Kate Bosworth is no stranger to best-dressed lists, gracing the covers of fashion’s favorite glossies and oodles of designers dying to wrap her in their threads. Obviously, the girl was blessed with some seriously amazing genes. She is probably best known for her break-out role in Blue Crush, which is arguably a cult classic, but there is oh-so-much-more to know about Hollywood’s Golden Girl.
Inspired greatly by musicians and design, Bosworth draws from music to cultivate the ultimate persona for a challenging role, and from designers like Isabael Marant, Vanessa Bruno and Jack and Lazaro of Proenza Schouler to shape her personal style. The Princeton-accepted smarty also uses her natural-born fashion intuition to help her shape the latest collections of JewelMint, the price-conscious and trend-worthy jewelry line that Bosworth designs alongside stylist and friend, Cher Coulter.
Check out StyleCaster’s exclusive interview as Bosworth speaks to her newest role in the thriller Straw Dogs where she plays the sexy girl-next-door wife of James Marsden trying to escape the chilling and terrifying advances of ex-beaux Alexander Skarsgard. Straw Dogs debuts on September 16th, 2011.
***And watch our exclusive video with Kate Bosworth entitled, Color Me Kate.***
EF: You’re often referenced online and in magazines for your style. What do you think of being considered a style icon?
KB: My grandfather and father both worked in retail. So I feel like I’ve always been around fabrics and textures. From a very young age that was a part of my life . . . it feels like a natural fit to be interested in the fashion industry. My father really taught me what quality meant and the importance of it.
EF: How would you describe your style? And what are some of your go-to designers?
KB: I would describe my style mostly as more minimalistic, but I do like to experiment. I tend to be more classic, but really enjoy mixing it up with different trends.
I very much like Isabel Marant and Vanessa Bruno, two female French designers that are really great. I love Proenza Schouler, I like what Guillaume Henry of Carven is doing right now.
EF: You’re often photographed at music festivals; are you into music?
KB: I love music. I feel like music can give you an emotional experience even more so than film. So, I often start with music before I take on a role. I’ll really start to listen to different artists in order to start understanding the character to get myself in character.
EF: What are you listening to these days?
KB: At the moment I’m listening to a lot of Neko Case, I think she’s great, really brilliant and talented. I’m listening to Broken Social Scene. I love The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, Neil Young and Bob Dylan.
I like Warpaint . . . The National, I love The National. The National is one of my favorite bands, they’re just amazing, and they’re going to score a film that I was just in. So, I’m really excited I hope to meet them.
EF: You work on JewelMint with your stylist Cher Coulter. Why do you think the client-stylist relationship often becomes so close?
KB: Well, Cher and I were friends before we started to work together. Our work relationship is such an organic natural progression. I met her when I was about 19, so almost 10 years ago, and she had just moved from London to L.A., we immediately got along and were super close.
A couple of years passed and I remember saying to her we should work together, because she was already always over at my house talking about what to wear, like best friends do. So, to have the JewelMint partnership is really wonderful and I’m 100% confident that the line reflects who she and I are.
EF: Tell me a little more about JewelMint. What made you want to do design jewelry?
KB: Cher and I sat around and thought, “Gosh, I don’t really wear much everyday jewelry, why is that?” And then we realized it’s because the price point for innovative jewelry really starts at about $400, if you go to the price point of $30 for jewelry it’s just watered down, not very inspired pieces. So, we thought if we could take that price point and make pieces that look vintage or things that we would want to wear, we would really have something.
EF: Describe your favorite outfit from today’s StyleCaster shoot.
KB: I really loved today’s shoot. The way that we always approach a shoot, Cher will call me and say, “Oh, I was thinking about this as an inspiration…” For example, the blue hair came about because we really loved the pink hair from Givenchy, and we were both really attracted to that ombre color look. We decided to pay homage to that slight grungey look,
The Costume National yellow suit was a juxtaposition of this bold color and grungy hair, and buttoned up shirt with a conservative feel that was really interesting to have as a contrast. I really felt inspired when I saw the clothes, and kind of got into character. When I see what she’s putting together, it’s helpful for me to take a photo because it makes me feel like I’m assuming a role in a way. So, it was a really great day, it was fun.
EF: Your latest movie, a thriller entitled Straw Dogs, debuts on September 16th. It looks terrifying, can you tell us what it was like to make it?
KB: I hadn’t seen the original Peckinpah make of Straw Dogs from the 70′s when I was sent the script. I read the script first just to see, I always feel like if a film is going to stand alone it’s going to begin with the words on the page. It’s a thriller, but it’s also a character drama — and the tension between the characters is really unnerving and it kind of escalates to this boiling point.
I watched the original, and I was quite nervous to be honest because the character is a pretty challenging undertaking. I loved working with the people I worked with, the director Rob Lurdie is really talented. That being said it was really exhausting, because emotionally it’s an intense movie, so you just get into that rhythm and it’s tough when you’re having to live in a certain emotional state of tension for a sustained amount of time.
My hope is people will leave the theater and go to dinner afterward and really talk about it, I hope it’s something that will be thought-provoking for people.
Photographer: David Mushegain, Creative Exchange Agency
Photographer’s Assistant: Todd Stone
Stylist: Cher Coulter, Starworks Artists
Stylist’s Assistant: Rachel Wirkus
Creative Director: Emily Finkbinder, StyleCaster
Hair: Luke Chamberlain, Starworks Artists
Make Up: Kate Lee, Starworks Artists
