It’s a bright, breezy day when we visit actor Sophie Lowe, 20, at her family home in Paddington, Sydney. A little too breezy, actually: Lowe is suffering from terrible hay fever. Not that you can tell. For someone in a plain tank top, jeans and bare feet, she looks remarkably beautiful. Big blue eyes, creamy white skin and a smattering of freckles: she’s hardly the girl next door.

Lowe lives on a leafy street a stone’s throw away from some of the city’s best fashion boutiques. Bassike, Acne, Josh Goot … to name but a few. “I have had my eye on a pair of Acne shorts that would be perfect for my summer wardrobe,” she says, smiling. Lowe clearly loves to shop.

The young actor’s long mane belies her boyish look. “I’m a bit of a tomboy,” she admits (while filming her breakout role, in Rachel Ward’s outback drama Beautiful Kate, she indulged in her more masculine side, learning to drive a ute and fire a rifle). “It took me ages to wear skirts. I never used to bare my legs.” Of course, this might have been down to the fact that the actor spent half her life in England.

We head upstairs to her sunny bedroom, which is filled with an eclectic mix of bits and bobs that reflect Lowe’s unique style. There’s a vintage record-player (she collects records), a keyboard (she’s self-taught and writes her own songs), rows of boots and brogues, candid pictures of Lowe with her friends, and her latest addition, a black Mulberry bag (it goes everywhere with her). Oh, and lots of hats. Of late, Lowe has developed a penchant for cool hats. She has several, but new to her collection is a black felt American Apparel hat, which she customised by shortening the rim. There’s also a BCBG Max Azria example, bought on sale in Los Angeles. Two of the looks she wears on the BAZAAR shoot are topped with hats.

As we begin photographing this story, it soon becomes clear that Lowe is a natural in front of the camera, although, we discover that she also likes being on the other side of the lens. “I used to photograph bands before I was an actor,” she says.

The former gymnast has always approached fashion with flair. “At school, I’d always try to stand out and be different. If everyone was wearing tight jeans, I’d wear baggy ones. If they had long hair, I’d cut all of mine off. I’ve always experimented with fashion.”

Lowe and her family moved to Australia in 2000, and the young actor made her mark in 2009’s Beautiful Kate, starring alongside Bryan Brown, Rachel Griffiths and Ben Mendelsohn and receiving an AFI Best Actress nomination for her performance.

Several roles followed. She played a schoolgirl in the drama Blessed; starred in the horror film The Clinic and thrillers Road Train and Blame; and has recently been cast in the TV-adaptation of award-winning Christos Tsiolkas book The Slap, alongside Melissa George, Alex Dimitriades and Sophie Okonedo. The Slap follows the story of a backyard neighbourhood barbecue, which turns nasty after a man hits a child who is not his son. Lowe plays Connie, a teenager who has an affair with a 40-year-old married man.

As her career blooms, Lowe — and her personal style — is spending more time in the spotlight. Style-icon status might not have been something to which Lowe ever aspired, but actors are often the ones we look to for fashion inspiration. Her approach to dressing is typical of a girl her age, mixing something high-fashion with something from a chainstore brand. Take her recent run on the party circuit: a dress by Perth-based designer Timothy Godbold with Wittner shoes. Likewise, at another soiree, she wore a camilla and marc dress, again with Wittner shoes. Does she like to dress up? “I love it,” she says. “It’s when I get my girlie side out.” Judging by the number of dresses she picks to wear for the BAZAAR shoot, it looks like we might be seeing a whole lot more of Lowe’s feminine side.

By Georgie McCourt

 

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Photoshoots > 2011: Session 08 – Harper´s Bazaar – Personal Style