Look of the Week: Teyana Taylor gives Chanel the Harlem treatment
By Bianca Betancourt, CNN
(CNN) — What is New York style? For actor and native New Yorker Teyana Taylor it doesn’t stem from any specific piece of clothing or brand. Instead, it’s an almost impossible-to-define emanation that translates through a look. It’s about one’s energy, more so than the outfit.
New Yorkers “have an aura that really can’t be duplicated,” said Taylor backstage at a panel discussion on women and film hosted by Chanel this week. “It’s a different kind of swag. It’s dope to be able to see the uniqueness of every borough — a Harlem aura is completely different from a Brooklyn aura… but it’s still New York.”
Taylor delivered that exact energy this week with two different takes on the classic Chanel uniform during the city’s 25th annual Tribeca Film Festival.
On Monday evening, the “One Battle After Another” Golden Globe winner joined Hollywood A-listers for Chanel’s Tribeca Festival Artists Dinner, an exclusive fete celebrating the actors, directors, and visual artists who contribute to New York City’s filmmaking industry.
For the event, hosted by the festival’s founders Robert de Niro and Jane Rosenthal, Taylor wore an eggshell blue tweed skirt suit, layered over a sheer, floral embroidered button down. This was topped with a matching baby pink, fringe trimmed jacket. (Double the tweed, double the fun.)
The star kept her accessories minimal, but statement-making; a single strand pearl necklace draped along her torso, punchy white sunglasses, and the square-toe oxblood leather pumps from Chanel creative director Matthieu Blazy’s debut collection that fashion-lovers everywhere have been scavenging their local boutiques for. A mini coordinating leather flap bag completed the outfit.
While Taylor’s dinner number evoked traditional night-on-the-town glamour, a day earlier she opted for a more approachable ensemble onstage for Tribeca and Chanel’s Through Her Lens discussion with “Zola” director Janicza Bravo – the two artists discussed the importance of expanding opportunities for women within filmmaking. This time, Taylor paired pleated trousers with a subtly slouchy graphic t-shirt, a multi-striped, cropped tweed Chanel jacket, and a necessary accessory for any true New Yorker: a maroon, custom-fitted Yankees baseball cap. (Because Taylor will never let you forget she is from Harlem — born and raised.)
And while Taylor is inspired by the latest runway offerings, her approach has always been to reflect and enhance her own personal style that’s equal parts sporty, sexy, and strong. Sometimes, that means rolling up her sleeves with the best of them.
“I was one of those girls that was fighting and in the commotion of ‘I need this, I need that,’” she said, when asked what she made of the recent Matthieu Blazy shopping frenzy gripping global flagship Chanel stores. But Taylor’s unconventional style also gave her an edge. “I was more of a skater kid, so I always wanted trinkets and the pearls and the chains… the things that I wanted I kind of had to myself because the girls were fighting for the purses,” she said of the pieces she gravitates to.
“I’m just happy to be here,” Taylor said of the opportunity to now work and collaborate directly with the French fashion house. “The girls are fighting and I’m actually in the room with Chanelly.”
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