Chloë Sevigny on Fall Fashion and Fronting Mytheresa’s Campaign

Chloë Sevigny knows a thing or two about fashion.

In addition to her acting career, Sevigny has walked the runways for Miu Miu, Simone Rocha and Proenza Schouler. She’s been deemed the epitome of downtown style in the ’90s, and famously dubbed “the coolest girl in the world.” Now, as she approaches her 52nd birthday this November, Sevigny is reflecting on how her style has evolved and her ongoing quest to find her version of a uniform.

“I’m trying to find a way to refine my kind of alternativesness and make it still feel like me, but also feel more like a woman,” said the indie actress, who has broadened her remit in recent years, most recently starring in “The Five-Star Weekend,” along with “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” and “Feud: Capote vs The Swans.” “I feel like when I was younger, I wanted to project so much of like an edginess, like it was an armor.”

That shift in mindset has also influenced how she thinks about shopping and curating her wardrobe. Hearing her friend Angela Hill, photographer and cofounder of Idea books in London, talk about buying only a few key pieces each season and keeping them on rotation has inspired Sevigny to do the same.

Though the fashion aficionado recently purged her closet to create more space to do so, the effort proved short-lived. Before long, she added a vintage Nicolas Ghesquière number and gingham Prada dress to her collection. Asked if that meant another big warehouse-like sale of her closet, she said no. “You know, it’s definitely the arrows going around in their little triangle,” she said of the cycle of what comes in and out of her wardrobe.

And there are already a few items she wouldn’t mind bringing into rotation. One thing she’s eyeing for fall is a Miu Miu hat she first spotted while modeling in the brand’s runway show last March and again on set for Mytheresa’s latest campaign. “I live in New York and I need a lot of hats because it’s very cold,” reasoned Sevigny. She’s also eyeing a pair of Chloé shearling boots that remind her of the famous red pair worn by Kate Bush. Beyond cold-weather fall purchases, the New Yorker is thinking about pieces to wear out to parties.

“I was thinking a lot about nighttime because I always feel like all of my more fancy looks, I’m borrowing or returning. They’re all my Cinderella dresses, as I lovingly refer to them as. But then when I look at my closet, I have no eveningwear,” said the actress. She shared that Polish designer Magda Butrym is a favorite to fill this void, noting a poufy black number she wore while on set as the “perfect dress” for holiday parties.

As the first celebrity to front the online retailer’s campaign, Sevigny said she connected with the Munich-based retailer’s decision to “lean into women of a certain age” as well as its carefully curated point-of-view and inventory. It didn’t hurt either that her friend Cass Bird was photographing the campaign. “I’ve known [Cass] forever, and had actually only worked with once. She’s very playful and fun and so are her pictures, and I just thought it was an opportunity to make some really beautiful pictures that have a real sense of humor and a lot of personality.”

Julian Paul, chief creative officer at Mytheresa, credits the actress’ individuality and confidence for selecting her to be in the campaign. “Her personal style has always felt authentic rather than trend driven, and that instinct reflects what luxury means to us today: refined, considered and deeply personal. She was the perfect voice to tell this season’s story, one about dressing as a form of self expression, not just following what’s new,” said Paul.

Sevigny has always followed her own instincts. That’s why even 30 years after she came onto the scene, she remains one of the rare figures whose personal style still shapes the way women in New York dress, shop and think about fashion.