Tianyun Lan isn’t just a stylist: How her Multidisciplinary Vision is Shaping Contemporary Fashion
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By PAGE Editor
New York-based Tianyun Lan is one of fashion's multi-hyphenate creatives who not only understands but also embraces the multidisciplinary skills needed to thrive in today's competitive fashion landscape. Lan describes herself as “a stylist, designer and multimedia artist” and has worked with esteemed names like Longine, Puma, Collina Strada, The Webster, Balenciaga, and Elie Tahari, while her work has graced the pages of ELLE, Condé Nast and L’Officiel.
Yang Yang for Condé Nast Traveler China, January–February 2026 cover story. Styling by Tianyun Lan.
Upon having the opportunity to talk with Tianyun Lan about her work, it soon became clear she doesn’t just enjoy fashion and clothing; she seems to have a deeper, almost intrinsic understanding of how garments work together, explaining, “I was always more interested in how clothing exists on a person rather than just the garment itself. I liked the idea that the same piece could completely change depending on the body, the environment, the attitude, the movement, everything around it”.
Soft Outline, solo exhibition at Galaxy Museum of Contemporary Art, 2024. Fashion, textile art, and styling work by Tianyun Lan.
Having a Bachelor’s degree in Fashion Design and a minor in Fashion Business at Parsons School of Design, styling wasn’t what Lan set out to do, but after working in different areas of fashion and being given opportunities on shoots, she found her passion for styling, which she defines as being “half storyteller and half problem solver”. While many think of styling as putting outfits together, Lan believes it to be “more about shaping an overall image or feeling”. The human body relies on the heart to pump blood through its veins and keep us alive. If a fashion shoot is the human body, the stylist is the heart. “Stylists help shape how something is perceived while also dealing with a million practical things behind the scenes”. What is remarkable about Lan is that she takes the controlled chaos in her stride, coolly explaining how problem-solving is just part of the job: “There have been situations where pieces don’t arrive, samples don’t fit, schedules suddenly change, or entire looks stop making sense once you see them on the actual talent. I’ve learned to just focus on solving one thing at a time. Surprisingly, usually some of the best results come from last-minute adjustments”.
Brooklyn Fashion Week, 2026. Styling by Tianyun Lan for Evacuate From Meaning.
We all know by now the fashion industry isn’t all glitz and glam; you need resilience and stamina. As a young stylist in New York, Lan has a solid head on her shoulders. She embraces the exhaustion with the excitement and is conscious that “there are so many talented people here, so trying too hard to ‘stand out’ can almost work against you sometimes”. This doesn’t stop her from knowing the importance of good impressions, having found opportunities organically “through relationships, friends of friends, being around people consistently, and just saying yes to things early on. I like to think people remember energy and reliability as much as aesthetics”. When I ask her about the behind-the-scenes aspects of styling, it’s evident that embracing hard work is part of Lan’s day-to-day; “People see the final image but not the process of pulling clothes across the city, carrying huge bags, returning samples, organising logistics, fixing garments on set, dealing with timelines, communicating with brands, etc. Styling is very physical work”. Lan explains how directions can change or be clear and concise from the jump; she focuses on the natural development of ideas that come with interacting with a project and a team, as well as finding inspiration through how different people move through the world.
PUMA digital campaign, 2026. Styled by Tianyun Lan.
When asked about the cross-section between styling for a brief and creative freedom, Lan explains how she favours “having some level of restriction. Total freedom weirdly makes things harder sometimes. A brief would give me something to react against. The interesting part is finding small ways to push or reinterpret things while still respecting the overall direction of the project”. She is loyal to the needs of a project, choosing to build a feeling or logic that centres it rather than chase a fixed signature aesthetic, after all, fashion is famously evolving all the time, and Lan isn’t getting left behind; “Displaying variety in my work is also something that’s important to me. I enjoy moving between different visual languages rather than sticking to one very linear or immediately recognisable style. Maybe that’ll evolve, but right now I like the challenge of creating range and adapting my approach depending on the project, the people involved, and the energy around it”.
Runway and exhibition presentation for the Nanhai Lifeng (DRG China) Artist Residency, January 2026. Directed and fashion curated by Tianyun Lan.
Armed with a stylist’s most essential tools: body tape, clamps, safety pins, the iPhone notes app and, most important of all, comfortable shoes! Over the next five years, Lan wants to continue expanding beyond styling into more creative directions, performance and costume, expressing how she relishes working in spaces where fashion overlaps with movement, music, installation, or storytelling in less straightforward ways. But above all, she hopes to still be “collaborating with interesting people and continuing to evolve naturally through the work”.
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