Let’s face it. The fashion industry is cutthroat, and you’re only as hot as your last fit. So when celebrities make headlines for donning the latest It bag or most-talked-about designers, it’s their glam team to thank, especially the stylist. 

Marquise Miller is entertainment’s go-to stylist and costume designer who's worked with Jazmine Sullivan, Khalid, Joey Bada$$, and singer Amaarae, among others. He’s landed opportunities with Spanx, Nike, and ESPN. On top of that, he’s still reeling from his 2025 Complex cover moment with NBA star Anthony Edwards. With Miller’s meticulous eye to his next-level approach to style, these moments would have fallen flat without the Miller effect. While fashion and style can be juxtaposed against high-functioning anxiety, nervousness, and over-scrutiny from critics and ratings, Miller has cracked the code for staying abreast, even as trends swing back and forth like a pendulum.

For him, it’s all about putting his mental health first. 

“I go to therapy, and that has made me a better stylist,” says Miller, who’s in his fifth year of therapy. 

The stylist, who works in tandem with his cohort Aaron Christmon, explains how having a mental health therapist enables him to “reset” after big events that can oftentimes provoke mental exhaustion. 

“If there's a problem, I can find a solution because that's the biggest part of my job,” he says. “I'm a very solution-based person. I’m a fixer.”

While stigmas towards therapy are shifting in the Black community, disparities still exist, as some believe it’s an unnecessary practice. When Miller began his mental health journey, some of his peers told him he “just needed to talk to God,” but he says the combination is equally essential.

“You can do both,” he suggests. “I highly recommend it. It's a necessity for your mental health. You can't live without it… I recommend therapy to all my creatives, to all my stylists, and to all people.”

In the last decade, Miller has experienced the highs of styling for the Met Gala and the Grammys, alongside the lows of seeing a curated look worn by actor Daniel Kaluuya ruined in the blink of an eye by a food disaster. Despite the challenge, Miller remains resourceful, as every frame of his career steers him forward.

“I have become more focused. I use more discernment, and I am more serious,” he says. “When I first started, I was so jumpy and so excited because of the celebrity calling.”

Reflecting on the last eight years in the fashion industry, Miller acknowledges “the stakes are higher now.”

He continues, “The responsibility is much more intense. I have a lot of responsibility and a lot of people that I look up to. So a lot has changed.”

Even with pivotal power moves, certain pressures linger. Admittedly, he’s suffered traumatic “panic attacks” before arriving on red carpets with clients, triggered by seeing an “alteration done incorrectly.”

Other triggers, such as “making sure everything is steamed” and “making sure there are no tags on clothes,” have also caused him physical health concerns.

Still, Miller says he’s living his wildest dreams, which date back to his childhood, when he studied the wardrobes from 90s sitcoms such as "Saved by the Bell” and “Boy Meets World.” Even then, he knew he wanted to be a stylist. 

“I was obsessed with costume design, TV characters, and clothes,” he says. “I don't think there was much fast fashion [then], so the clothes looked better. They were more sustainable.”

It was Jasmine Guy’s iconic role as Whitley Gilbert from “A Different World" that he admires the most and sometimes references when preparing for a grand moment.

“In the 90s, costume designers put a lot of attention into detail for each character," says Miller. “Everybody had character. They had a look that I resonate with, even to this day.”