The Rise and Rise of L'Wren Scott

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Eric Charbonneau, VF / Getty Images In a rare interview, Mick Jagger’s leading lady L’Wren Scott talks about how she went from towering fashion model to top celebrity stylist to one of Hollywood’s favorite designers. By Merle Ginsberg.

For a gangly 6’4” Mormon girl growing up in Utah, finding an appropriate outfit is no easy task. But L’Wren Scott has always had a flair for fashion. The adopted child of a Mormon family, the former Luann Bambrough spent most of her teenage years poring over fashion magazines and dreaming of a career in Paris. In 1985, just after she turned 18, the frustrated future fashionista changed her name to something not quite so...regional, and set off for Paris. Since then, she’s enjoyed relatively brief, but illustrious, careers as a model, a celebrity stylist, and costume designer. Never afraid of reinvention, in 2006, Scott decided to start her eponymous fashion label, and is quickly becoming one of the most celebrated fashion designers in the country. Yes, even in this economy.

Mick loves what I wear, and always has something to say about it! Look at the way he dresses! I don't think there's a more fashion-conscious man in the world.

Soon after her arrival in the City of Light, the longest-legged lady that designers had ever seen quickly landed a succession of high-profile modeling gigs—for the likes of Chanel and Thierry Mugler, as well as a notorious lingerie campaign with famed photographer Jean-Paul Goude—and became a familiar member of Paris’ demimonde. And she dressed the part—culling a glam wardrobe from vintage and thrift-store finds, she proved she had a flair for dressing her very vertical frame.

In 1994, tiring of Paris, Scott reinvented herself again, moving to Los Angeles to head up PR for Prada, A few years later, she morphed into the favored stylist of Herb Ritts, who contributed hundreds of celebrity photos to magazines such as Vogue, New York and Vanity Fair.

In an era when celebrity stylists have become stars in their own right, Scott wound up becoming he favored fashion mentor to some of the most stylish starlets of the ‘90s and early 2000's, including Nicole Kidman, Sarah Jessica Parker, Ellen Barkin (she designed her tight sexy sheaths for Oceans 13), and Julianne Moore. Along the way, she was hired to costume-design a few films—Mercy (with Kim Basinger) and Diabolique (with Sharon Stone)—and worked on photo shoots with designers such as Karl Lagerfeld. Clearly, she also had a gift for meeting the right people — at the right time.

Case in point: Mick Jagger. In 2001, the two of them met on a photo shoot, and the rest is tall gorgeous woman/short famous guy history: The pair has been together ever since, with Mick even thanking Scott "for not wearing heels" at the 2005 Golden Globes, when he won for the song "Old Habits Die Hard" from Alfie. In 2007, Jagger left hotel life and bought a $10 million house for himself and Scott in London, and she promptly threw herself into decorating. She's accompanied him everywhere over the last eight years, even creating his wardrobe for the Martin Scorsese-directed concert movie, Shine a Light. Now in his mid-sixties, Jagger seems to finally be truly settling down. The London papers have even speculated about the two of them being engaged—she does sport a very large diamond ring on her left hand.

"L'Wren is very independent and would not take any nonsense from anyone no matter how famous they were," her adopted mother Lula Bambrough told a newspaper in 2003. "She usually knows what she wants and she gets it. It doesn't surprise me at all that she's tamed Mick. She is very much her own woman and it would be my guess that is why this Mick Jagger likes her." You have to admit—Jagger's roster of women has not included any shrinking violets (Marianne Faithfull, Bianca Jagger, Jerry Hall, Carla Bruni).

In 2006, Scott finally decided to launch (with Jagger's help) her own line of clothing. Jagger even shows up for the occasional show, praising her through the roof. Though she’s based her showroom in Paris, Scott now spends most of her time shuttling between there and New York and London, leaving LA and her styling clientele behind—although she did recreate a dress from her spring 2009 collection for Nicole Kidman to wear to the Oscars this year. Her clothes are sold at Barneys, all over Europe and Asia, and are quite fitted, with provocative names like "HeadMistress Dress." They're tailored but highly detailed in the fabrics —and sell from $1,500 for a blouse, all the way up to $7,500 for her most popular spring evening dress. A recent fall trunk show at Barneys in late February racked up big orders—and her exclusive runway shows in New York are small, much-anticipated affairs—and her clientele seems ravenous, loyal and, happily for her, recession-proof to a certain degree.