Arguably the biggest stylist rn, Lotta Volkova needs to be on your radar (if she isn’t already). The stylist is notable for her work with Demna at Balenciaga and Vetements, Miu Miu, Blumarine, and more. And with her post-Soviet, punk aesthetic and messy-girl layering, she has established herself as one of the top most influential creatives in the fashion industry atm.
Born and raised in Vladivostok, Russia, Lotta was heavily influenced by Western pop culture as a child. At the age of 17, she moved to London to study art. While studying at CSM, she designed her own clothing line, Lotta Skeletrix, which became hugely popular and got picked up by Dover Street Market. After her brief stint as a designer, she moved to Paris in 2008 to pursue styling.
In a 2016 interview with BoF, Lotta mentioned that she met Demna at a party: “One night he showed me his first collection,” she said. “Apparently, I saw the lookbook and I said, ‘Great clothes, but bad styling.’ So he said, ‘Why don’t you style it then?’” And that was the beginning of a beautiful partnership, first at Vetements and then later at Balenciaga.
Since 2020, she has been a stylist and consultant at Miu Miu, where she’s worked alongside Miuccia Prada and the team to develop the messy-girl layering that Miu Miu is now known for which helped build the brand’s success, topping the Lyst charts every quarter. She also works on her own projects: multiple collabs with adidas, insane editorials, styling and consulting for our favourite luxury houses (such as Blumarine, Ferragamo, Mowalola, and many more), and a newly published photobook with IDEA.
Lotta is low-key the blueprint of 2020s fashion. In that 2016 interview with BoF, she said: “There are no subcultures to be discovered anymore, at least not in the Western world. It’s more about the remix of information.” And that truly resonates with today’s zeitgeist (nine years after that interview), where we’re seeing a lot of clashing aesthetics styled together. She’s truly a pioneer and major influence in fashion and culture – everything she does stays winning.
Featured images via @lottavolkova©
More on Culted
See: What is Coachella? From its origins to controversy to 2025 lineup
See: From Travis to Ye: Why are rappers so obsessed with Taylor Swift?
