In a town chock-full of clavicle-baring Best Supporting Actress nominees, it takes more than just good skin on a pretty face to get our attention. It takes style. It takes grace. It takes a cavalcade of paparazzi swarming around a young, panty-less ingénue as she rides the merry-go-round that is rehab for the fifth time. That’s why we love indie film and fashion icon Chloë Sevigny; she’s got it all in spades—well, except for the paparazzi/no underwear/rehab part. Her debut clothing line, Chloë Sevigny for Opening Ceremony, consists of a flirty array of daywear—everything from leopard print ballet flats to high-waisted gingham cigarette pants—available exclusively at Opening Ceremony’s La Cienega store. It’s clothing cut for a modern day Laura Petrie, constructed of fabrics that look as though they were provided by Betsey Johnson. We got a hold of the “Big Love” star to talk shop about everything from growing up punk in the preppy suburbs of Connecticut to Patti Smith to, well, lentil soup.
Have you always had this
wonderfully unique sense of style?
I always feel like an asshole when I say this, but yeah, ever since I was a little
girl I was always really into fashion. I played dress-up a lot. My mother would
take me thrift shopping and I always went for the wild stuff.
Any positive style
influences back then?
My brother’s girlfriends. They really influenced the style direction I went in.
What was it like growing
up in conservative
I was pretty miserable. I didn’t have a lot of friends growing up there; I was
kind of an outsider. It’s a very wealthy, preppy area, so I guess maybe I was
lashing out against that.
Who are your style
icons?
Patti Smith is pretty great. Babe Paley, I love her style. Right now, I really
like Mary-Kate Olsen. I like the Slits. I like musicians because they always
get to dress as they want to. Designers like Yves Saint Laurent and early
Betsey Johnson. I like punk-era stuff. I like ’80s Esprit. There are lots of
things that I’m really inspired by and…I just lost my scissors. I’m doing this
new thing now when I do interviews, where I do other things as I’m doing the
interview so that I don’t concentrate so much, because if I do, then I get really
nervous.
What are you doing right
now that requires scissors?
I’m making lentil soup and I’m cutting flowers to put them in vases, but I lost
the scissors.
Tell me a little about
your new gig as a style advisor for Elle U.K.
It’s just one page a month where readers write in and ask questions like, “It’s
my30th birthday and I want to wear something really special, do you have
any advice?” So I told her, “Wear something patterned so if you spill on it, it
won’t show” and “Make sure you don’t have flimsy straps, so if you go crazy,
your dress doesn’t fall apart.” Stupid stuff like that.
You could have designed
a line for anyone. How did Opening Ceremony get so lucky?
I’ve known the Opening Ceremony guys [co-founders Humberto Leon and Carol Lim]
for a while now. I shop in their store a lot, and I think they have really
great taste in merchandise. Also, they’ve already produced their own line, so I
knew it would be easy to start since they have everything in house. They
produce all of the clothes in
Tell me a little about
your line. Who is it for?
I wanted to make sure that there was something that would appeal to every kind
of girl—from preppy to punky. I wanted to do simple cuts like American Apparel,
which I love, but with crazy fabrics so you could dress them up or dress them
down. I also wanted it to be versatile so you can mix them with other items. It
was a lot of work, and I was really nervous as to how people were going to
respond, but it’s not high fashion—it’s day wear, it’s casual wear, it’s
streetwear, so I had less pressure.
Can we expect to see
more designs from you in the future?
I think we’re going to do a men’s line. It will be kind of unisex; made for men
so that girls can find pieces that they like too. I don’t know when we’re going
to do that. It depends on the writers strike and when I go back to work on
"Big Love. "
Your brother is this amazing
He’s actually looking to open something in
Speaking of
Studio Wardrobe, Paper Bag Princess and The
Way We Wore all have the best vintage in
Eat? Drink? Dance?
I always eat at Hugo’s
in
If you had to associate
your style with one neighborhood in
I guess it would be the Eastside. I just like the people that I see around in restaurants
there. Their style isn’t trying as hard as people in West Hollywood or
Is there anyone on the
I really love Liz Goldwyn. She’s an art director and a jewelry designer, among other
things.
What do you think of
Metromix?
I haven’t seen it yet. I heard it’s going to be like a new L.A. Weekly.
Is it free too?
Indeed it is Chloë, indeed it is. So, what’s
next for you?
I’m going to be in the new Chloe perfume campaign, and I just did a film down
in
Marcos
Luevanos is Style editor at Metromix
