Chloë Sevigny credits her sense of style to something more personal than a trend cycle: a feeling she describes as “armor” that helps her face the world. From her first Maison Margiela tabis at 18 to her collaborations with fashion labels, she ties her signatu
When Chloë Sevigny talks about style, she doesn’t sell a system. She talks about a feeling—one she says sits close to the body, not the runway.
In May 2026. speaking on Harper’s Bazaar’s “The Good Buy” podcast. Sevigny recalled that her fashion life didn’t begin with a grand strategy. It began with a defining purchase at 18: a pair of Maison Margiela tabis. She described becoming obsessed with Margiela in the early ’90s. turning 18. and deciding she wanted her first tabis as her first big high-fashion buy. Her parents “went halfsies” with her. and she said she bought the shoes at IF in Soho. adding that it felt “life-changing” in the moment—like she had finally gotten “the thing.”.
That early fashion fix grew into a fuller résumé: Sevigny went on to design collections for Opening Ceremony, F**king Awesome, and Everpress Merch. She has also served as a brand ambassador for Proenza Schouler and 7 For All Mankind.
Even with that kind of fashion track record, she doesn’t frame herself as someone with perfect taste. She told Elle that she’s “pretty wacky. ” pushing back on the idea that her style is purely polished or effortless. “It feels innate,” she said, explaining the secret she keeps coming back to. “I love finding something that makes me feel good.” She added: “It feels like having some sort of armor on that makes me ready to face the world.”.
Sevigny’s own description matches what fans recognize in her look—edgy, avant-garde, and grunge-inspired tailoring. She pointed to her Opening Ceremony collection as an example, saying the line retained many original vintage elements drawn from her “sassy high school days.”
She also gravitates toward what she calls the Indie Sleaze era—an aesthetic she described as messy, hedonistic, and party-chic. In her telling, the appeal is how it doesn’t insist on being crisp. “In the indie sleaze era, people weren’t so concerned with things being so crisp,” she told Elle. “It was a little softer, and I love that and miss that about that time.”.
She hasn’t forgotten the early 2000s either. Sevigny reminisced about being “quite young” in that era, when she’d wear low-rise skinny jeans with pumps and a fuzzy coat. “It was quite grungy and carefree,” she said, contrasting it with the present, where she feels “things seem more polished.”
There’s an arc running through all of it. and it starts the same way: not with a formula. but with the moment she decided she wanted the shoes. The tabis at 18 became her “defining” purchase. The rest of her style story—her collaborations. her ambassador roles. her preference for softness over sharpness—keeps circling back to the same core idea: finding what makes her feel ready to step into the world.
Before film fully anchored her. Sevigny first made a name for herself in the ’90s as one of the era’s “It-Girls. ” credited with effortlessly cool street style. Her distinctive look put her on magazine covers and into music videos. and she was dubbed “one of the coolest girls in the world” by The New Yorker. She made her film debut in 1995.
The throughline stays simple, even when the career isn’t: she doesn’t chase timelessness as a trend. She treats it like something she can feel—then wear.
Chloë Sevigny style Maison Margiela tabis Opening Ceremony Indie Sleaze Proenza Schouler ambassador 7 For All Mankind