THE FEEL-GOOD FACTOR

For Lauren Hutton, style is a pair of jelly sandals—and an endearing lack of effort

Lauren Hutton is sitting at her favourite Santa Monica coffee shop, voraciously reading the morning paper. Above the table, her impeccably tailored gray Armani blazer is the kind of chic item you would expect to see worn by a woman whose style is constantly noted by everyone from socialites to designers, but a glance toward the floor reveals mismatched slouch socks, one green-and-gray striped, the other pink and red, stuffed into her everyday shoes—$12 plastic jelly sandals with the toes cut out for comfort. And she looks positively elegant.

The exuberant spirit, halo of tousled wavy blond hair and signature smile that have graced 28 covers of Vogue (the most of any model) shine through despite a hodgepodge of an ensemble, and you get why she is still a modern-day style icon and, most certainly, the girl of spring.

The 1970s are a main focus in fashion this spring, and designers are channeling the decade in every way from Three’s Company rompers to Bianca Jagger pantsuits. But the strongest reference is Hutton’s signature laid-back style.

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“Her picture was smack in the middle of my mood board when I was designing the collection,” says designer Alexander Wang. “Spring is all about carefree, effortless pieces, which she embodies.”

Looking great without trying. Ask Hutton how, and she’ll tell you that she’s only doing what she’s always done. “I like men, history and clothes that feel good,” she says, touching her soft shirt. “And also my heroes, Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo and Kate Hepburn. I took part of those women and mixed it all together. And I was a tomboy; I had to always be able to run. You’ve got to be able to run in your heels.”

Hutton likes clothes with a story, and increasingly women are seeking out pieces that speak to them on a personal level. Take her famous safari jacket, something Hutton first picked up on one of her annual trips to Kenya.

“I thought the policemen’s uniforms were so chic,” Hutton says, “so I would go to the store where they got their uniforms and get measured for my own. I went back each year for 28 years and got a new one every trip back.”

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She found enormous success as a model in New York, despite being slightly under the 5-foot-9-inch height requirements and having a gap between her front teeth. In 1974, she signed a $1 million contract with Revlon, a record at the time. She made headlines again, when Revlon “fired” her after she turned 40.

Today Hutton, 64, chuckles at the idea that she is an influence on the fashion world. Her big project these days is a natural makeup line, Lauren Hutton’s Good Stuff, which is made with oils and remedies she learned about through her travels in Africa.

You get the feeling that hanging out with her, you’d learn everything you’d ever need to know about getting dressed. Effortless is the word that everyone, including Hutton, uses when defining her style. Her rule of dressing is simply that fashion is what is offered; style is what we pick out of that and the way we put it together. Today, Hutton’s essentials are what she considers sensible. The bag she carries daily is a woven rattan backpack she discovered in the Philippines more than three decades ago.

She points to her gray Armani blazer, “I will wear this blazer into my 80s. Armani works forever. Find out what’s classic on you and it will always be classic.” – Melissa Magsaysay

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