Tara Swennen has been Kristen Stewart's stylist since the actress appeared on the Into the Wild red carpet wearing Chanel in 2007. Since then, we've seen Stewart in everything from studded minis and many T-shirt-and-jean combos to the more recent floor-length gowns and sheer jumpsuits. Quite the evolution. For the Twilight finale, Swennen — who also styles Julie Bowen and Connie Britton — chose particularly dramatic looks, aiming to put Stewart in outfits that would reflect this "end of an era" for tween fans, starting with a butt-baring, nude Zuhair Murad number. "It took a lot of balls for her to wear that dress, so I'm super-proud of her," Swennen said of the controversial pick. Read ahead for the stylist's thoughts on red-carpet sneakers, Ghesquière's departure from Balenciaga, and where she thinks Stewart's style will evolve from here.
How did you choose the looks for these recent Twilight red carpets?
It all stemmed from the fact that this was the end of a big chapter in her life. Twilight is coming to a close, so we wanted to do stronger looks. Just recently, she’s embraced doing the long-gown thing, so it was definitely an opportunity for me to stick as many as I could on her. We just wanted to make a grand escape, I guess, rather than a grand entrance. And through the years, she’s come into her own, and so now she’s letting me play a little bit more. I’m going from a glam moment to an androgynous moment from one carpet to the next; we like making sure that we push boundaries on every carpet.
Right, legs seem to be her thing, and now she’s wearing these long dresses. Why the change?
I think it’s just time. She’s become a woman since I’ve known her. She’s a tomboy at heart (both of us are), but she understands that fashion is an arena, that she can be a chameleon and not dress the way she does every single day. She’ll always change into her Converse by halfway through a carpet, which is to be expected at this point, but she puts on the heels for me for the photos, God bless her. At the end of the day, I want my clients to be comfortable because I think it shows. She needs to put on her sneakers and that’s alright with me.
