Melanie Ward, Influential Stylist, Dies

Melanie Ward, the British-born stylist and former senior fashion editor of American Harper’s Bazaar, has died after a long battle with cancer, her official Instagram announced on Oct. 22. Trained at Central Saint Martins and London University, she emerged from late-1980s London street culture and early work at The Face and i-D, helping to create the raw, grainy aesthetic of early-1990s grunge alongside photographers such as Corinne Day and David Sims. She is widely credited with launching Kate Moss’s career and with long creative partnerships with Helmut Lang and work for Calvin Klein and Jil Sander that helped codify a new minimalism. Ward spent 14 years at Harper’s Bazaar US bringing that sensibility to mainstream editorial pages and later freelanced with leading photographers and consulted for major fashion houses and commercial brands. Colleagues praised her visionary eye, and tributes have come from figures including Kate Moss, Calvin Klein, and Donatella Versace.