Most of us working in fashion are feeling—and, from what I can see of my peers doing the show circuit, looking—pretty threadbare at this point in the season. Not Phoebe Dynevor, who only last night jetted into Paris for the final day of the final week of fashion month. “I’m lucky!” the Trafford-born actress says, dialling in from a hotel suite she likens to living inside a boujier version of Ratatouille. “I go to one Louis Vuitton show a season, which means I just get to eat croissants and drink wine and have a lovely time. I’ve never experienced the exhaustive feat others do.” And that is the perk, I suppose, of becoming one of Nicolas Ghesquière’s ambassadors straight after breaking out in the first season of Bridgerton.
Though she might occupy one of the cushiest roles in the fashion firmament, Dynevor says she has only recently become conscious of clothing, so set was she on carving out an acting career when others her age were, perhaps, shopping up a storm at the Arndale Centre. “Honestly, it wasn’t until I came out of Bridgerton, and people were taking pictures of me in the street, that I was like, ‘I look awful?’” That was during the pandemic, mind, when Zoom interviews required people to be presentable only from the waist up. Add to that a co-star on a later film making a light-hearted comment about her dressing “like a teenage boy”—which is no bad thing—and she set about changing things up. But even that was thwarted by the SAG-AFTRA strikes prohibiting her from doing promo for Netflix’s Fair Play. “It was only once I was thrust into fashion that I fell in love with it,” she says, now counting Alexa Chung, Kate Moss and Carolyn Bessette Kennedy among her style inspirations. “I’m not into trends. I like things to be simple and chic, like a tailored jean or a nice shoe. I’ve found out what works for me, and stuck to it.”
It’s curious to think that the daughter of a woman probably more recognisable to the British public than many politicians—her mother, Sally, has been a fixture on Coronation Street for 40 years—felt so under-prepared for public-facing life. “I never saw that side of her job,” Dynevor explains. “Mum just couldn’t wait to get home, take her make-up off and be comfortable with us. Plus, I think she had it very different from me, so I’ve had to navigate this by myself a little bit.” If anything, the roles are now reversed: Dynevor’s taking on the role of unofficial stylist, truffling out CBK-ish loafers, and the occasional Louis Vuitton piece for her mother’s consideration. “She’s like, ‘The kids have grown up, I’m going to put myself together a bit more, and be… glamorous!’” What Dynevor’s wearing to this morning’s autumn/winter 2026 presentation, however, is unlikely to ever be loaned. “Without revealing too much, it’s a little nod to the year of my wedding,” she says of her custom draped silk blouse, cigarette pants and stilettos. “It’s white, and a little bit Grecian.”
It wouldn’t be entirely surprising if Dynevor’s actual wedding dress ends up being by Ghesquière, too. “He’s so kind and generous and humble,” Dynevor says. “You’ll watch one of his collections come down the runway and just marvel at the hours poured into every piece, and then he’ll be backstage like, ‘Oh, that? It’s nothing!’” What she admires most, though, is the type of woman he dresses. “Strong, independent, fierce,” she adds. “And he designs clothes to make them feel their most empowered—almost like they’re dressing for battle.” Which, in a way, feels an apt metaphor for fashion month, when a photostorm seems to be brewing outside every hotel. “‘Humbling’ is the word I most often use to describe it,” she says. “Here, you’re made very aware of your relevance, or lack thereof, in the zeitgeist. That might seem obvious as an actress coming into the fashion world, but I had never thought about it that way before.” Dynevor’s solution is to bring her sister, Harriet, along, filling their downtime with vintage shopping (Nuovo, Thanx God I’m A VIP, Brut Archives), attempts to secure a table at Chez Janou, and room service hot chocolates. “Oh,” she concludes. “We’re living the Parisian dream.”
This article was first published on Vogue.com.
