It was all about a ‘black and white affair’ for W Magazine’s January 2020 issue where actress/fashion designer Chloë Sevigny channeled her inner wild side, posing fashionably in a black and white scenery, surrounded by what else than black and white animals. The 37 year old indie actress is known for her unique style, so the artistic approach of the spread is in perfect sync with the diva’s style.
For the creation process, renowned artist Rob Pruit, known best for his renowned panda paintings, turned towards amazing black and white details that give a certain ‘Alice in Wonderland’ allure. Dresses in similar colors, Chloë can be admired surrounded by black and white animals and costumes that make the entire concept quite bold, but this is exactly what Rob Pruitt is known for. Apparently, Chloë Sevigny and Rob Pruitt have a friendship that goes back a long time, to the ’90s, when Pruitt thought he has managed to end his career after a bold interpretation of art that was dismissed as racist at that time. He tells the magazine that:
“It was around the time my career had just kind of ended. It was the early nineties, and I wasn’t getting any shows, so I took a job in SoHo at the Anna Sui store. I had seen this young woman around town, and I figured out that she worked at Liquid Sky [a downtown boutique]. That young woman was Chloë. I developed a mini-obsession; it really was like being a stalker. I’ve always been a very nervous and shy person, but I would go into Liquid Sky and buy things I didn’t necessarily want just so that I could have a few words with Chloë at the counter. To me, she was like a walking embodiment of art—just the way she dressed and the way she behaved.”
Chloë Sevigny states that when she first met Pruitt she was very shy but meeting various incredible artists through her friend Rita Ackermann, she found a world that has made a great impact on her. The actress, ex-model and fashion designer tells W magazine that: “Seeing how all the worlds were kind of meshing—fashion, art, and music—and that you didn’t have to do only one thing had a big impact on me.”
Chloë Sevigny is definitely not afraid of fashion as the photoshoot proves, so no wonder that she’s not afraid to blend in. The concept behind the photoshoot seems to be inspired from a Biblical concept according to Pruitt, the concept of ‘when the lion lies down with the lamb, then there will be world peace’. Chloë managed to get her wild side on quite quickly, although she admits she has encountered difficulties. She tells W that:
“For me, corralling the animals was difficult. There were a lot of creatures and a lot of people handling them. I felt like I let everybody down because I couldn’t hold the chicken. There was this tableau, and I was just another creature in it, just another piece of pattern.”
Despite her popularity, Chloë states that she never felt like the ‘in crowd’ in Hollywood. She tells W, when asked if she envies artists who can speak freely that: “I do. In Hollywood, if you are outspoken, you risk your career. I have been very outspoken in the past and gotten in trouble for it. I’ve always felt like an outsider anyway, but definitely in Hollywood I’ve never felt like part of the ‘in’ crowd.”
Find out more about Chloë Sevigny and check out her entire stunning photoshoot in the January 2020 issue of W magazine. Photos courtesy of W Magazine