Fashion Week
Savannah Smith On Gossip Girl Style & Kate Spade's NYFW Show
“This is the stuff I dreamed about as a kid.”
At New York Fashion Week, a makeshift apple orchard, a cobblestone street, and lush foliage was the scene for Kate Spade’s Fall 2021 I Love NY collection preview. Savannah Smith, the actress who plays icy mean girl Monet de Haan on HBO Max’s Gossip Girl, was soaking it all in.
“This is the stuff I dreamed about as a kid,” Smith, 20, tells Bustle. “I was watching TV, all the models going to Fashion Week, and it seemed so far away. Now I’m here, it’s kind of wild. It’s one of my pinch yourself moments.”
The breakout star has been a Kate Spade fan for years, drawn to the brand’s classic silhouettes and playful accessories.
“This is very sleek and form-fitting,” she says, pointing to her black sleeveless Kate Spade jumpsuit. “You could wear it out. You could wear it during the day.”
But then there’s “these big moments,” she says, highlighting the matching multicolor earrings and rings finishing off her look. “I love Kate Spade, and I’ve always loved the jewelry so much.”
Smith just finished shooting the second half of Gossip Girl season one. She says her and her character share an affinity for ’90s-inspired fashion.
“She loves a ’90s Chanel miniskirt and a matching blazer moment like Clueless,” Smith says. “I do love that. She’s preppy. I would say that is my style maybe 5% of the time.”
Smith describes Monet’s taste in jewelry as “very extra” and that the character likes wearing as many baubles as possible. “I’m like, ‘Eh, it’s too much,’” Smith says. “I like a little daintier. So yeah, we’re different, but that helps me get into the character. Because if you’re wearing something you would never wear, it’s going to shift your body and how you move in spaces.”
When fans last saw Monet in the Gossip Girl midseason finale, she was leaving the core friend group to do her own thing. Exactly what that will be is anyone’s guess, but Smith is dropping hints on what fans can expect to see fashion-wise in the upcoming episodes.
“My favorite thing I’ve ever worn ever in the show is in the last episode,” she says. “It’s my last scene in the last episode. It’s red. That’s what I’ll say. It’s really cute.”
The show was recently renewed for a second season, and Smith is eager to watch how the characters will continue to evolve. That’s especially true when it comes to their wardrobes.
“When [show runner] Josh [Schwartz] told us Monet is gay — because I’m bi and I do have kind of an androgynous side of my style — I went back to [costume designer] Eric [Daman] and I was like, ‘I would love to incorporate [that],’” Smith says. “I think for season two, we’re gonna incorporate that a little bit more, so I’m excited.”
