It’s a timeless story, so anyone can relate to it today,” says Kelly Rutherford (Elizabethtown, Kentucky, United States, 55 years old) about the unexpected return of Gossip Girl, the series in which she starred between 2007 and 2012. The title is experiencing a second youth, rediscovered by new generations through small cuts on TikTok, and she and her character (Lily van der Woodsen) have become viral inspiration.
“It was about teenagers, but also about their parents. In fact, she told the relationships between them and their dynamics very well, which is not common at all. She talked about social media and its effects before anyone else, even before Instagram appeared. The stories were good, the fashion was fun… she has many elements that make her still popular today,” says the actress with a soft tone and perfect diction that would not be out of place at any gathering on the Upper East Side. She grants this interview in what could be a setting from that series, in an elegant cocktail bar at the New York hotel The Times Square Edition, between wooden panels and velvet armchairs. And just a few minutes before the Tommy Hilfiger show begins, a spectacle that she will witness from the front row in an aesthetic dress preppy that could have come out of his famous character’s closet.
The appointment is one more in an agenda that has been filled in recent months with media appearances at various fashion weeks. “I love seeing new collections or learning about proposals from young designers,” she says. Passionate about fashion, her assistance and her styling have contributed to placing her back in the media spotlight. A twist that comes at a perfect time, not only because of the second life of the series, but because of the new look that popular culture places on women over 50, until not so long ago a segment that was left out of the conversation. . “We are realizing that we are all multidimensional. We all have different aspects of ourselves. We are not just one thing. And if you are creative, you can be creative in several fields. Fashion is one more thing that I like and enjoy,” she says.
He realizes this every day on your Instagram profile and before his two million followers. There he shares decoration details, motivational phrases or pristine and inspiring styles in which he boasts of his knowledge of the environment and small brands from all over the world. He especially likes the Spanish ones for their color and originality (names like La Veste, Nina Blanc, Mietis or Indi & Cold). She has met them on the web or on her usual getaways to Madrid, where her children study.
The love for clothes comes from afar. The collection of Hermès bags that Lily van der Woodsen wore in Gossip Girl came out of her personal wardrobe: “In the series I used my own Kelly and Birkin bags because at the beginning we didn’t have a budget and they wouldn’t lend them to us. “I used a lot of things that were mine, especially in the first seasons.” Her style comes by itself, she has seen it around her since she was little. Her mother, a model in the seventies, worked for designers like Bill Blass. Rutherford herself, who left home at the age of 17, also tried her hand at being a mannequin before diving into acting.
“I was interested in many things, but above all people. I came to New York, I worked as a model while I studied. My parents wanted me to be a lawyer and I liked journalism, among other things, but I did some acting class and everything changed. I thought acting was something I could do forever without getting bored. Because when thinking about any other occupation, ‘forever’ sounded like a long time. And so it has been.” She has not stopped working since the late eighties, with roles of all kinds in large and small productions, including her appearance in Melrose Place. Last year he filmed a series in France: “It’s called Escort Boys, It’s on Prime Video and I play the American. We had fun. Now I have an independent film pending release, “The Tributaries.” The fashion that elevated her will surely strengthen her on the path to her next stage in the sector. Meanwhile, she buys tickets from the front row.
