Dara Allen: Avant-Garde Fashion’s Girl Next Door

From styling Addison Rae and Hunter Schafer to reimagining the role of fashion director, Dara Allen turns instinct into iconic moments.

“Expect nothing and welcome all that comes—unless it’s boring.” Dara Allen’s 2024 mantra summed up her approach to life: a little unplanned, a lot instinctual, and always chic. Now, as she strides into 2025, the stylist, model, and fashion director of is ready to put a bit more polish on her mayhem, but not much.

Back home in California, catching her breath after a whirlwind year, Allen reflected on her journey. “I grew up in Southern California, in San Diego,” she said. “My mom is super creative, so a lot of my childhood was spent drawing and watching old movies. That’s how we bonded. I was obsessed with art, drawing, and dressing up.”It wasn’t until her best friend introduced her to fashion magazines and websites like Style.com that Allen discovered the full scope of fashion. “It combined everything I loved—drawing, photography, theatricality, and playing dress-up,” she recalled. The internet—Tumblr, Blogspot, and early fashion blogs—became Allen’s gateway to the industry. “It gave me access to everything!” she said. “International fashion magazines, runway updates, and a space to interact with incredibly informed and critical people. You couldn’t just wing it; you had to know your stuff.”Allen’s journey took her to journalism school in San Diego. While broadcast journalism wasn’t her passion, online fashion communities were. “Someone told me, ‘You should work in magazines,’ and that clicked for me,” she said. In 2016, Allen moved to New York, where a connection through Hari Nef led her to stylist Ian Bradley. “I started assisting him and something clicked,” she said. At the same time, she began modeling and collaborating with photographers like Cruz Valdez and Ethan James Green. “We did experimental projects, like transforming a trench coat into sculptural fashion pieces. Those photos caught the eye of , and that’s how things started snowballing,” she added.

Allen quickly found her stride at . By 2021, she was fashion-directing a Carolina Herrera anniversary project. Soon after, Mel Ottenberg offered her the role of fashion director. “He said, ‘I want someone with an agenda, and I think you’re it,’” Allen said. Her role is multifaceted, bridging styling, creating covers and stories, and front-facing duties like attending shows and building the magazine’s TikTok presence. “I think of a magazine as meeting people where they are—delivering unique content in a way that resonates culturally and visually,” she explained.Styling high-profile talent like Hunter Schafer and Addison Rae is another highlight of Allen’s trajectory, albeit an unexpected pursuit. Her approach is about collaboration and instinct. “With Schafer, we built her press tour wardrobe with a mix of archive and custom pieces that felt timeless but with an edge—just like her,” Allen said. “Rae’s looks are more pop culture forward—playful, bold, and designed to make a statement—but she’s incredibly involved and always comes to the table with references. She really is a pop star in her own right.”Allen’s job, according to her, is simple in theory but complex in execution: “It’s about amplifying the talent’s unique energy, taking what’s already there and turning the volume up.” Her aesthetic, which she dubs “avant-garde next door,” balances polished elegance with a head-fuck of a twist (complimentary). “I like creating something that feels familiar but has a challenge,” she said.Take her look for the BoF 500 in Paris last September: a white strapless De Pino minidress featuring an exaggerated peplum and a train so long it trailed dramatically through the streets see her IG for proof. It was subtle yet striking, grounded yet otherworldly—a perfect encapsulation of Allen’s signature style.Rae’s 2024 VMAs ensemble—a white satin bra and panties set with a tutu, designed by the enigmatic Miss Claire Sullivan—sparked debate online, which Allen welcomed. “For me, it’s about making people feel something—even if it’s hate,” she said. “I don’t like feeling indifferent to anything. If I don’t love it, it’s more fun to hate it than to forget about it entirely.”With a grin, she added, “I can take as much as I dish, so any critique is welcome. Honestly, that kind of divisiveness means we’re doing something right.”