Chloë Sevigny has answered our sartorial prayers. The Nineties ‘It’ girl, known as much for her roles in American Psycho and Kids as she is for her effortlessly cool style, recently announced that she was hosing a closet sale, billed as the ‘Sale of the Century’.
And, unsurprisingly, the sale attracted a legions of fashion enthusiasts who queued around the block – nay, several blocks – for hours in the sunshine in NYC’s NoHo neighbourhood on Sunday.
According to the stream of social media reactions to the sale from fans and those in the queue who managed to bag a bargain, friendships were formed, tears were shed, and some brave souls even haggled Sevigny down on price.
One surprising attendee at the event was Chelsea Manning (born Bradley), the former US Army analyst turned whistleblower. Manning is best known for leaking hundreds of thousands of military and diplomatic documents with WikiLeaks, which led to her being sentenced in 2013 to 35 years in a military prison, at which point she came out as transgender.
The activist and aspiring politician was later released by President Barack Obama after seven years, before being imprisoned again from 2019-2020 after refusing to testify before a grand jury investigating WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange.
Sevigny shared a photo from the recent closet sale via her Instagram stories, which showed her giving Manning a peck on the cheek, with a caption that read: ‘Just wow.’
In the photo, Sevigny is wearing a black puff-sleeved varsity dress and mules, which she styled with a Balenciaga City bag, gold hoop earrings and a statement watch, while sporting tousled hair and minimal make-up. Meanwhile Manning wore a light pink shirt and classic trousers.
Other highlights from the event included a cute snap of Sevigny sat beside her three-year-old son, Vanja, who she shares with her Art Gallery director husband Siniša Mackovic. Sevigny reposted the photo, which was originally posted by her stylist Haley Wollens, and captioned it: ‘Mummy’s day shopping spree’. The photo sees Sevigny writing in a notebook while her son, dressed in a graphic print T-shirt and khaki trousers, was otherwise engaged, holding up a packet of gummy bears.
Wollens also shared a snap of people queuing in a long line that stretched ‘twice around the block’, eager to get on the second floor of 676 Broadway, to catch the sale between noon and 5pm. Sevigny gushed via Instagram about the event: ‘So much joy and love! Will post more highlights when I recover and land in France Tuesday.
‘Thanks to all the staff and people who came for the craziness, apologies about the line, we had no idea it would be so bonkers.’
Calling all ‘It’ girls (we’re looking at you Alexa Chung and Winona Ryder), it’s about time you follow suit and start planning your wardrobe sales. Sharing is caring, right?
Chloe Sevigny’s Best Fashion Moments
Sakaynah Hunter is the Digital News Editor at ELLE, covering subjects including politics, health, women’s interest, the royals and entertainment. Having worked in editorial roles across luxury e-commerce, newspaper and magazine journalism, she’s an all-rounder. When Sakaynah’s not at work, she loves psychological thrillers, the ballet and endless conversations over a glass of wine.