You may recognise her as Jennie in the indie film Kids. Since her breakout role, Chloë Sevigny has moved on from being It Girl of the 90s to play fashion muse and designer for a whole generation. Oh, and she’s written a book.
Bound in pink gingham fabric, the 224-page tome published by Rizzoli including the gushiest afterword in the world and blank (!) pages is a fan-pleasing wealth of Chloë miscellany. You get old magazine covers, fashion ads, pencil drawings, childhood photos, and professional and amateur shots of varying quality, taken mostly in the 1990s. The overall effect is surprisingly intimate.
Photo: Wolfgang Tillmans / Rizzoli New York
Why a book? Sevigny, who turned 40 this year, claims to have come across a (possibly unauthorized) Chloë photo book that was popular in Japanthis sounds suspiciously like a humblebrag Im big in Japan and wanted to produce a more flattering Chloë book herself. Unlike many celebrities with books about themselves, however, Sevigny isnt famous just for being famous: besides starring in Kids, she is memorable as Christian Bale’s secretary (and almost-victim) Jean in American Psycho and as Hilary Swanks love interest Lana in Boys Dont Cry.
She also modelled for Sassy magazine and starred in a Sonic Youth music videoboth opportunities given to her because of her unusual street style.
Although shes the perpetual subject of photographers/filmmakers/journalists, Sevigny isnt entirely passive. She was grabbing up clothes from thrift stores before it was cool (this was before hipsters officially existed) and is now an actress-slash-fashion designer. Heroin chic and grunge are out, but Sevigny’s retrospective still makes an attractive coffee table book.
Last month, Sevigny released No Time for Love, a photo zine about the men who have shared her life, starting with her father. Are zines still relevant? To a woman known for looking as if she does’nt care about being cool, the question wouldn’t matter anyway.
Photo: Bay Garnett, 1997 / Courtesy of Rizzoli
Photo: Courtesy of Rizzoli
Photo: Courtesy of Rizzoli
Photo: Terry Richardson / Courtesy of Rizzoli
Photo: David Perez Shadi, 1991 / Courtesy of Rizzoli
Photo: Marcelo Krasilcic, 1994 / Courtesy of Rizzoli
Photo: Mathu Andersen / Courtesy of Rizzoli
Photo: Harmony Korine, 1997 / Courtesy of Rizzoli
Photo: Mark Borthwick, 1999 / Courtesy of Rizzoli
Photo: Glynnis McDaris, 2000 / Courtesy of Rizzoli
Photo: Mary Frey, 1999 / Rizzoli
Photos: Kevin Hatt / Courtesy of Rizzoli; Lizzi Bougatsos / Courtesy of Rizzoli
Chloë Sevigny By Chloë Sevigny published by Rizzoli