Megan Morton: Stylish by Design

Megan Morton has made a name for herself as one of Australia’s most well respected stylists and she is also generous in sharing the secrets of her trade. Megan Morton quite possibly has the best job in the world. As one of Australia’s foremost stylists, the Sydney-based ‘house whisperer’ spends her working day making people, places and stuff look good. She was in Adelaide recently to deliver her School of Styling masterclass at 1000 Chairs’ Medindie showroom and the speed at which the event sold out is a measure of her widespread popularity. Interestingly, it’s not just other stylists who attend her masterclasses, but rather people who want to know how to think like one. Morton’s generosity in sharing her skills and knowledge is only matched by her infectious enthusiasm for the craft she has spent 15 years perfecting. “There’s a lot of process and theory involved in styling, but also a lot of instinct and magic and this is what I want to teach people,” she says. “The whole point of a class is to help everybody understand how things work well together and why they work well together.” Morton established The School – of which her School of Styling masterclass is an integral part – a few years ago to further aid in achieving this goal. It’s a diverse creative program that offers courses taught by experts on everything from basket weaving, Shibori and gold foil to blogging and how to makeover your small business. With classes held around Australia, Morton is well on the way to ensuring as many people as possible learn ‘stylist etiquette’. She also intends to take a version of The School to New York next year for one week. In the meantime, she continues to work at a feverish pace on back-to-back styling jobs for interiors and lifestyle magazines, such as Vogue Living and Inside Out, and advertising campaigns for, amongst others, the recently rebranded Cult (formerly Corporate Culture) and Alannah Hill. All the while, Morton’s design philosophy is informed by a refreshingly simple approach. “A good stylist doesn’t always have the best of everything because budgets are tight, but we just know how to make the best of everything,” she explains. Although one of her most memorable jobs was styling a big-budget feature on Nicole Kidman for Vanity Fair four years ago, Morton remains philosophical when it comes to issues of costing. “To be honest, as a stylist you live for those Vanity Fair moments, but it’s all the other good bits in between that get you ready for work at that level,” she reflects. “Someone’s $10 is someone’s $10,000 is someone’s $100,000 budget, so it’s kind of what you do with it and the outcome that makes it super impressive.” Morton continues to study the work of visual artists for inspiration and amasses wish lists of colour, form and texture that she then applies in her own practice. She is also enamoured of renowned British stylist Carolyn Quartermaine, who was an early influence when Morton was defining her own aesthetic style. For those who missed out on the first Adelaide masterclass, Morton promises to return with an even grander offering. “In a world where everything is ‘pinned’ or ‘instagrammed’,” she says. “I’m trying my hardest to show people what proper, good old-fashioned styling is.” Megan Morton’s School of Styling returns to Adelaide on Sunday, September 28. For more information subscribe to theschool.com.au