On any given day, a front-row Salma Hayek sighting is something to write
home about. But not when Kristen Stewart is seated across the catwalk.
The actress was in Paris this morning, paparazzi be damned, to support
Nicolas Ghesquière’s Spring Balenciaga collection. Stewart, who took in
the show wearing a pale yellow motorcycle jacket and printed jeans,
refers to Ghesquière as a “kindred spirit,” which is likely what
has made the duo’s recent collaboration on Balenciaga’s Florabotanica
fragrance such a compelling story. Inspired by the “surrealist” floral
prints that colored his Fall 2011 collection, Ghesquière had duality on
the brain, specifically the darker side of conventionally pretty blooms
that are readily considered harmless. “Flowers can be carnivorous or
venomous—contain poisons,” he points out, and it is that “mystery” that
he was hoping to explore with the house’s latest eau.
If the elaborate fairy tale woven around the vetiver, amber, carnation,
mint, and “experimental rose” flacon is to be believed, the flowers that
have been bottled here shot up from torn paper shards containing a
reclusive designer’s sketches that were embedded into hostile ground,
and were found by a girl who had “the inspiration of a muse.” In the
real-life version of the parable, of course, the designer (Ghesquière)
met the muse (Stewart) on a shoot after the then 12-year-old starred in
David Fincher’s Panic Room. “I had not forgotten her,” Ghesquière has
said of Stewart, who boasts a beauty that is “pure and uncontrollable,”
in his estimation—or in other words, very Balenciaga. Here, fresh off a
press tour for her new movie On the Road and only a month away from the
media frenzy that will be the conclusion of the Twilight saga, Stewart
met up with Style.com to talk fragrance, front-row intimidation, and why
Ghesquière’s Spring lineup may be her most favorite yet.
Up until now, Balenciaga’s only fragrance face has been Charlotte Gainsbourg. What’s it like to be in that kind of company?
I wish I could choose a better word, but I think she’s stunning. I sat
next to her at the show [last season]—which was the first experience I
had at Balenciaga—and I was so ridiculously intimidated by her! I didn’t
even say hi. I was just kind of muted by her. It’s an odd relationship
that us actors are allowed to have with fashion. For me it started at an
extraordinarily young age. I met Nicolas [Ghesquière] when I was 12
[on] this little project that felt very similar to a photo shoot. A rack
of clothes comes in and you can just pick out what’s from that company.
[Balenciaga] was the first fashion brand I recognized.
Were you drawn to the clothes then?
I’ve never done anything tactfully. I just wanted to be around Nicolas.
It’s like movies. You find kindred spirits. You say, “We need to make
something together.” My creative vision is not clothes but…I want to be
around that.
Nicolas has said that your “rebellious femininity” is what made you a
good fit for Florabotanica. That characteristic seems to have followed
you around a lot recently, especially in your work. Do you think it’s a
pretty true character assessment?
Especially recently right now—maybe this is my age—you either have the
boldness of heart or lack of fear that might differ from other people or
you don’t. A true rebel, someone who is genuinely, authentically
rebellious, has no idea that they’re doing it. It’s just natural. If
you’re aware of it than you’re a contrived, fake person. Having Snow
White [and the Huntsman] and On the Road—even Balenciaga—everyone is
saying, “You’re taking on these strong roles,” and everyone is asking if
I’m trying to convey these strong female roles. And objectively, yes, I
am. But there’s also a void there right now and people want to fill it.
You’ve been wearing a lot of Balenciaga since joining the house
officially. Have you had any favorite fashion moments with the line?
[Nicolas] made my Cannes dress. And I went to the Met ball with him. And
we sat down together and I watched him draw this…thing. I think he
would say that I had something to do with it, but that’s bullshit. I
just sat there. I do love those graphic sweatshirts [from Fall 2012].
And the sheer long dresses—and the shoes! I love all of the shoes so
much. I must say, I’ve seen the new [Spring] collection—and it’ so
unbelievably cool. You need to know yourself pretty well to wear it, or
it wears you. It makes total sense that it’s happening now, though. I
don’t want this to sound arrogant, but it was made for me.
Speaking of red-carpet dressing, how do you go about choosing your
looks for what has been a nonstop press junket for you that will
continue when the final Twilight installment premieres in November?
A lot of actresses say you can play different parts on the red carpet,
but I simply can’t claim that I can become someone I’m not. Tara Swennen
is my stylist. I’ve worked with the same person my whole life. I can
definitely unlock qualities and something very unexpected comes to the
surface—and that’s fun, but you know instantly if [a dress] works or it
doesn’t. You don’t even have to zip it up. It’s important to trust that.
Do you find wearing perfume—this perfume, specifically—to be an equally transformative experience?
[Perfume] is something that I’m just now stepping into, wanting to smell
attractive. I’m 22. I wasn’t the 15 or 16-year-old girl putting on
perfume. It’s such a funny thing that it does, that it suddenly gives
you “something.” It puts you on another level. There’s sophistication to
it. I feel a little bit…hello! And that feels really good. It’s sex.
It’s vibrant. And thank God I liked [Florabotanica] when I smelled it;
I’m not a good liar.
You’ve become known in beauty circles for your impossibly pale skin.
How have you kept your complexion so perfectly alabaster through five
Twilight films?
I am really white. Although for my next project, I’m not positive, but
I’m going to be blonde and really tan! I keep clean and moisturized. I
have oily skin so I use Proactiv. It’s good stuff as my face is…active.
Skinceuticals is really great, too. I just discovered their serums.
On set, how important do you find makeup, hair, and costuming to be
in properly getting into character? Have you had any truly transcendent
beauty experiences, like when you wore that black, Joan Jett shag in The
Runaways?
Oh yeah. If I didn’t have that there would’ve been nothing that would
make me feel legitimate [in The Runaways]. I wore stickers on my face, I
made my nose wider with contours, I thinned out my eyebrows—I had a
really great makeup artist, Robin Matthews. On Snow White, I worked with
[costume designer] Colleen Atwood—there’s no one like her. Her clothes
brought so much. We did a medieval fantasy film but nothing was
fake—there was no Velcro! I need that. It’s the same on the red carpet;
if you don’t feel good, you can’t sell it.
Be honest: Are you happy or a little sad to put your Twilight days behind you?
As sad as it always is to leave something, the reason you start that
project is so you can finish it. I hold it so close, as I do with all my
projects. I could interview about Panic Room right now. I feel the same
way with Twilight. I got to live in that world for four years and it
was the most indulgent experience I’ve ever had. The amount of relief at
being done is unbelievable—and even that is kind of sad.
Via
No comments:
Post a Comment