Leith Clark - "That" girl behind LULA magazine, stylist and friend of Keira Knightley and Kirsten Dunst
collage by me
Interview by Imogen Fox
Monday February 4, 2008
The Guardian
Q: Who do you style?
A: I have my own magazine called Lula and I style Keira Knightley, among others.
Q: What are you wearing today?
A: Topshop dress I bought before Christmas when I went back to Canada, where I'm from. A Phillip Lim jacket that I ordered from the show last season and shoes by Maloles, which were a gift from the label. Tilda's collar is from Mulberry. It's the first day she has worn it.
Did you subconsciously tone your outfit with Tilda?
No. I was planning to wear a Rodarte dress today, but I had a weird morning and thought I would wear something that was more like a uniform. The easiest thing to wear is a dress and a jacket, and I always have a pair of Chanel flats on me. It's partly because I have a dog and so I can go to the park and play. You can't in heels, no matter how high or low they are.
Q: Does Tilda wear dog clothes?
A: She has a grandfather-green cardigan to keep her warm in the winter.
Q: Describe your style.
A: Lolita is the wrong word, but I guess it's quite playful and eclectic. If I want to buy something, it's usually for some sort of nostalgic reason - because it reminds me of Alice in Wonderland or Little Orphan Annie. I think we are most true to our tastes when we are young and before anyone has told us what we should like.
Q: Has your style never changed then?
Q: Probably not. I think I dressed the best at high school - I'm 28 now. I was experimenting with things for the first time. Now I know that certain clothes mean certain things. In high school, I wore old men's sock gaiters with thigh-high socks. It didn't cross my mind that it was sexual.I just thought it was cool. Now I wouldn't do it.
Q: Is your fringe your trademark?
A: I guess so. I've had it since I was 15. I'm not a very upkeep girl, so I have to be reminded that it's time to cut it.
Q: So are you quite low maintenance?
A: With beauty things, yes. I don't wear makeup very often - I like my freckles.
Q: Do you swap clothes with friends and clients?
A: Only a select few - people I have sleepovers with.
Q: What is the most expensive thing you have ever bought?
A: I try not to dwell on the price because otherwise you convince yourself not to buy something. When I was 15, I didn't buy a pair of Miu Miu shoes because they were expensive. They still haunt me now. I once bought three pairs of Chloé shoes in two weeks because they had appointed a new designer and I was nervous.
Q: Do you dress differently when you are in Canada?
A: No, but I wear jeans and that makes me feel lazy so I don't do it that often. It makes my boyfriend happy when I wear jeans, T-shirt and no makeup. I subconsciously try not to do that!
Q: Whose style do you admire?
A: Marianne Faithfull in the 1960s, and I like the dresses that the Vivian girls wear in Henry Darger's paintings.
Q: How do you decide what to wear in the morning?
A: I think it should be instinctual and not thought through. If I haven't hung things up, those things don't exist. That means I have less to work with, but sometimes when you give yourself limitations you end up making more fun choices.
Q: On what occasion do you think you looked best?
A: Probably on Sundays when I'm not thinking at all. I'll go out for brunch and ask my boyfriend if I look a little nuts and he'll say, "Yes, but it's cute." I pair things that I don't really think look nice together, but then it's Sunday so I don't care and then I end up getting ideas from the nutsness.
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