This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Amy Acton, the founder and CEO of Acton Styling Group. It has been edited for length and clarity.
I’m the exclusive stylist for NBC Sports, which means I style NBC talent for the Olympics and other shows like Sunday Night Football, the Kentucky Derby, and more.
I’ve always been interested in fashion. When I was younger, I went to college for all of two weeks because I ran out of outfits — I thought there was no point. It just wasn’t for me. After working at health clubs, I became a personal shopper for an upscale clothing boutique, and then moved into television styling.
I began my styling career on television for “The Montel Williams Show” in the 90s. I was styling mostly men then. At a photo shoot, a woman asked me to style NBC anchor Hannah Storm. I did closet edits for her and then her wardrobe for the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Then I became a stylist for the Sydney Games. Sports changed my life.
Styling the Olympics has a lot of moving parts
I style over 200 people for NBC during its Olympics coverage. It’s not just on-air talent, although we style 20 to 25 on-air talent, like Mike Tirico and Rebecca Lowe. We also create the “venue talent wardrobe package,” which is what all the reporters and commentators who call the games on-site wear.
We start two years before the broadcast. As soon as one Olympics ends, we begin preparing for the next one. We have to make sure we are doing everything — from choosing the right colors to selecting clothing that will protect everyone from the environment — Milan’s temperature is very different from the 2018 Winter Olympics site, PyeongChang, for example.
To prepare, we bring all the talent to New York to do a fitting with the looks I pre-pull. Ralph Lauren, the exclusive brand NBC talent wears, has a team on hand to assist the in-studio team with alterations. The venue talent also comes to the studio; we have to make sure they look good and cohesive, and we don’t want everyone wearing the same sweater at the same time. We alter the clothes, and then we ship everything where it needs to go. We shipped the clothes to Milan about a month prior to the games.
My company, Acton Group, doesn’t have anything to do with what Team USA athletes wear.
It’s a 24-hour job
I’m always working in two different time zones. We have studios in the US plus talent in the host country. In the US, the talent is at the NBC Sports Group headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut, and sometimes at 30 Rock in New York City. The day never really ends. My phone is always on. For example, I went straight from dressing Super Bowl commentators Jason Garrett, Devin McCourty, and Maria Taylor to Milan for the Olympics.
It’s highly hands-on and fast-paced — I’m managing fittings, daily dressing, wardrobe organization, and last-minute changes. For studio talent alone, it’s 420 looks over two weeks. There are 10 people in Milan, and 10 people in the US on my team. We are a machine, a 24-hour operation in both countries. Between Stamford and Milan, Acton Style Group manages the movement of more than 7,500 Ralph Lauren pieces across all venues.
I truly love what I do
As much as I love fashion, it’s about making people feel good about themselves. We want talent — who are in front of the biggest audiences in the world — to feel good about themselves.
You can’t put a price tag on that, and you can’t always do it for yourself. You need someone else to pump you up and tell you that it looks good.
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