In Her Director Era, Teyana Taylor's Personal Style Will Still Be "Big on Freedom"
Taylor shared she's starting a new career chapter during a talk hosted by Chanel and Tribeca Festival. But make no mistake: Her singular approach to style isn't going anywhere.
There are Hollywood multi-hyphenates, and then there's Teyana Taylor. When director Janicza Bravo introduces Taylor for their Storytellers Series talk hosted by Tribeca Festival and Chanel on June 7, she needs a deep breath before listing all of Taylor's roles—plus, the clarification that "multi-, multi- multi- hyphenate" is maybe a better descriptor. Taylor's an Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe winner; a choreographer and dancer; an upcoming culinary school graduate; and, as Taylor shared with a cheek-to-cheek smile onstage, a soon-to-be feature-film director of the dance drama Get Lite, which starts production this summer. Oh, and she's also a devoted mother to two daughters. Clearly, a lungful of air is necessary before rattling off all those roles.
As Taylor explains it, there's no world where she wouldn't be doing all the things. She has the sort of unrelenting drive that pushes her to pursue all her interests head-on, fashion included. Meeting with me backstage shortly after her panel, the star, with a hug and another face-splitting grin, explained she's as multifaceted in her styling choices as she is in her career. And it's going to stay that way no matter what she tries out next.
Teyana Taylor in conversation with Janicza Bravo, presented by Through Her Lens: The Tribeca CHANEL Women’s Filmmaker Program.
That philosophy comes to life in Taylor's look for the day, a cool girl's alternative to the straight-edge suiting you'd typically see on a film festival panel. Instead of an overly buttoned-up blazer or sheath dress—can you imagine?—she paired a New York Yankees hat with Chanel classics, including a pearl-and-double-C belt, cap-toe heels, and an oversized tweed jacket.
The "high-low streetwear moment" was Taylor's way of nodding to her Harlem roots while acknowledging how far she's come, both in her work and in her style. "I felt like being back home brought back memories, back to even my sweet 16, with the big hair and the Yankees cap, and the cool little vintage tee with the Chanel," she says.
To make her first appearance as a feature-length film director, Taylor paid homage to her Harlem roots with a Yankees cap and Chanel suiting.
It's the latest in a line of Taylor-ified Chanel outfits she's worn over the past year, from a bespoke feathered gown at the Academy Awards to a PVC raincoat for the label's Haute Couture show. The way she finds range in a single luxury house parallels her approach to trying everything she can work-wise. "I don't want to be caged in anything that I do, you know," she tells me. "I want to give myself the freedom to express myself."
"I'm big on freedom: freedom of style, the freedom of your voice, freedom of your body, the freedom of whatever it is that you believe in and whatever it is that you stand on," she adds. In fashion terms, she can take the codes of a major designer and rework them to be a reflection of her: "Now I can do a fitting with Chanel, and they can messenger it to my house. How I walk out of the house, how I put it together, is me."
Teyana Taylor has showed her styling range throughout the most recent awards season in an array of Chanel gowns and separates.
Stylist" could have appeared on Bravo's run-down too; Taylor isn't outsourcing her outfits to anyone else, not even during a packed awards season like the one she just wrapped for One Battle After Another. Whether she was hitting the full circuit of major ceremonies or hosting the 2025 CFDA Awards, Taylor says she was a "kid in a candy store" trying out different silhouettes from event to event, photo to photo. "Styling myself most of the time and being able to work directly, hand-in-hand with with these amazing designers was the most fun part about it," she reflects.
The next chapter in Taylor's style journey officially begins in July, when production on Get Lite in New York City begins. When she's calling "Action!" from her director's chair, she says she plans on taking inspiration from well-dressed filmmakers of the '90s. (Spike Lee's outfits earn a shout-out.) However she flexes her fashion expertise, she's not going to be shy about embracing her role on the call sheet while she's at it.
"I'm going to be so extra! It's going to say 'director' on my back, 'director' on the hat, 'director' on the side of the glasses," she laughs. "You're gonna know I was there!"
