Nobody’s mastered dashing dressing quite like Ilaria Urbinati! The stylist’s longtime love of watches—seen on swoon-worthy clients like Chris Evans, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Barry Keoghan, and more—has led her to take on a new role as Watchfinder & Co.’s first stylist in residence. Before a chic dinner at Massara on Park, we caught up with Urbinati on her new Watchfinder Style Edit, plus her surprise “watch nerd” clients, star stylist group chat, and the craziest wardrobe mishap she’s faced to-date.
You’re Watchfinder & Co.’s first stylist in residence! What made you say “yes” to the role?
I’ve been familiar with Watchfinder & Co. for a long time. I’m a watch nerd. I really like how extensive their collection is. I like how it’s a trusted source for watches, which is the hardest thing to get for pre-owned watches. You could get the most beautiful watch in the world, but if it’s a not from a trusted source, it’s not ideal. For that reason, as someone who’s always looking for a really wide selection of watches from from all the different brands that I love, I like that it’s a one-stop shop.
How did you choose watches for your style edit on the site?
You can approach watches from a collector’s perspective, but you can also approach watches from a style aspect. I know a lot about watches, so I understand the collector’s market, but I also approach watches more from a style perspective. That’s what the Style Edit is really about. I broke it down into five categories that are how I’m, right now, approaching watches. There’s a more ’80s power watch, [and] more slim and chic watches. That’s where you get the [Cartier] Tanks and stuff. I still get guys like The Rock, who loves a big watch. I have a category that’s “Action Hero” that’s supposed to be the bigger, Rambo-style watches. My number-one style hack is approaching clothes from the color perspective, whether it’s tonal or color-blocking, so there is that category of colors. I do love a blue suit with a blue watch, and anything with a brown dial or brown band I love, especially with rose gold. I try to cover a little bit of everything. I don’t think there is a “wrong” watch. Within different aesthetics, I narrow down what I think are the favorites and the best.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (Getty Images)
What are some of the best watch brands or styles on the market right now?
So many! The last couple years, we’ve been using Cartier more than ever. Obviously, that’s a very “in” type of watch. I personally love Patek Philippe. I choose a Patek over any watch myself, any day. We’re styling a lot of Omega’s. I find my clients ask for Omega quite a bit, and they ask for Cartier quite a bit. When you get clients who are bigger watch nerds, they’ll ask for Audemars Piguet, they’ll ask for Vacheron Constantin a lot lately. I’ve heard that Vacheron, in general, in the watch world, is blowing up quite a bit, and I see it.
Which of your clients is the biggest watch nerd?
Surprisingly, James Marsden. He educates me a lot about watches. He’s done podcasts talking about watches—he really dives deep. Then, it’s interesting to see The Rock—lately, he’s been getting more into watches. When we started, it was a lot of Panerai [or] Pilot from IWC, and now he’s getting more into Rolex and Cartier. I just did Manny Jacinto for Freakier Friday, and he knows a lot about watches and was very specific about which watches he wanted. We wanted a very specific Vacheron, couldn’t find it, and got it from Watchfinder. That’s what what he wore for all the Freakier Friday press. That was fun, especially since I had just started working with him. Rami Malek is a big Cartier nerd. He loves the skinny, little, slim and chic [watches].Aaron Taylor-Johnson knows a lot about watches as well, and he’s got very specific watches he loves.
James Marsden
You’ve become known for dressing so many Hollywood heartthrobs! Is that a coincidence, or is it something you’ve become known for over time?
There’s a combination of things happening. Obviously, the whole “internet boyfriend” movement in the last few years. I do have a sense, when I’m dressing somebody like Barry Keoghan, that the internet is paying attention to that aspect of him. People really are looking for that. Someone like Chris Evans, who has a big, thirsty fan base…I like to feed into that a bit. It’s fun to make the fans who I know are paying attention excited. At this point, I’m lucky. I have a lot of clients, and I’m very picky who I bring on. I always joke I could have been a casting director! I think I have a good eye for who is going to have an exciting career, and I choose accordingly.
Chris Evans (Getty Images)
Method dressing is so big right now. How do you make “method” looks for guys that don’t look like costumes?
I love method dressing—we call it moodboard dressing, theme dressing. It depends on the actor and the project. When I had Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans doing a Christmas movie, it was very fun to lean into the Christmas vibes. There was a lot of Ralph Lauren, velvet, and corduroy happening, a lot of turtlenecks. When we did Chris for The Materialists, he was dressed a little more down than normal. We did a ’90s Jason Priestley aesthetic. It’s meant to be more casual, more relaxed. I like a theme. It depends on what it is. It has to make sense. If it’s some Halloween horror movie, we’re not doing that. But when we did Nosferatu for Aaron Taylor-Johnson, it was a lot of goth vibes, a lot of black, darker, sleeker.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Photo by Kayla Oaddams/FilmMagic)
You won our Menswear Stylist of the Year award in 2015 and Style Curator in 2019! What are your special memories from that night, and how did you celebrate?
I remember looking down, and Courtney Love staring at me while I’m giving a speech. I love her. I just thought, What’s more iconic than Courtney Love? I remember being on stage, getting an award in front of people, and having imposter syndrome a bit. You’re just like, These people don’t care when I have to say, I’m a stylist. It’s interesting, because you’re like, Shouldn’t the actors be the ones getting awards? I don’t think you get into a behind-the-scenes job to be in front, so it’s an awkward thing, but it was so fun. I was pregnant also, and no one knew yet! I got to wear this beautiful bustier Dolce & Gabbana pink ballerina dress that I was bursting out of. By the way—don’t wear a bustier dress pregnant! But it was my last chance to wear something like that, so I took it!
James Marsden, Ilaria Urbinati (Getty Images)
Do you still have your stylist group chat—and what have you chatted about recently?
We talk almost every day. We’re either venting or we’re like, What are we doing about wardrobe trunks in Venice? Are we getting on a gondola with trunks, or should it be luggage? Lovely Karla Welch was like, Don’t do a trunk on the gondola. It’s a lot of stuff like that, or it will be like, Does anybody have the contact for this? Does anybody have an assistant in Toronto? Does anyone have a good tailor in London? It’s a lot of helping each other out, which is what’s special about it. It’s very supportive. There’s a lot of “happy birthdays,” and if one of us is hosting an event we’ll usually invite each other. It’s a generation of women that understand we’re on the same side.
What’s your craziest wardrobe malfunction story when dressing a client—and how did you fix it in the moment?
I remember Nikolaj Coster-Waldau was going to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. A brand was supposed to send him his outfit, and they forgot to send the shoes, so he had the wrong shoes. It was the weekend in DC, so I literally had to call the local Neiman’s, buy a pair. Then I had a messenger on a moped follow him alongside the limo on the way to the Correspondence Dinner. Because there was no one allowed in other than the guests, right as he was about to go through the gates, he rolled the window down—and the guy threw the shoes in the window. It’s the craziest thing that’s definitely ever happened from a styling perspective. I take my shoe matching very seriously!
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