The Essential List 03. Camilla Nazeri’s Spring Transition Pieces
The London-based stylist shares the perfect straw basket bags, a nearly perfect t-shirt, and offers insights on approaching fashion with a focus on quality and buying less.
Today, I’m excited to feature Camilla Nazeri, a London-based stylist and consultant with over 15 years experience in luxury fashion and tech.
It's early March, and you know the drill: the days are finally(!) feeling longer, flowers are beginning to emerge, and we're all very tired of our winter sweaters. Feeling inspired by her recent edits, I tapped
to share her favorite wardrobe essentials to transition us from late winter to early spring 🌸.Then, I share our Q&A about becoming the first stylist for e-commerce at Matches Fashion, the importance of quality over quantity in fashion, and how she combines a global perspective with a focus on sustainability.
AF AGGER Coat While living in Copenhagen I bought the AF AGGER trench coat that has become synonymous with Scandinavian style. It’s a core foundational piece of my wardrobe and my most worn purchase over the last four years. It’s exactly the right shape— a bit roomy, curved, oversized, and a good balance of masculine/feminine. It works all year round—for winter I like to pair a thick, cream, roll neck underneath and in the summer I throw it over linen dresses. I have my eye on the olive shade next, which will pair perfectly with next season’s rustic and earthy tones. I envision an older season Toteme orange dress with an original 70s pendant that I’ll ‘borrow’ from my mother’s extensive jewellery collection.
MUUÑ basket bag I love a well-crafted leather handbag but I’m partial to an all-year round basket bag. A bit like a baseball cap, it helps relax a look and make it less formal while adding texture. I’ve had the MUUÑ Caba basket bag for several years and I adore the brand. The straw base is hand-weaved in Ghana with resistant elephant grass, which can take up to three days. The bag is finished and assembled in France, while the inside pouch is sewed by people with disabilities working for ISTA. I think it’s important to choose pieces with real craftsmanship that also give back. I’m eyeing up this new ‘SO’ style in rust as my next purchase.
AGOLDE Denim I have two of their older Tatum jumpsuits that I’ve worn weekly since 2019 and they only get better with age. This season they’ve brought back the jumpsuit in this Blue Silka design, which is very similar. AGOLDE produces some of the best cut denim out there. It’s directional, yet very wearable for the average consumer. They design hard-working pieces that last and they’re thoughtful in their ‘cut to order’ process, which minimizes any excess products. Denim production, by nature, is hard to do sustainably unless it’s using second-hand (I like ELV Denim for this), but AGOLDE seems committed to lowering environmental impact.
Bottega Veneta Puddle Boots In early 2020, Daniel Lee ignited a trend by debuting these shoes on the runway, but I love to see how they've evolved into a functional fashion statement. It’s a very practical rubber boot for our wet, British climate and they feel like walking on clouds— so bouncy and comfortable. What truly sets them apart is their composition: a biodegradable polymer rubber derived from coffee beans. It’s a brilliant example of a leap in the right direction for environmentally friendly, luxury products. I love their signature, bulbous shape, which contrasts well with more delicate pieces. This spring, I’ll be wearing mine with a pink sheer skirt and oversized grey knit.
H&M Silk Cotton T-Shirt I am forever hunting for the perfect tee. In 2013, I nearly designed one myself with a silk back, however, production was too expensive. These come close! I like a tee to be a bit French— that perfect touch of sheerness and slouch with a round neck. This 50/50 silk-cotton blend works perfectly, and the best part is they can be thrown in the washing machine.
Sophie Bille Brahe Botticelli Earrings I wear a lot of oversized, plain, and androgynous pieces so I like to add a dash of femininity with these contemporary earrings. I really love Sophie’s pieces— they’re sculptural and modern, yet grounded with high-quality, natural materials. When I’m running late, I’ll simply slick back my hair into a bun and throw these in my ears— they always make me feel ‘done.’ These earrings are an unexpected element in my style and that’s why they work so well. You should always invest in really good jewellery. Less is more.
I met
via Substack, where she writes her inspiring namesake newsletter, Camilla Nazeri, which is a space for style enthusiasts who realise that how they shop, live and curate their homes is of ever-increasing importance for the future. The newsletter is a hidden gem—Camilla has incredible taste, great recommendations, and I constantly find myself nodding in agreement to her “buy less, but better” ethos when it comes to fashion.First up, let’s talk about how you got into Styling: what is your background, what has your career path been, and what are you doing now?
I’ve had such a fun career. I studied History of Art in the UK & Melbourne, but always knew I’d end up doing something in fashion. After interning at Net-a-Porter in 2009—where Natalie Massenet shook hands with every intern, so stylish!—and Tank magazine, I landed my first proper job at Harper’s Bazaar. Then, I was poached by the Art Director there for her new team at Matches Fashion.
I was the very first stylist for e-commerce at Matches, which seems incredible now. I was hired because I had an eye and a taste level that suited their eclectic, luxury offering. I had two interns and we shot and styled absolutely everything—all the men’s, women's, still life, editorial, etc. I’ve always trusted my gut and found that luxury styling came very naturally to me. It was hard graft, but an amazing education in the DNA of fashion brands. I worked closely with the buying team and the owner, Ruth Chapman, who taught me so much about all of the luxury fashion brands. Mostly, they trusted me to get on with it (alongside a stack of French Vogues).
With some time to myself I realised that the joy of working in fashion came from the connection I was making with real people and their wardrobes.
Being a stylist was a relatively ‘new’ occupation in the 2010s and the traditional fashion editors still held the reins. I knew I could go freelance and earn far more, so I did exactly that for a year, shooting for Vogue supplements, Topshop campaigns, and Middle Eastern couture brands. I found these shoots intensive and fun, but bleak. I was craving connection with the product and narrative and found freelance lonely at that age.
Long story short—I fell sideways into a series of fashion tech startups and worked as a creative buyer. In 2017, after a big life moment when I was diagnosed with extensive thyroid cancer, I rightly paused. With some time to myself I realised that the joy of working in fashion came from the connection I was making with real people and their wardrobes. So I began my consultancy and started working with global clients to streamline their images and wardrobes.
I also dip into advisory work and, most recently, styled Avatars for a prominent AI company. Avatar stylists don’t really exist yet, so it feels like a full-circle moment—here I am back at the beginning of the next wave of styling.
You’ve lived in London and Copenhagen, two fashion-centric, yet distinct, cities. How has living in those places influenced your personal style?
I am half-Danish and half-Iranian, but born and raised just outside north London. It’s an eclectic gene pool! I am forever grateful to my parents for their global perspectives and passion for their home cultures. That informed a lot of my upbringing and, curiously, my taste-level. They pushed us to explore and travel abroad from a young age, so after my last year at Melbourne University, I lived briefly in San Francisco before working in Berlin as well. Style-wise that’s had a big impact on my eye, taste, and curiosity. I’ve been exposed to a lot of brands and global trends.
There’s a brazenness to the fashion by other Scandinavian standards, but there is a deep respect for the weather too. Clothes are fundamentally made to be worn, lived in, and enjoyed.
Copenhagen came about during COVID-19 and was quite a rushed move, but I had always envisioned living there. Growing up, Denmark wasn’t on the map and Copenhagen has only really blossomed into a fashion-centric city within the last decade. Ganni really helped put the city on the map.
The thing I really love about Copenhagen is its sensibility towards fashion. There’s a brazenness to the fashion by other Scandinavian standards, but there is a deep respect for the weather too. Clothes are fundamentally made to be worn, lived in, and enjoyed. You don’t see flimsy pieces on the streets—you see fabrics and shapes chosen with care and construction. They embrace classics with a twist, often featuring a new shape or a tweak in colour or detail. They’re also not afraid to invest in second-hand, which is big business there. It’s almost more chic to have a second-hand Bottega bag or a pair of beaten up Chanel ballet flats, than new.
Copenhagen as a whole is quite homogenised style wise—you see the same look and pieces across the city. While I was there, I did miss the unique London aesthetic. I missed getting the tube and feeling inspired by all walks of life. Londoners are more confident in their own unique style.
I love that sustainability and thoughtful consumption are through lines in your work. It is becoming a bigger and bigger topic in the fashion world as the industry’s environmental footprint comes into focus. How do you navigate working as a stylist in this culture of excessive consumption?
Thank you! It’s an aspect that’s organically come out of the way I approach fashion. Being Danish, there is an approach focused on quality and buying less. Excess and extravagance are frowned upon. I was the teen who saved up to buy one well-made, rather expensive pair of jeans that I wore to death. I was never interested in owning a lot of clothes, just really well-made pieces.
I came across some crazy statistic that the average woman currently owns 53 items of unworn clothing and yet only wears 50% of the clothes in their wardrobes.
The clients that find me know that my joy comes from helping them create (and curate!) succinct working wardrobes. I really believe that when you have well-made, core foundational pieces it makes life a hell of a lot easier. My approach is quite pragmatic—there is no fluff. I meet a client where they’re at and I want to know you as a person and how we can make your wardrobe work for you.
I came across some crazy statistic that the average woman currently owns 53 items of unworn clothing and yet only wears 50% of the clothes in their wardrobes. We can do so much better—for you and your bank account! I see sustainability as a natural extension of buying well: choosing pieces with longevity that you’ll have for years. One or two generations ago, people invested in clothes and repaired them. They let out the seams if they gained weight. They owned a dress, a coat, a bag for life. Why don’t we do that today?
My ethos is that a fast-fashion garment can also be sustainable if it’s worn at least 30 times (hopefully 50!) over its lifetime. I truly despise the throwaway culture of faster fashion.
Obviously, not everyone has unlimited resources to invest. That’s why I always recommend finding pieces on the high street as well. It’s a very real resource, and there are some great design pieces to be had. I’ve had H&M, Zara and COS pieces that I wore for years. My ethos is that a fast-fashion garment can also be sustainable if it’s worn at least 30 times (hopefully 50!) over its lifetime. I truly despise the throwaway culture of faster fashion. It’s the consumer’s choice to pick high street brands that maintain high sustainability standards. There has never been a better or more important time to shop according to your values.
The best part of my job is educating new clients on brands they haven’t encountered before. It’s like match-making—a relationship for life! With a few tweaks and recommendations, clients leave happier and grounded in their ability to shop well.
It can be so hard to discover smaller brands these days, as so many people online are wearing the same things, and Google search makes it impossible to be found. What are some lesser known brands that you’re excited about, or that you find yourself recommending a lot?
I’m always excited about brands that are nailing their aesthetic and key values in tandem. In Copenhagen, I’m watching Skall Studio and sportswear brand H20Fagerholt. In London, I admire Alex Eagle’s small edit of well-made foundational pieces (she has a varsity jacket I’d like to add to my collection). I think &Daughter is the epitome of luxurious knitwear and also has the best styled lookbooks. I’m also really excited by TOVE, which is still relatively young but gaining momentum.
What do you consider to be the most worthwhile wardrobe pieces to invest in and spend money on?
Your core pieces. I’ve noticed that women will spend on evening wear—which they use once or twice a year—yet, they fear spending on a really good pair of jeans. It’s madness; let's reverse the equation! Rent your evening wear and spend on the basics: a great boot, a classic sandal, and a handful of transeasonal coats and knits will take you far. You need fewer 'going out' pieces than you think and more brilliant basics to carry you through.
Where do you find inspiration these days?
It sounds so trite, but I really do find inspiration in unlikely spaces and in the everyday. I’ll admire the style of a mum on the school-run who has unexpectedly thrown on her husband’s jacket mixing proportions. Or, standing at the airport, watching a young Gen-Zer style vintage sportswear in a fresh way.
Art will forever play a huge role in my life, and I visit as many exhibitions and shows as I can, hoping that creativity will sink in via osmosis! Ha! I find myself less drawn to Instagram and more to Substack, and to women writers who have worked extensively in the industry—like Jane on Jeans. I’ve also started going back towards print magazines interestingly. I like Konfekt, my trusty French Vogue, and the Sunday Times Style section.
Thank you, Camilla! You have such a wonderful perspective, and so much amazing advice and recommendations to dig into. A MUUÑ bag is officially at the very top of my wish list!
Follow Camilla on Substack: Camilla Nazeri
Let us know if you have any questions for Camilla in the comments. And if you know anyone who might be interested, please pass this along to them.
What are your essential spring transition pieces? Share in a comment below or hit reply to send me a note.
Camilla has great taste! I love the way she curates her page.
I'm a true AF Agger stan... They had an archive sale over the summer and I scored a deadstock quilted coat that is truly my second skin. Last time I was in CPH I spotted the trench a chic Dane the first day and by the end of the trip I located it and happily paid full price for it. These pieces last forever and tailored so perfectly!!