As Eve Hewson puts it, her style is a tale of two halves. ‘One is my work life, and I put a lot of my time and energy into that. But when I’m off, I love to party and hang out on a beach somewhere with a cocktail in hand.’
The Irish actor is known for spanning characters just as easily on screen, whether as the free-spirited Becka in the deliciously dark comedy Bad Sisters, or in Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster Disclosure Day.
It was her ‘boss-bitch CEO’ persona that won the day at Zimmermann’s Paris Fashion Week show on October 4, bringing a sharper edge to the label’s romantic, feminine aesthetic. Wearing tailored, straight-leg black trousers and an oversized white shirt, with a glimpse of black lingerie peeking through, Hewson made a case for the office siren when she took her front-row seat alongside Jessica Alba and Naomi Ackie.
‘I have two [fashion] personalities,’ she tells ELLE over the phone afterwards. ‘And I feel like Zimmermann provide me with some great looks to suit both. They do beautiful summer dresses, and then also really good tailoring. I went more with their business-chic character.’
As the sun shone down on the French capital, Hewson let us inside her Fashion Week, sharing everything from her favourite place in Paris and must-have handbag essentials, to why her mum is her ultimate style muse.
On the Zimmermann show
It was heaven. It was so, so beautiful. All of the dresses were… I wanted to wear all of them. Truly, I think all of the women I was sitting next to were gasping.
It opened with this beautiful flowy butterfly dress, which was stunning, and there were a few pieces that I really want. But Naomi Watts might fight me for a few of them! There was this cream silk blouse and matching pants [set] that was fitted but flowing down to the floor, and both of us went, ‘Oh my god, I want that!’
On the fashion trend she always comes back to
Sunglasses inside never goes out of style. I wasn’t wearing sunglasses today because I didn’t feel like it went with my shirt, but a lot of the girls were wearing sunglasses inside, and I got jealous.
On how her personal style has changed over the years
I like to think that it has changed, because when I was a teenager, I spent a lot of time in track pants and crop tops. Which I know has had a bit of a comeback, but it’s good to evolve! Because I’ve been able to do things like Paris Fashion Week, and actually have an education in it, you start to appreciate fashion in a completely different way. Working with designers and having to dress yourself for red carpets and press tours, you start to learn a lot more about what you like and what looks good on you. I like to think that it’s more sophisticated and I have better taste now.
On how she would summarise her style
Me and my stylist Karla Welch sometimes use the word ‘bitchy’. It’s kind of sexy-powerful, and that’s what we like to go towards usually. I love things that make me feel strong and unique. When I walk into a room wearing something I love, it really elevates my confidence, and I can meet people feeling like myself. If we get something that we really like, we’re like, ‘Yeah, that’s quite bitchy.’
On the most treasured item in her wardrobe
I have this Marc Jacobs burgundy clutch that my mum bought me in the West Village when I was 13 years old. It was my first fashion piece. I was just turning into a teenager and getting interested in fashion, and I think that bag, whenever I look at it, reminds me of a time when I was becoming a woman and learning what I liked. I still have it. I could never get rid of it.
It’s all banged up and gross, and has old movie ticket tabs from when I went to see The Dark Knight when it came out. It really reminds me of who I was as a teenager and who I was becoming; who I wanted to be.
On her Fashion Week essentials
The most important thing is to have really great plasters. Your feet get so twisted and messed up because you’re running around Paris, and obviously you’re wearing amazing shoes, but you need to pack your bag with loads of different types of Compeed and Band-Aids, because the blisters are nuts. Everyone I’ve been hanging out with, I’m like, ‘How are your feet?’ They’re like, ‘Not good.’
On her ideal day in Paris
I’m with my best friend and we’ve had a full girls’ weekend. We usually get up late, get a coffee. We went to lunch at Hotel Costes, which is stunning, and then we get a little bit tipsy, because our favourite thing to do is have a few glasses of Champagne and then go shopping.
You just want to have a little bit of liquid courage before you go shopping in Paris. Then we usually do dinner – we went to Matignon – and then we went out dancing to L’Avenue. We listened to a lot of Adela, pumping music in the car as we drove past the Eiffel Tower. We were like, ‘This is it. This is the life.’
On her Paris secret
I can’t remember the name of it, but there’s a secret restaurant that’s sort of like a speakeasy. I was actually brought to it on a date once by a man. You go into this old building and walk up the stairs… There’s a vinyl record player, and they serve you a five-course meal, and windows that overlook the Eiffel Tower. You can just hang out in there all night long. It was kind of a long time ago that this happened, but it’s my favourite memory in Paris.
On the wardrobe she’d like to raid
This might be a really cheesy answer, but I like to steal my mum’s shit. She’s very chic, understated and timeless. She had to dress me for something a few weeks ago, and I’ve never looked better in my life! I didn’t have any clothes, and she was like, ‘I’ll just put you in some of mine.’
She has really good taste. It’s a lot of darker colours; she’s a little bit sexy, kind of goth, and she always has a great accessory, or a bag that she’s had in her closet for 20 years. All of her bags remind me of different times in my childhood because she used them so much. She’s very cool.
Photographs by Pip Bourdillon; Makeup by Tobi Henney; Hair by Halley Brisker.
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Dusty Baxter-Wright is an award-winning journalist and Acting Website Director at ELLE UK, where she oversees the brand’s digital strategy and editorial output. Previously, she was Entertainment and Lifestyle Director at Cosmopolitan, leading coverage across culture, travel and interiors in print, digital and social, and before that worked at Sugarscape. With more than a decade of experience in journalism, Dusty has been named one of PPA’s 30 Under 30 and has interviewed everyone from Louis Theroux and Channing Tatum to Margot Robbie and Ncuti Gatwa. She has also appeared as a commentator on Times Radio and BBC Radio. You can find her on Twitter and Instagram here.
