Amandla Stenberg is most comfortable "dressing like a boy".
Amandla Stenberg
The 18-year-old actress- and-model - who made her breakthrough starring as Rue in 'The Hunger Games' - walked for Coco Chanel at Paris Fashion Week last autumn, and was inspired by the fashion house's ability to create garments which were "comfortable" and had "personal flare".
She told the latest issue of InStyle magazine: "Something that Mademoiselle Chanel did so well was to utilise the power of comfort to make beautiful statements and craft intricate pieces of fashion. That's something I try to cultivate. How to use fashion and how to use comfort, for me, a lot of times [means] dressing like a boy ... and how to intermingle that with a sense of personal flare and attention to detail. That's something that [Chanel] did masterfully."
Amandla also admitted she struggled with the pressure of dressing for her gender.
She said: "I thought that I had to dress a certain way in order to appear female, in order to subscribe to certain beauty standards, in order to look pretty. And once I lifted that limitation off of myself of trying to look digestible, especially to the male gaze, it was a lot easier for me to find what style actually suited me. I was able to recognize that gender is a construct and my clothing can look like whatever I want.
"At the end of the day, it's fabric draped over your body. [When I realised that] I was able to actually recognize when I do enjoy women's fashion. Chanel is one of those brands that I feel comfortable in. It doesn't make me feel like I'm trying to fit into a box that doesn't feel natural to me. That's super rare for a luxury brand."
The wavy-haired beauty is a key figure among fashion conscious youngsters and has advised them to take their insecurities and turn them on their head and address them through what they are wearing.
She said: "When you're comfortable in what you're wearing you feel the most powerful. You radiate the most. People can sense that immediately. I'm not necessarily drawn to one particular style, but to people who know how to take their insecurities, spin them on their axes and present them to the world through their clothing."
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