Chloe Sevigny
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PetitPuppy
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Lol, that would have been SO great! 
blushingambition
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Florecita86
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I agree, and I think it is a bit too much to say that someone wants others to think that they are 'crazy' .
Florecita86
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I hear ya, it really needed her this year.
blushingambition
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interview from prestige hk
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, Geneva, Swiss, SunSans-Regular]A PRESTIGE HONG KONG EXCLUSIVE [/FONT]
THE RELUCTANT ICON - CHLOË SEVIGNY
by Stephen Short
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, Geneva, Swiss, SunSans-Regular]Contrary to popular opinion, style icon Chloë Sevigny tells Prestige Hong Kong Deputy Editor Stephen Short, she does not love or court fashion and is trying to remind everyone she’s a big-screen actress
Connecticut-born Chloë Sevigny, 33, who’s related to France’s 17th-century Marquise de Sévigné (though she speaks precious little French), has never been conventional. But then, neither was much else surrounding her precocious instant fame. Spotted on a New York City street at 17, she did a Sassy magazine cover shoot and stayed on as a summer intern. Appearances in music videos for Sonic Youth and The Lemonheads followed, then a handful more shoots and a film (Kids). On the basis of that brief portfolio, American novelist Jay McInerney penned a six-page New Yorker story in November 1994 dubbing Sevigny “the downtown trendsetter of the moment” and comparing her to a skinny Jean Seberg in Jean-Luc Godard’s 1960 film Breathless.
Word spread and style mavens breathlessly rushed to equate her freshness with the style of a young Audrey Hepburn, or Edie Sedgwick, or even Twiggy. But there was one small disconnect. Sevigny wanted to be an actress, not a model, and a big-screen face, not a fashion plate. And she certainly didn’t want to be the “It girl” – a tag that stuck and morphed into “style icon” on account of her intuitive fashion hip – when she was most comfortable just being herself. But to be Sevigny was to be It.
With It came indie films, and with indie films came more of It. Sevigny’s choices were daring. She played an HIV-positive teenager who gets raped in Kids. In 1997 there was Gummo, a disturbing portrait of youth alienation and sexual abuse in Ohio, for which Sevigny played a secondary role and was costume designer. Next, a lead role in Whit Stillman’s dysfunctional The Last Days of Disco.
Then Sevigny had her mass-market film moment. Cast to play the girlfriend of Hilary Swank (a girl disguised as a boy) in real-life story Boys Don’t Cry, Sevigny earned an Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actress in 1999, while Swank won Best Actress. It was an indie film that crossed into the mainstream, and suddenly Sevigny was a style icon. Films with Lars von Trier (Dogville, Manderlay), Woody Allen (Melinda and Melinda), Jim Jarmusch (Broken Flowers) and other directors followed – all edgy, artful, less than conventional choices, occasionally involving explicit sex scenes, but none securing her top billing as a lead actress.
Opportunity came calling through the unlikely medium of HBO television series Big Love, in which she plays a polygamist’s wife. Starting its third season of filming – the cast and producers have seven-year contracts – it has won commercial and critical acclaim and been nominated for multiple Golden Globe Awards and an Emmy. It’s given Sevigny both mass-market attention and acting recognition, but it’s still not big screen.
Which all leaves her facing rather a large dilemma when I meet her in New York and find the reluctant style icon knee-deep in fashion-related projects. She’s just launched her own clothing line, “a one-off” she calls it, which sells along with Kate Moss for Top Shop at Opening Ceremony boutique in Soho. She has a photo campaign with Japanese cool-dude actor Tadanobu Asano for Japanese brand Uniqlo, which has one store in New York (and one in Hong Kong), and to top it off, was asked to design a ballet flat (think wedge) for Paris-based brand Repetto’s 60th anniversary (see “Don’t Step on My Toes,” page 214 of Prestige Hong Kong May 2008). Oh, and she’s also style adviser to British Elle magazine and the face for Chloé perfume. Previous campaigns have included Louis Vuitton, Miu Miu and MAC Cosmetics. When fashion comes so easy, the TV’s breezy and the brands so needy, how’s a Sevigny to get back to big screen?
Two weeks after our New York meeting, I ring Sevigny in Los Angeles for another chat. She’s there for six months to work on the film Barry Munday, will go for wardrobe fittings and make-up the next day and start filming the day after. She means business. Knowing the Big Love gig has limited her chances to seek more film work, she’s committed to making something work. She doesn’t need it, but the “downtown trendsetter” still wants better in the form of celluloid. It girl, style icon, screen dream, Sevigny is one aristo-cat who acts and won’t let the world, or herself, forget it.
What are the greatest misconceptions about Chloë Sevigny?
Well, the pronunciation of my name, first of all [laughs].
[Blushing] Forgive me. At least please tell me I’m close with Se-VEE-nyee.
No, it’s very off [laughs]. It’s Seven-ee. The “g” is silent. It’s okay. In America they all get it wrong as well. I always say just do the number “seven” and the letter “e.” It’s easier.
Tell me about the campaign shoot you’ve done for Japanese brand Uniqlo with actor Tadanobu Asano?
Uniqlo is a very big chain in Japan and there’s only one in America so far, in New York. They’ve approached me every year. The first year they had [musician] Kim Gordon, [photographer] Terry Richardson and others. Previously they’ve done campaigns with about 10 people in each one, so I kept saying no. This year they approached me with just Tadanobu Asano. I always thought the ads looked really great and that it wouldn’t do any harm.
[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, Geneva, Swiss, SunSans-Regular]Asano’s a huge star in Japan. How was he to work with?
I don’t know who he is but apparently he’s very cool over there. I like that Japanese style of, you know . . . giving gifts, but then of course I felt guilty in that I had nothing in return to give to him. I should have thought ahead, considering I was working with a Japanese actor and knowing the way they always do that, but . . .
Unfortunately we couldn’t communicate very well because he speaks no English and I speak no Japanese. So I didn’t really get to know him aside from the things he gave me that were very cool.
Such as?
[Laughs] He gave me some socks, which . . . I always love some hosiery [laughs]. He gave me this cardigan made of cotton, and I have a big collection of cardigans, it was kind of like T-shirt material. Then he gave me this little thing that you wrap around the waist, it looks like a pair of sleeves, like a flannel to wrap around your waist but it has a zipper in it. It’s just like a long scarf, or a pair of really long sleeves that you tie around the waist. It’s quite clever. I thought it was very cool.
Are you pretty savvy on the Asian culture front?
[Laughs] I think I’d rather not say for fear of sounding ignorant. I don’t know how even to acquire information about things going on in those countries. I don’t feel like there’s much coverage. I even heard the other day through someone I know that Yohji Yamamoto’s son or daughter is now designing a line, and we don’t even hear about that yet. That should have more coverage, especially for someone who’s doing something really innovative in the way they are.
http://www.prestigehk.com
[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, Geneva, Swiss, SunSans-Regular]A PRESTIGE HONG KONG EXCLUSIVE [/FONT]
THE RELUCTANT ICON - CHLOË SEVIGNY
by Stephen Short
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, Geneva, Swiss, SunSans-Regular]Contrary to popular opinion, style icon Chloë Sevigny tells Prestige Hong Kong Deputy Editor Stephen Short, she does not love or court fashion and is trying to remind everyone she’s a big-screen actress
Connecticut-born Chloë Sevigny, 33, who’s related to France’s 17th-century Marquise de Sévigné (though she speaks precious little French), has never been conventional. But then, neither was much else surrounding her precocious instant fame. Spotted on a New York City street at 17, she did a Sassy magazine cover shoot and stayed on as a summer intern. Appearances in music videos for Sonic Youth and The Lemonheads followed, then a handful more shoots and a film (Kids). On the basis of that brief portfolio, American novelist Jay McInerney penned a six-page New Yorker story in November 1994 dubbing Sevigny “the downtown trendsetter of the moment” and comparing her to a skinny Jean Seberg in Jean-Luc Godard’s 1960 film Breathless.
Word spread and style mavens breathlessly rushed to equate her freshness with the style of a young Audrey Hepburn, or Edie Sedgwick, or even Twiggy. But there was one small disconnect. Sevigny wanted to be an actress, not a model, and a big-screen face, not a fashion plate. And she certainly didn’t want to be the “It girl” – a tag that stuck and morphed into “style icon” on account of her intuitive fashion hip – when she was most comfortable just being herself. But to be Sevigny was to be It.
With It came indie films, and with indie films came more of It. Sevigny’s choices were daring. She played an HIV-positive teenager who gets raped in Kids. In 1997 there was Gummo, a disturbing portrait of youth alienation and sexual abuse in Ohio, for which Sevigny played a secondary role and was costume designer. Next, a lead role in Whit Stillman’s dysfunctional The Last Days of Disco.
Then Sevigny had her mass-market film moment. Cast to play the girlfriend of Hilary Swank (a girl disguised as a boy) in real-life story Boys Don’t Cry, Sevigny earned an Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actress in 1999, while Swank won Best Actress. It was an indie film that crossed into the mainstream, and suddenly Sevigny was a style icon. Films with Lars von Trier (Dogville, Manderlay), Woody Allen (Melinda and Melinda), Jim Jarmusch (Broken Flowers) and other directors followed – all edgy, artful, less than conventional choices, occasionally involving explicit sex scenes, but none securing her top billing as a lead actress.
Opportunity came calling through the unlikely medium of HBO television series Big Love, in which she plays a polygamist’s wife. Starting its third season of filming – the cast and producers have seven-year contracts – it has won commercial and critical acclaim and been nominated for multiple Golden Globe Awards and an Emmy. It’s given Sevigny both mass-market attention and acting recognition, but it’s still not big screen.
Which all leaves her facing rather a large dilemma when I meet her in New York and find the reluctant style icon knee-deep in fashion-related projects. She’s just launched her own clothing line, “a one-off” she calls it, which sells along with Kate Moss for Top Shop at Opening Ceremony boutique in Soho. She has a photo campaign with Japanese cool-dude actor Tadanobu Asano for Japanese brand Uniqlo, which has one store in New York (and one in Hong Kong), and to top it off, was asked to design a ballet flat (think wedge) for Paris-based brand Repetto’s 60th anniversary (see “Don’t Step on My Toes,” page 214 of Prestige Hong Kong May 2008). Oh, and she’s also style adviser to British Elle magazine and the face for Chloé perfume. Previous campaigns have included Louis Vuitton, Miu Miu and MAC Cosmetics. When fashion comes so easy, the TV’s breezy and the brands so needy, how’s a Sevigny to get back to big screen?
Two weeks after our New York meeting, I ring Sevigny in Los Angeles for another chat. She’s there for six months to work on the film Barry Munday, will go for wardrobe fittings and make-up the next day and start filming the day after. She means business. Knowing the Big Love gig has limited her chances to seek more film work, she’s committed to making something work. She doesn’t need it, but the “downtown trendsetter” still wants better in the form of celluloid. It girl, style icon, screen dream, Sevigny is one aristo-cat who acts and won’t let the world, or herself, forget it.
What are the greatest misconceptions about Chloë Sevigny?
Well, the pronunciation of my name, first of all [laughs].
[Blushing] Forgive me. At least please tell me I’m close with Se-VEE-nyee.
No, it’s very off [laughs]. It’s Seven-ee. The “g” is silent. It’s okay. In America they all get it wrong as well. I always say just do the number “seven” and the letter “e.” It’s easier.
Tell me about the campaign shoot you’ve done for Japanese brand Uniqlo with actor Tadanobu Asano?
Uniqlo is a very big chain in Japan and there’s only one in America so far, in New York. They’ve approached me every year. The first year they had [musician] Kim Gordon, [photographer] Terry Richardson and others. Previously they’ve done campaigns with about 10 people in each one, so I kept saying no. This year they approached me with just Tadanobu Asano. I always thought the ads looked really great and that it wouldn’t do any harm.
[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, Geneva, Swiss, SunSans-Regular]Asano’s a huge star in Japan. How was he to work with?
I don’t know who he is but apparently he’s very cool over there. I like that Japanese style of, you know . . . giving gifts, but then of course I felt guilty in that I had nothing in return to give to him. I should have thought ahead, considering I was working with a Japanese actor and knowing the way they always do that, but . . .
Unfortunately we couldn’t communicate very well because he speaks no English and I speak no Japanese. So I didn’t really get to know him aside from the things he gave me that were very cool.
Such as?
[Laughs] He gave me some socks, which . . . I always love some hosiery [laughs]. He gave me this cardigan made of cotton, and I have a big collection of cardigans, it was kind of like T-shirt material. Then he gave me this little thing that you wrap around the waist, it looks like a pair of sleeves, like a flannel to wrap around your waist but it has a zipper in it. It’s just like a long scarf, or a pair of really long sleeves that you tie around the waist. It’s quite clever. I thought it was very cool.
Are you pretty savvy on the Asian culture front?
[Laughs] I think I’d rather not say for fear of sounding ignorant. I don’t know how even to acquire information about things going on in those countries. I don’t feel like there’s much coverage. I even heard the other day through someone I know that Yohji Yamamoto’s son or daughter is now designing a line, and we don’t even hear about that yet. That should have more coverage, especially for someone who’s doing something really innovative in the way they are.
http://www.prestigehk.com
[/FONT]
blushingambition
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continued....
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, Geneva, Swiss, SunSans-Regular]Did you go to the Murakami exhibition this week at the Brooklyn Museum?
No, I’m not a big Murakami fan. I really had very little interest in going to see that.
What about Cai Guo-Qiang’s exhibition at the Guggenheim?
I did see that. Of course, yes. I was very impressed. I think to see art on that scale is just very rare, and I was kind of blown away and there was lots of crowds. I went one day when it was raining and there was a line about five blocks long to get in and I just thought, forget it, I’ll have to come back another day [laughs]. And luckily the next time I went back it wasn’t as busy. It’s unbelievable though. I’ve heard the crowds have been really big there, every day, which is pretty amazing. I kind of wished that the “place cards,” you know, the things that explain what the art’s about, I kind of wish I hadn’t been reading those and just let myself interpret it in my own way. I felt reading the cards took away from the experience a little, somehow. They were very informative but almost too much, you know, just spelled it out so eagerly for you.
I thought the boat you could get into was a bit odd.
Yes. The room when you go around with the river, somehow I didn’t feel that fit in so easily with the rest.
I thought the wolves running into a sheet of fibreglass really did it for me.
Yes. I did too. And did you see the watercolour of the tigers, like the classic kind of woodcutting. Was that his father’s or had he done that? I like the cars suspended from the roof, too. That reminds me of a friend of mine, an artist, Spencer Sweeney. He had a show, I guess a couple of years ago at Gavin Brown’s, and they had an old New York City police car which they had gutted and hung upside down that had all the disco balls and lights, and all the lights were flashing like a disco thing. That was really amazing, too.
Coincidentally, we’re running a shot in this month’s fashion section of the ballet flat you designed for Repetto’s 60th anniversary. I love your design.
Thank you. I was actually just inspired by the old Vivienne Westwood shoes and the Comme des Garçons shoes, you know, with the straight platform across, not really a wedge, more like a lift. I guess that’s like a traditional Japanese style.
How did you get to collaborate with them?
They gave me a list of the designers and I thought it seemed like a pretty good cross-section of people and we agreed. It was funny. When I was in Paris, outside the store – I had never been there before – there was a line outside the store to get in and I had to queue up behind the velvet rope. While I was in the queue I was like . . . [mock delirious] God, they’re my shoes in the window! Can I cut the line? [Laughs.]
I’ve been strolling around Soho and I see Kate Moss for Top Shop clothes, Olsen twins stuff, Natalie Portman shoes, there’s Jovovich-Hawk. This celebrity-designer market is getting competitive, isn’t it?
Yes, I agree with you, but I think there’s so much variety. For instance, what Kate Moss is doing for Top Shop is very mass market produced. And the Olsen twins is very high end, high-end fabrics, very expensive. Natalie’s is a very small niche and what she’s done is very personal. What I tried to do with Opening Ceremony, I hoped people would be able to recognise that I put a lot of work into it, rather than it just being something I approved. It was very thought out and very personal for me as well.
It seems you have a love/hate relationship with fashion. Can we expect more fashion from Chloë Sevigny?
No, absolutely not. I’m taking a big break from fashion. I’m not going to do another line. It was a one-off. We decided maybe in a couple of years we’ll do a boy’s line, but I think for a little while I should step out of fashion and concentrate much more on the film work. The problem – well, it’s not a problem – but I had signed on to do this HBO series called Big Love and . . . the problem with Big Love is that it’s not a regular schedule like network television. They have you on a retainer and you’re not allowed to do other work because they say, “Well, we might need you.” So for the past three or four years, getting film work has been much more difficult because people aren’t as apt to hire me because they don’t know if I’ll have to go back and do the series. It’s been really fulfilling, a great experience, I love doing the show . . . but my film work has really suffered because of it. So I need to stay in Los Angeles for six months and concentrate on finding something to do when the season ends in November.
[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, Geneva, Swiss, SunSans-Regular]Do you make your merry way from New York to Los Angeles often?
Not merrily, more like miserably [laughs]. I live in New York, I own an apartment, and Los Angeles is just a place I come to work. Now I’m going to buckle down and concentrate on work. It’s been hard but I’m going to try and force myself to stay here and do something, but my life has always been more important than my work. But, you know, we’ve had writers’ strikes in New York, so I’ve been doing other things for the last six months and things came around . . . I was doing more work in fashion and whatnot because I wanted to be in New York and there wasn’t much work to be had. So everything is circumstantial as well. There’s no master plan.
So you actively dislike Los Angeles.
Yes. I have to drag me kicking and screaming, as a matter of fact, to LA.
Do you feel differently about your sexuality in New York and Los Angeles?
I was thinking about that just the other day. Whenever I’m here in LA, whatever kind of confidence I’ve gained in New York goes out the window [laughs] . . . because the city is built around the industry or something, I’m not sure what it is, but the town always does my head in and I’m trying to get over that.
Having lived as you did for a long time with the It-girl label, is it a good or bad thing?
I’m not sure. The It-girl concept has been around forever and people don’t have very long attention spans these days, so it’s out with the old, in with the new over and over again. I’ve tried not to let that dictate me and what I’m going to do, but do what I want regardless. I haven’t been like, “Oh my God, I have to be out there, I have to be present.” I’ve never really felt like that. As where, a lot of people when they become successful, that kind of bogs them down. Because once you get really big and on top, you have to try very hard to stay there, I think.
Who’s the current It girl for you?
Oh jeez, I don’t know [laughs].
You must.
Nooo . . . I guess Ellen Page is having a moment. She’s the girl from Juno. Who else? I feel like there must be others but they’re not coming to me right now.
You think Ellen merits her moment?
I like her attitude, although I haven’t really seen enough to judge her yet. But I like her . . . she’s okie [laughs]. She’s kind of in the vein of all those other sassy young actresses with “wise beyond their years” attitudes.
Talking of Natalie Portman, have you seen The Other Boleyn Girl [also starring Scarlett Johansson]?
I did and I have to say I was really impressed with Scarlett’s performance. Scarlett’s so attractive it’s distracting. I felt Natalie was a little young for that part. It was more casting than her, per se. We often say there’s no such thing as bad acting, just bad casting [laughs].
What about the style merits of the two?
I think in some ways they’re very similar. Acting is their main thing, so whether they’re style icons doesn’t really bother them. I think Scarlett maybe has more fun with it, more of a “who cares?” attitude, as where perhaps Natalie is very much more classical or timeless. I don’t think either of them really cares too much about anything else to propel them. They’re both so incredibly attractive . . . as where some others, maybe we need help [laughs].
What about Madonna’s daughter, Lourdes? Do you think she’ll become an It girl?
I think she’s too young. They’re not going to exploit her in that way. But she’s so beautiful. Maybe her mother will help her deal with that in some way . . . [laughs]. Her mum’s pretty savvy that way, no?
Just a bit. I see Wong Kar-wai’s My Blueberry Nights just premiered in New York. Did you see it?
I did see that. I thought the film was stunning visually and I thought Natalie was the best . . . she and Rachel Weisz [laughs]. But I was amazed by that one strand of hair that stayed on her face the whole time – how did they get just that one strand? [Laughs.] But overall I wasn’t crazy about the movie. Once again I felt Natalie was too young for the character. [Sevigny lets out a small scream.]
Are you okay?
There’s some crazy animal fight happening outside my room. Can you hear it? Gosh, my first night in a new house and there are raccoons screaming outside my window. It’s always kind of scary when you’re walking up the path at night and you’re thinking, oh God, these raccoons are going to come out and get me.
[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, Geneva, Swiss, SunSans-Regular]A great metaphor for the industry in Los Angeles. You only just arrived in LA, yet you were training with a choreographer for Barry Munday today.
Yes. There’s a scene in the movie where the title character goes to a strip club and he thinks he sees my character dancing there. And my character is like a real “goody two-shoes” in the movie. You know, the family jewel, the favourite child. I can’t really give anything away, but I have to do the dance . . . so I had to learn some moves.
Are you not a great mover?
No, I’m awful [laughs]. The choreographer was very patient with me. My character is quite sexy and attractive, and as such I’ve never really played a sexy girl. They’re always kind of frumpy or . . .
Damaged?
Yes. And she’s very confident, and it’s a comedy. That’s great for me because I haven’t really done anything comedic in film. Big Love has its comedic moments, but it’s nothing like this.
That interests me about you. You’ve always played dark characters, yet there’s a feeling you have more to give. While your films have been interesting, they haven’t explored your full range. I’d love to see you do more comedy. I think you’d do it well.
Thank you. My friends agree with that [laughs].
What are you reading?
Right now I’m reading a biography of Judy Garland, who I’m obsessed with, so I’ve been watching a lot of her films and listening to a lot of her records. I’ve been reading about fascinating women. Before that I was reading about Nancy Cunard, who was a socialite, a champion of equal rights and dated black men in the ’20s and was very controversial, so I’ve been in kind of a “bio” moment . . . Oh my God!
The raccoons again?
Yeah.
What’s your politics? Where do you stand on Clinton versus Obama?
I’m undecided. I tend not to get political in magazines. But I’m definitely left-leaning. The problem is, I like Obama’s policies but I like Hillary’s personality a little more. Not that one outweighs the other, but yeah . . .
What was Woody Allen’s perception of you when he cast you, and did it change?
[Laughs] Woody Allen probably said about four words to me the entire time we were shooting. I read something about Judy Davis, who said she’d worked on a bunch of his films, maybe four or five, and he’s probably said four or five words to her, so . . . I felt like I was in good company. I thought at least if he doesn’t say anything to me, he must be happy with what I’m doing.
Are costume and wardrobe crew on film sets scared by your style credentials?
Nooo. I hope not. But I did have one director who said to me, “Do you know what I find works for me, Chloë? When I focus on my own job.” [Laughs] But I’m just obsessive-compulsive sometimes and it happened to be that the set dresser was trying to dress the set and put more stuff there and I was making suggestions, but I guess he didn’t like that. So, you know, what can you do? I couldn’t help it. Film is a collaborative effort and I’m trying to keep my mouth shut or not, you know . . . [laughs].
If you were me, trying to “package” you in this cover story, what’s the angle, what would you say?
I think a lot of people probably assume with the fashion that I love it, that I court it, but I don’t necessarily. That’s not something I’ve really admitted before in the same way. Some people know me solely for that and it’s frustrating, but at least more people are watching Big Love and I think opinions are starting to change.
[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, Geneva, Swiss, SunSans-Regular]http://www.prestigehk.com[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, Geneva, Swiss, SunSans-Regular]Did you go to the Murakami exhibition this week at the Brooklyn Museum?
No, I’m not a big Murakami fan. I really had very little interest in going to see that.
What about Cai Guo-Qiang’s exhibition at the Guggenheim?
I did see that. Of course, yes. I was very impressed. I think to see art on that scale is just very rare, and I was kind of blown away and there was lots of crowds. I went one day when it was raining and there was a line about five blocks long to get in and I just thought, forget it, I’ll have to come back another day [laughs]. And luckily the next time I went back it wasn’t as busy. It’s unbelievable though. I’ve heard the crowds have been really big there, every day, which is pretty amazing. I kind of wished that the “place cards,” you know, the things that explain what the art’s about, I kind of wish I hadn’t been reading those and just let myself interpret it in my own way. I felt reading the cards took away from the experience a little, somehow. They were very informative but almost too much, you know, just spelled it out so eagerly for you.
I thought the boat you could get into was a bit odd.
Yes. The room when you go around with the river, somehow I didn’t feel that fit in so easily with the rest.
I thought the wolves running into a sheet of fibreglass really did it for me.
Yes. I did too. And did you see the watercolour of the tigers, like the classic kind of woodcutting. Was that his father’s or had he done that? I like the cars suspended from the roof, too. That reminds me of a friend of mine, an artist, Spencer Sweeney. He had a show, I guess a couple of years ago at Gavin Brown’s, and they had an old New York City police car which they had gutted and hung upside down that had all the disco balls and lights, and all the lights were flashing like a disco thing. That was really amazing, too.
Coincidentally, we’re running a shot in this month’s fashion section of the ballet flat you designed for Repetto’s 60th anniversary. I love your design.
Thank you. I was actually just inspired by the old Vivienne Westwood shoes and the Comme des Garçons shoes, you know, with the straight platform across, not really a wedge, more like a lift. I guess that’s like a traditional Japanese style.
How did you get to collaborate with them?
They gave me a list of the designers and I thought it seemed like a pretty good cross-section of people and we agreed. It was funny. When I was in Paris, outside the store – I had never been there before – there was a line outside the store to get in and I had to queue up behind the velvet rope. While I was in the queue I was like . . . [mock delirious] God, they’re my shoes in the window! Can I cut the line? [Laughs.]
I’ve been strolling around Soho and I see Kate Moss for Top Shop clothes, Olsen twins stuff, Natalie Portman shoes, there’s Jovovich-Hawk. This celebrity-designer market is getting competitive, isn’t it?
Yes, I agree with you, but I think there’s so much variety. For instance, what Kate Moss is doing for Top Shop is very mass market produced. And the Olsen twins is very high end, high-end fabrics, very expensive. Natalie’s is a very small niche and what she’s done is very personal. What I tried to do with Opening Ceremony, I hoped people would be able to recognise that I put a lot of work into it, rather than it just being something I approved. It was very thought out and very personal for me as well.
It seems you have a love/hate relationship with fashion. Can we expect more fashion from Chloë Sevigny?
No, absolutely not. I’m taking a big break from fashion. I’m not going to do another line. It was a one-off. We decided maybe in a couple of years we’ll do a boy’s line, but I think for a little while I should step out of fashion and concentrate much more on the film work. The problem – well, it’s not a problem – but I had signed on to do this HBO series called Big Love and . . . the problem with Big Love is that it’s not a regular schedule like network television. They have you on a retainer and you’re not allowed to do other work because they say, “Well, we might need you.” So for the past three or four years, getting film work has been much more difficult because people aren’t as apt to hire me because they don’t know if I’ll have to go back and do the series. It’s been really fulfilling, a great experience, I love doing the show . . . but my film work has really suffered because of it. So I need to stay in Los Angeles for six months and concentrate on finding something to do when the season ends in November.
[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, Geneva, Swiss, SunSans-Regular]Do you make your merry way from New York to Los Angeles often?
Not merrily, more like miserably [laughs]. I live in New York, I own an apartment, and Los Angeles is just a place I come to work. Now I’m going to buckle down and concentrate on work. It’s been hard but I’m going to try and force myself to stay here and do something, but my life has always been more important than my work. But, you know, we’ve had writers’ strikes in New York, so I’ve been doing other things for the last six months and things came around . . . I was doing more work in fashion and whatnot because I wanted to be in New York and there wasn’t much work to be had. So everything is circumstantial as well. There’s no master plan.
So you actively dislike Los Angeles.
Yes. I have to drag me kicking and screaming, as a matter of fact, to LA.
Do you feel differently about your sexuality in New York and Los Angeles?
I was thinking about that just the other day. Whenever I’m here in LA, whatever kind of confidence I’ve gained in New York goes out the window [laughs] . . . because the city is built around the industry or something, I’m not sure what it is, but the town always does my head in and I’m trying to get over that.
Having lived as you did for a long time with the It-girl label, is it a good or bad thing?
I’m not sure. The It-girl concept has been around forever and people don’t have very long attention spans these days, so it’s out with the old, in with the new over and over again. I’ve tried not to let that dictate me and what I’m going to do, but do what I want regardless. I haven’t been like, “Oh my God, I have to be out there, I have to be present.” I’ve never really felt like that. As where, a lot of people when they become successful, that kind of bogs them down. Because once you get really big and on top, you have to try very hard to stay there, I think.
Who’s the current It girl for you?
Oh jeez, I don’t know [laughs].
You must.
Nooo . . . I guess Ellen Page is having a moment. She’s the girl from Juno. Who else? I feel like there must be others but they’re not coming to me right now.
You think Ellen merits her moment?
I like her attitude, although I haven’t really seen enough to judge her yet. But I like her . . . she’s okie [laughs]. She’s kind of in the vein of all those other sassy young actresses with “wise beyond their years” attitudes.
Talking of Natalie Portman, have you seen The Other Boleyn Girl [also starring Scarlett Johansson]?
I did and I have to say I was really impressed with Scarlett’s performance. Scarlett’s so attractive it’s distracting. I felt Natalie was a little young for that part. It was more casting than her, per se. We often say there’s no such thing as bad acting, just bad casting [laughs].
What about the style merits of the two?
I think in some ways they’re very similar. Acting is their main thing, so whether they’re style icons doesn’t really bother them. I think Scarlett maybe has more fun with it, more of a “who cares?” attitude, as where perhaps Natalie is very much more classical or timeless. I don’t think either of them really cares too much about anything else to propel them. They’re both so incredibly attractive . . . as where some others, maybe we need help [laughs].
What about Madonna’s daughter, Lourdes? Do you think she’ll become an It girl?
I think she’s too young. They’re not going to exploit her in that way. But she’s so beautiful. Maybe her mother will help her deal with that in some way . . . [laughs]. Her mum’s pretty savvy that way, no?
Just a bit. I see Wong Kar-wai’s My Blueberry Nights just premiered in New York. Did you see it?
I did see that. I thought the film was stunning visually and I thought Natalie was the best . . . she and Rachel Weisz [laughs]. But I was amazed by that one strand of hair that stayed on her face the whole time – how did they get just that one strand? [Laughs.] But overall I wasn’t crazy about the movie. Once again I felt Natalie was too young for the character. [Sevigny lets out a small scream.]
Are you okay?
There’s some crazy animal fight happening outside my room. Can you hear it? Gosh, my first night in a new house and there are raccoons screaming outside my window. It’s always kind of scary when you’re walking up the path at night and you’re thinking, oh God, these raccoons are going to come out and get me.
[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, Geneva, Swiss, SunSans-Regular]A great metaphor for the industry in Los Angeles. You only just arrived in LA, yet you were training with a choreographer for Barry Munday today.
Yes. There’s a scene in the movie where the title character goes to a strip club and he thinks he sees my character dancing there. And my character is like a real “goody two-shoes” in the movie. You know, the family jewel, the favourite child. I can’t really give anything away, but I have to do the dance . . . so I had to learn some moves.
Are you not a great mover?
No, I’m awful [laughs]. The choreographer was very patient with me. My character is quite sexy and attractive, and as such I’ve never really played a sexy girl. They’re always kind of frumpy or . . .
Damaged?
Yes. And she’s very confident, and it’s a comedy. That’s great for me because I haven’t really done anything comedic in film. Big Love has its comedic moments, but it’s nothing like this.
That interests me about you. You’ve always played dark characters, yet there’s a feeling you have more to give. While your films have been interesting, they haven’t explored your full range. I’d love to see you do more comedy. I think you’d do it well.
Thank you. My friends agree with that [laughs].
What are you reading?
Right now I’m reading a biography of Judy Garland, who I’m obsessed with, so I’ve been watching a lot of her films and listening to a lot of her records. I’ve been reading about fascinating women. Before that I was reading about Nancy Cunard, who was a socialite, a champion of equal rights and dated black men in the ’20s and was very controversial, so I’ve been in kind of a “bio” moment . . . Oh my God!
The raccoons again?
Yeah.
What’s your politics? Where do you stand on Clinton versus Obama?
I’m undecided. I tend not to get political in magazines. But I’m definitely left-leaning. The problem is, I like Obama’s policies but I like Hillary’s personality a little more. Not that one outweighs the other, but yeah . . .
What was Woody Allen’s perception of you when he cast you, and did it change?
[Laughs] Woody Allen probably said about four words to me the entire time we were shooting. I read something about Judy Davis, who said she’d worked on a bunch of his films, maybe four or five, and he’s probably said four or five words to her, so . . . I felt like I was in good company. I thought at least if he doesn’t say anything to me, he must be happy with what I’m doing.
Are costume and wardrobe crew on film sets scared by your style credentials?
Nooo. I hope not. But I did have one director who said to me, “Do you know what I find works for me, Chloë? When I focus on my own job.” [Laughs] But I’m just obsessive-compulsive sometimes and it happened to be that the set dresser was trying to dress the set and put more stuff there and I was making suggestions, but I guess he didn’t like that. So, you know, what can you do? I couldn’t help it. Film is a collaborative effort and I’m trying to keep my mouth shut or not, you know . . . [laughs].
If you were me, trying to “package” you in this cover story, what’s the angle, what would you say?
I think a lot of people probably assume with the fashion that I love it, that I court it, but I don’t necessarily. That’s not something I’ve really admitted before in the same way. Some people know me solely for that and it’s frustrating, but at least more people are watching Big Love and I think opinions are starting to change.
[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, Geneva, Swiss, SunSans-Regular]http://www.prestigehk.com[/FONT]
DiamondSea
she had boys in her room
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Women's Health "Down To Earth" event last night in New York
uk fabsugar
uk fabsugar
Alexandra8715
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not too sure what I think about that outfit. It doesn't seem as inspired or interesting as other things she's worn. I think this would have seemed more interesting like a year ago. Not bad though!
DiamondSea
she had boys in her room
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Me too! She's honest, without being unnecessarily rude.
unwrapmypackage
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Man, I love reading her interviews.
Her honesty, I love it.
Her honesty, I love it.
PetitPuppy
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I love the last outfit. But I love anything Chloe wears, so...
And I enjoyed reading the interview. She seems really down to earth and honest.
And I enjoyed reading the interview. She seems really down to earth and honest.
blushingambition
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I actually like that outfit but the glasses are horrible 
Thanks for posting them!! i love new pics
Thanks for posting them!! i love new pics
blushingambition
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More pics from The Women's Health "Down To Earth" Event
getty
getty
blushingambition
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Chloë Sevigny Doesn't Want to Call Herself an Eco-Nazi, But...
After missing her Nylon party in April, we were worried Chloë Sevigny might not show to Radar and Women's Health magazine's "Down to Earth" party last night. But this time, she showed! The green-themed evening was ripe with canvas-bag-toting, eco-talking partygoers so we felt obliged to ask our hostess about keeping it green since, well, we didn't bring a Feed Bag and wanted to show we care. "I'm really green, yeah. I annoy everybody, all my friends. Well, I have some friends that are really green, but most of them — I don't want to use the term Nazi, but I'm very extreme," Sevigny said. "I don't ever use plastic bags. Um, I always bring my own to the grocery store. Even when I go to my local bodega, they're like, 'No bag, right?' They always make jokes about me." Wow, way to keep it real, girlfriend. But wait, there's more! "I try to take smaller baths, I try to eat less meat, I try to only buy organic, and I don't dry my clothes in the dryer — I hand-dry them." She "hand-dries" all of her clothes?! "Sometimes I'll put them in the dryer for five minutes just to soften it up," she confessed. But what if she wants to wear something last minute? "I don't," she said. "Ever."
We took a break from the interview to process that kind of lifestyle. But before the party ended we cornered Sevigny again to chat about her Opening Ceremony line. "I wrapped the last season of Big Love, and I said, 'I just want to stay in New York for awhile,' and that's when we decided to do the line together. I thought it'll keep me in New York, and I can be creative and do something, not just this idle time," she explained. "You know, I really have to be in New York for at least four or five months straight to do a line so whenever that happens again we'll do it." If you insist, Chloë, but we're not sure we'd advise it considering its less-than-stellar reviews. Sevigny's also well versed in polygamist culture and fashions, compliments of her show Big Love, so we had to know what she thought of the fashions goin' on in Texas. "The women in Texas, they all wear the same dress on that compound just in a different color, so it's more like a uniform there," she said. "There are so many different compounds, and I think they all have their own kind of fashion or whatever." —Jana Wintour
nymag.com
After missing her Nylon party in April, we were worried Chloë Sevigny might not show to Radar and Women's Health magazine's "Down to Earth" party last night. But this time, she showed! The green-themed evening was ripe with canvas-bag-toting, eco-talking partygoers so we felt obliged to ask our hostess about keeping it green since, well, we didn't bring a Feed Bag and wanted to show we care. "I'm really green, yeah. I annoy everybody, all my friends. Well, I have some friends that are really green, but most of them — I don't want to use the term Nazi, but I'm very extreme," Sevigny said. "I don't ever use plastic bags. Um, I always bring my own to the grocery store. Even when I go to my local bodega, they're like, 'No bag, right?' They always make jokes about me." Wow, way to keep it real, girlfriend. But wait, there's more! "I try to take smaller baths, I try to eat less meat, I try to only buy organic, and I don't dry my clothes in the dryer — I hand-dry them." She "hand-dries" all of her clothes?! "Sometimes I'll put them in the dryer for five minutes just to soften it up," she confessed. But what if she wants to wear something last minute? "I don't," she said. "Ever."
We took a break from the interview to process that kind of lifestyle. But before the party ended we cornered Sevigny again to chat about her Opening Ceremony line. "I wrapped the last season of Big Love, and I said, 'I just want to stay in New York for awhile,' and that's when we decided to do the line together. I thought it'll keep me in New York, and I can be creative and do something, not just this idle time," she explained. "You know, I really have to be in New York for at least four or five months straight to do a line so whenever that happens again we'll do it." If you insist, Chloë, but we're not sure we'd advise it considering its less-than-stellar reviews. Sevigny's also well versed in polygamist culture and fashions, compliments of her show Big Love, so we had to know what she thought of the fashions goin' on in Texas. "The women in Texas, they all wear the same dress on that compound just in a different color, so it's more like a uniform there," she said. "There are so many different compounds, and I think they all have their own kind of fashion or whatever." —Jana Wintour
nymag.com
