In the editorial, she doesn't specify who her stylist is, only that she has one for the tour. Here's the editorial, forgive any spelling errors. It was very long to type out!
It's a Friday afternoon in Los Angeles, and Sienna Miller is ensconced in her room at Beverly Hills Hotel, dressed in a pair of Topshop grey pants, neon-yellow Christian Louboutin lace-up Fred flats and two tiny T-shirts. It's a simple look, yet it doesn't disappoint. Here's a girl who mixes high and low fashion with ease, a skill that cements her fashion-icon status.
It seemed a natural leap for Miller to start her own label, which she recently did with the help of her similarly fashion-focused - albeit more technically trained - sister Savannah, in Twenty8Twelve. The line is slowly gaining recognition, and with Miller recently wearing that dazzling sea-green dress of her own design at the 2009 MTV Movie Awards in May, women everywhere have been jostling for a little bit of Sienna in their wardrobes.
It hasn't been all glamour, though. Her on/off relationship with Balthazar Getty has been continually chronicled in the tabloid press - a war she is determined to win. "I was the first person to sue and win against the paparazzi in England for harassment," she tells us. "Now it's illegal for them to sit outside my house or chase me in cars...any of those things,"
Her schedule is still relentless. But in-between dashing off to an afternoon meeting and packing for an evening flight back to London to then begin a world tour that included a visit to Australia in July, Miller found time to settle in for a chat.
Harper's BAZAAR: Have you always been a fan of fashion?
Sienna Miller: "I've always sort of loved it as a form of self-expression, but I'm not someone who follows trends or religiously reads magazines, so it's kind of odd that people think that I'm more fashiony than I actually am. I've always loved the effect that clothes can have on your mood and what they say about your personality, but it's not something I'm obsessing about - [as if] I have to have the new It bag or the new It shoe. I prefer to find the little kooky pieces from markets and mix them up with stuff. Like any woman, I love buying a great new pair of shoes or a new dress, but I'm not someone who has to be at fashion week,"
HB: Part of the reason people chronicle what you wear is because it just looks so effortless. Do you have a stylist?
SM: "No, I've never had a stylist in my life until [now]. I'm starting this publicity tour for [the film] G.I Joe and we're going to about 12 countries in two weeks, so I'm going to need three outfits a day. Normally I would always call stuff in myself or say, 'Can you send some stuff round?'. But I've never done a world tour before, and I know that with the amount of junkets and all of that coming up, I'm going to have to get somebody to pull some stuff in for me. Even using a stylist now, it's not like I'm ever going to let someone tell me what to wear. I really know what I like."
HB: Who are your favourite designers?
SM: "I think Louis Vuitton does amazing shoes, but everyone knows that. Isabel Marant is really exciting. I bought some dungarees about three years ago, and I was always wondering who she was. Her past couple of shows - I looked online the other day - are so amazing. Obviously Balenciaga, [Alexander] McQueen, Stella [McCartney] and Twenty8Twelve. I've always loved Matthew Williamson and he's a great friend of mine. I think his last show was really exciting. He's kind of moving away from the whole empire-line thing - he's really suddenly got edgy and he's doing some exciting stuff,"
HB: Tell us about that amazing green dress from your collection....
SM: "We got to feature it in this [BAZAAR] shoot [which is] the first time I've done a shoot wearing a key piece from the collection. I loved it and I loved the process we went through. We actually made it in just the green jersey. Then Swarovski sponsored our show and we had the idea to cover it in sequins. I was really worried that it would look tacky or kind of Vegas-like, but it turned out great and I'm really proud. That's probably my favourite piece from our last collection. Jourdan Dunn wore it on the runway and she closed our show, and it was just a real moment for me and my sister,"
HB: Why did you decide to launch your own fashion line?
SM: "I was approached by an investor called Carlos Ortega. He has lots of different label, and he came up with the idea of me doing a label. It's not something I'd normally do, but my sister is a really amazing designer and she [studied at] Central Saint Martins [College of Art and Design] in London, which is where McQueen and John Galliano went. So she's got huge talent, and when she was doing her collections in college, I would be sort of there and say 'Why don't we try this?' and 'Why don't you make the shirt sleeve shorter?' and tweaking her stuff. It was kind of always a little bit of a collaboration. So when this idea came up, I just thought it would be great for Savannah and me to be able to work together. She has the training....I can't draw to save my life.
So she's there on a more day-to-day basis and I'm there for the first week of every season, which is the design week, when we talk about mood boards, inspiration, the kind of pieces we want, how many jackets, how many tops. And then the day it gets drawn up I get sent the drawings and we Skype and I say 'That looks good, let's make it this or that,', so I'm kind of more the creative director. As samples come through, we have three days a week where I'm looking at them, over a period of about three weeks, which is happening now. So I'm not there day to day talking about stitching colour, but [I'm] approving everything with my sister. We trust each other implicitly so it really works, but it's a lot to juggle sometimes,"
HB: How would you describe the line?
SM: "They're really well-made, well-tailored clothes that are affordable. They're kind of designer diffusion prices, but we really try to pay as much attention to detail [as possible] and to make pieces that last forever - really great basics. And then every season we do some more wacky stuff. We had our first show at London fashion week, which went really well.
I've got a more eclectic sense of fashion and my sister is more classic, and I think the amalgamation of our styles results in something quite good. There's something for everyone and we're not overpriced,"
HB: Your schedule is crazy, so how come you look so refreshed?
SM: "I really don't look that fresh up close, I promise. I've got a really good family and really close friends, the same best friends that I've had since I was 10 years old, so I have a really strong group around me that keeps me sane.
I bought a cottage in the country outside of London and I'm doing my garden. I'm trying to make it self-sufficient, planting vegetables and all of that. I think it helps to balance the craziness and the pace of my life with the quiet family time where I'm with my mum. Tomorrow, when I land, I'm just going to go straight to my cottage - my mum is there with my dog. I think just having that balance is really important. Otherwise, it can all get quite narcissistic in this world,"
HB: Tell us about your next film, G.I. Joe.
SM: "It's the antithesis [of what I've done before]. I was the indie girl. I felt like a lot of the stuff I've chosen to do was really emotionally gruelling and kind of a means to developing certain skills as an actor - just exploring which parts I was able to play and not able to play and just figuring stuff out. Then I got to the point where I didn't want to torture myself emotionally and just wanted to go and have fun and do a movie that was just entertainment, the kind of film that a lot of people actually want to see. And it just seemed like the right thing.
When I first heard about it I was like, 'No way, it's not my kind of film', but then I read the script and [it] was just so well written and the characters were interesting and well developed. I play this villain, which was amusing. I got to fire guns and do fight training...I love the character stuff, too. I'm doing a play on Broadway after that."
HB: Was going from screen to stage a conscious move?
SM: "I did a play in London about four years ago, a Shakespeare play, and loved it. I think my roots were kind of in the theatre. It's something I've always wanted to do and been meaning to do since I finished the play in London. Then the Roundabout Theatre [Company in New York] got in touch because they were doing Patrick Marber's After Miss Julie. [A play about sex, money and class divides in 1940's London.]
[Marber is] one of my all-time favourite writers, and it's an amazing play and, again, it just felt like the right time to do something like this, especially after having done such a big movie. As an actress, it's always a dream to open on Broadway. We start rehearsals in August,"
HB: What's it like performing in front of a live audience?
SM: "Terrifying! [Laughs.] But that's part of the thrill. There's really nothing like that feeling of performing in front of 800 people and knowing that anything can happen. The adrenalin is really unique,"
HB: You must have a few special beauty or health rituals...
SM: "I do yoga in London when I'm there. Not religiously. I'm trying to get fitter and healthier than I have been. I'm not very good with what I eat. I think I've got a fast metabolism, but everything is definitely not as firm as it was, so I think it's probably time to start working out,"
HB: Did you follow a diet for G.I Joe?
SM: "I probably should have, but I didn't. We did six weeks of fight training, two hours a day. That was just a shock to the system - I'm not really a worker-outer. I felt after that I kind of deserved to eat whatever I wanted, although the other actors, I think, were on meal plans and after the few hours of fight training would go to the gym for another hour. I'm just not very good like that, but it was really fun. That was part of my desire to do this film - learning new skills: mixed martial arts and how to fire weapons and all of that. I love that part of my job. If I ever get around to it, I would love to do kickboxing,"
HB: What's your dream day off?
SM: "Oh God, that's hard. I think to lie in. I love cooking - I do a very good roast, like a true British girl. So I'd probably have friends around at my cottage and cook a picnic, lie on the lawn and have the dogs and my family around. I'm away so much that when I go home it's the perfect oasis - [my dream day off is] catching up with people I love and not doing an awful lot,"
Twenty8Twelve is available in Australia at Jean Brown Gallery. G.I. Joe screens in Australia from August 6.