Keira Knightley was a key face of the indie sleaze era that’s currently trending again. She’s been there, done that, got the ripped T-shirt. Sure, she never reached Pete Doherty levels of undone, but the star was not opposed to band tees or teaming shorts and tights with smudgy eyeliner on occasion.
Nowadays, Chanel couture is central to her red-carpet wardrobe—like the black satin dress and ornate bouclé tweed coat that she wore this week to a screening of her new film, Charlotte, in London. The look was from Virginie Viard’s haute couture autumn/winter 2022 collection, a celebration of the maison’s extraordinary way with textiles. (The exquisitely crafted coat Keira wore is a perfect example.)
Though her outfit was all about elegance, her beauty look still had a hint of the indie sleaze aesthetic. Keira’s smoky eye, created with heavy kohl eyeliner and some intense shimmer, would have fit right in on the late 2010s party scene.
Keira Knightley has always been a fan of a statement eye and often gravitates towards grungy make-up for her rare appearances on the red carpet. As Knightley once told Vogue, “I am 100 percent more of a smoky eye girl than I am a lip girl.” Her beauty go-to? “A smoky eye, black liner in the lash line and lots of mascara. Always. Top and bottom.”
This post was originally published in British Vogue.
