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Stylist Genesis Webb has always marched to the beat of her own drum.
“I was so rebellious and anti-authority, and I had a pretty rough childhood growing up,” Webb said. “I lost a parent at 14, so after that, everything caught up from the past, and then I kind of went into full-blown rebellion.”
Growing up in Oklahoma City, Webb was drawn to countercultures, like the punk and hardcore scene, which helped shape her sense of style.
“Those countercultures are where I really developed style from because that was the first time I saw anyone take their image that seriously and to a defined space was in that punk scene.”
While Webb may be best known for her work as Chappell Roan’s stylist, she got her start in fashion with a thrifted clothing business and a jewelry brand.
For the latest episode of The Who What Wear Podcast, Webb shares the art and films that shaped her, how she began working with Roan, and more.
For excerpts from the episode, scroll below.
Paint a picture for me, if you will, of Genesis as a teenager.
I was so rebellious and anti-authority, and I had a pretty rough childhood growing up.
I lost a parent at 14, so after that, everything caught up from the past, and then I kind of went into full-blown rebellion.
I got arrested for the first time when I was 12, so I was just naturally against the rules, and I didn’t really trust anyone.
Any authority figures trying to tell me kind of what they believed is right for me, I just was like, “No, I’m gonna do the exact opposite of that.”
I would skip as much class as possible, and then I would just be out with all the other degenerates.
Oklahoma City is really boring. There’s a lot of drugs. If your parents don’t have enough money to send you to sports and stuff—which my mom never did—there’s really nothing to do.
I think from that, I was able to find countercultures, which Oklahoma City has a great punk scene and a hardcore scene.
Those countercultures are where I really developed style from because that was the first time I saw anyone take their image that seriously and to a defined space was in that punk scene.
Before you stepped into this world of styling, you had a thrifted-clothes business and started a jewelry brand. I’m curious how you transitioned from those endeavors to styling?
The thrifted-clothing brand was kind of a last-ditch effort to just make some money.
I was so broke in Denver, and I’ve always been good at thrifting, and I thrift anyways. Denver had a great thrift space at the time and so I was like, “Well, you know, we’ll just try this to make rent.”
I gained enough followers on Depop and stuff to be like, okay, well, maybe I’ll just make an item. It was like a necklace, and it sold really well.
I was like, okay, well, we’re just gonna keep going.
That was happening for a few years, and I was able to live off of it. Then I moved to L.A. in January of 2020, and then the pandemic hit two months later.
People obviously weren’t shopping and buying the same way they were, and so I just fully lost that revenue. I was devastated.
I felt super attached to that brand at the time, and I just had to let it go. I let it go in a way that just closed that door entirely.
I just followed every stylist that I could find on Instagram all over the world.
Then a stylist, Davey Sutton, posted from London that he was coming to L.A. He needed an assistant.
I was like, “I’ll assist you.”
Then I assisted him on two things and then Nicola Formichetti reached out to him and asked if he had a good assistant here, and he suggested me.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Your partnership with Chappell Roan is often compared to Nicola [Formichetti] and Lady Gaga’s. You actually met Chappell [Roan] while working for Nicola, right? I’m curious if you can share that origin story and how you guys clicked to create the foundation for your partnership.
I was not very knowledgeable of fashion. Like of real fashion, high fashion. I come from a thrifting background. A lot more white trash-esque.
At that time, I was just very uninformed. When we were on set—it was for a V magazine shoot—so I was assisting Nicola [Formichetti], and Chappell [Roan] was the person that we were shooting.
Me and her just clicked in that Midwest way. Being like, “Well, we don’t care about these designer brands. We just want you to look fun and good.” She also comes from a thrifting background.
It made a lot of sense. She’s also just very much a girl’s girl, and I was one of the only women on set, so I think that also was just a natural draw.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
I want to talk about some of the themes that come up in your wardrobe styling choices. Latex corsets, cowboy hats, chaps, and boots. I feel like all these things kind of came together recently for the final festival of the year at Austin City Limits, and it was peak display of your work. Tell me about how you decided to end the run with these looks.
Initially, we had a rock-star theme for another festival, and we didn’t end up doing that theme. So then it was like, well, ACL we’ll do it.
So essentially, rock-star thing. I mean, that’s like, “Yes, easy. I know what to do.” For her looks, specifically, we had pulled a bunch of stuff.
We pulled the Leatheracci. We pulled a lot of Chrome Hearts for the other festival, and then agreed to do rock-star for ACL instead.
She was co-headlining, which she hadn’t done that yet.
It just needed to be bigger than what we were gonna do before. It needed to be custom. It had to be. I knew that we wanted the Leatheracci chaps.
Then, from there, it was just like, well, I mean, Zana [Bayne] is always the top choice.
If I could have Zana [Bayne] do every costume for the rest of my life for anybody, I would choose to do that.
I cannot express it enough how spectacular of a designer she is on so many levels.
Performance wear, she just—it’s untouchable. It’s Chappell’s favorite things to wear. The leather is amazing. The detail is amazing.
I mean, it’s so thoughtful. She’s got such a good eye. I could rave about her forever really.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
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