Diane Keaton, the Oscar-winning actress whose death at 79 was revealed this weekend, was one of the last movie stars to arrive in Hollywood before big brands changed the celeb dressing game. She never used a stylist, but came with an aesthetic so clearly and compellingly formed that she shaped fashion, rather than allowing fashion to shape her.
As a result, her penchant for men’s suiting, for layers, for turtlenecks and coats as evening wear and accessories — bowler hats, glove, belts, glasses — is as much a part of her legacy as her indelible roles in “Annie Hall” — the film that first introduced the Keaton aesthetic to the world — and “Reds.”
And it’s a reminder, in a time when it often seems that movie stars have outsourced their own taste and traded away wardrobe decision-making for financial security in the form of brand ambassadorships, that personal style can be its own powerful currency.
Ms. Keaton inspired not just her early director (and one-time boyfriend), Woody Allen, who famously asked Ms. Keaton to dress herself for “Annie Hall,” but also designers such as Ralph Lauren, Jenna Lyons and Thom Browne. It was the impetus for two books from Ms. Keaton herself: the 2014 essay collection, “Let’s Just Say it Wasn’t Pretty” about finding and staying true to your own style, and the 2024 coffee table tome, “Diane Keaton: Fashion First.”
The post Diane Keaton Was the Definition of a Style Icon appeared first on New York Times.
