It’s not news that Blake Lively nails her Met Gala look every year, or that she knows how to stick to a theme for press tours—but were you aware that she’s also her own stylist? “I feel so grateful to get to play dress-up like I do. I have access to the best people, the most talented people in the world making these pieces,” she told Vogue writers Hannah Jackson and Emma Specter over Zoom recently.
Despite stealing the spotlight on the red carpet, Blake describes herself as quite a shy person—which is why so much time has gone by since she’s done a magazine cover. But she made an exception for Vogue’s September issue, drawn in by the chance to collaborate with director Baz Luhrmann and Vogue’s Tonne Goodman, with whom Blake first worked when she was in her early 20s. And this shoot was particularly special: Loosely inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s To Catch a Thief, it casts Blake as a jewel thief opposite her friend Hugh Jackman, appearing in character as a dashing playboy called L’Ombre. To commemorate the occasion, Blake decided to buy herself one of the vintage sapphire rings she wears in the photos.
Outside of the shoot, Blake has launched a new haircare line called Blake Brown, based on a formula that took her seven years to perfect (she admits to being “uncompromising when it comes to creation”), and is currently promoting a new film, It Ends With Us, adapted from the popular romance novel by Colleen Hoover. How is she managing all of that—and raising four kids—at the same time? Well, Blake has some wonderful people around her. “All of my friendships in my life are people who are crown-straighteners; people who build me up to my best, highest self when I’m feeling good or when I’m feeling down,” she says. “They’re always reminding me of who I am, and that reminder is always the most aspirational version of me.”