It was confirmed this week that Zoë Kravitz and Channing Tatum’s relationship had come to a sudden end. The couple started dating in 2021 and announced their engagement in late 2023. Lots of people were thrilled, because theirs was an unproblematic partnership—an aloof art girl and a respectful heartthrob who wears “It only hurts… when I think!” T-shirts and authors children’s books with titles like, The One and Only Sparkella—documented in casual BMX trips around the streets of Manhattan and one of the best Criterion Closet Picks to have ever been uploaded to the internet.
“Whether it was making me tea or pouring me a drink or going to whip someone into shape or whatever,” Kravitz said of meeting Tatum on a film set, “He really was my protector and it was really wonderful and sweet.” Alas, no more. And while no one has—or should expect to—have insight on the reasons for their separation, Kravitz has always been accompanied by protectors of a different kind: sloping jackets, outsized shirts, voluminous trousers and expansive handbags purchased from The Row. The actor was yesterday afternoon photographed strolling through New York in a soft-shouldered coat and wide-legged denim, anchored in a pair of Olsen-made ankle boots. (See the pics here.)
Heartbreak often drives people to make drastic changes to their appearance—impulsive haircuts, ill-informed tattoos—signaling an urgent desire to break from the past. But there is something to be said for standing firm when life pulls the rug from beneath your feet. To be your own source of consistency when all around you changes. This image of Zoë Kravitz could have been captured at any point in the last couple of years. It is, despite the odds, unremarkable, almost insignificant, which is perhaps also the gentlest way for a relationship to conclude.
This article first appeared on British Vogue.
