. Check out my Insta.

As a personal fashion stylist, a true specialist in vintage styling, Pat Lyttle’s profile soared having been featured in Millionaire Hoarders,Channel 4, late in 2023. Timely recognition, for his collection of womenswear, the quality of which one tends to see behind glass at the likes of The Victorian & Albert Museum.

The man’s efforts as a picture researcher and picture editor for Getty Images as a fashion specialist for many years are remarkable. As a contributor to a range of respected photographic agencies, Pat’s editorial has been published on a global basis, but the man has always avoided interviews, the spotlight.

Japanese Street Style, published by Picture Researcher and image producer of numerous fashion magazines and

fashion books that he assembled for others, including; Alexander McQueen, Genius of a Generation and Culture to Catwalk, Pat Lyttle is much respected within publishing.‘I’m just a humble visual creative,’ Pat almost whispers when we meet. ‘I love fashion.’

Most stylists do what is called pulling. Going out to get clothing items, usually designer brands for a client to wear. Pat works differently. Owning a vast historical fashion archive spanning two hundred and fifty years, he can create various looks instantly with a client, because he has the components already. His home? Whew! What you see in a fashion museum on display behind glass, being styled by Pat means you get to wear that. We’re talking original 1920s flapper dresses, early Victorian Bodices, riding habits, dresses and amazing bags.

Stir into the mix stunning ornate Qing Dynasty robes, the most amazing cheongsams and qipao, amazing kurtas, all suitable size-wise for an Asian woman to wear, you get an idea of what he has hidden in his arsenal or archive.

‘Your style is what defines you,’ Pat declares. ‘Not what you’re told to wear, but who you are and how you feel and it’s this that defines your unique sense of style and how you chose to display it.’

‘I’m a fan of Ethnic diversity, but my take on it is my speciality in shooting and styling women of East Asian origins, South Korean, Chinese, Japanese. I’m not a celebrity stylist, so I don’t have a list of celebrities for all to salivate over. I steer clear of celebrities to be honest. They are not of interest to me.’

‘The woman who wants a change in her life, but doesn’t quite know what to do, she deserves my help, not some celebrity. So I am not a celebrity stylist. I am a personal fashion stylist. One who happens to also be a fashion photographer, a fashion editor, with specialist knowledge of Asian cultures and global historical fashion knowledge.

Pat has styled the Chinese influencer Harper Silin,

Also, on a few occasions, the Chinese influencer, known as Freya Xiao.

Again, also the artist, illustrator and author Sonia Leong

Also an amazing woman who is an actress entrepreneur, journalist and model,Aimee Kwan.

‘There’s something special about petite individuals. The mainstream fashion world doesn’t see it, always focused on the tallest, but I see it and I champion their tiny voice.