Decoding Billie Piper's daring yet sophisticated style renaissance

Billie Piper is a fashion soothsayer’s dream. A glorious ‘roaring Twenties’ return to dressing up has been predicted for sometime now, and it looks like the former pop star, now actress and director is on a one-woman mission to show us how it’s done.

Over the past few days, Piper, 38, has attended a series of events to promote Rare Beasts, the first film that she’s directed - she also wrote it and stars in it. And following the new trend for directors to become as big a style talking point as their leading ladies (see, Emerald Fennell and Chloe Zhao at this year’s Oscars ceremony), her wardrobe has been a masterclass in daringly glamorous dressing.

This new streak of looks began with a louche white suit which offered little hint of the experiments ahead, instead setting a coolly sophisticated, grown-up tone for Piper’s promotional duties. The tailored two-piece was the work of Polish designer Magda Butrym, who describes her work as connecting ‘minimalism with sexiness, elegance with effortlessness, strength with sensitivity’. Piper and Butrym may have begun low-key, but two further looks upped the ante.

At a gala screening on Friday evening, the mother of three debuted a strapless foil-like silver creation by Butrym offset by an earful of Messika jewellery and a pair of glittery Jimmy Choo sandals. Then there was another Butrym ensemble for Saturday night’s screening - a dress consisting of a ruffled leather crop top and mini skirt, worn with a slick of dark lipstick and strappy heels.

More highlights from Piper’s latest appearances include the liquid silver Paco Rabanne top and skirt, with sliced-out ab details, which she wore to a GQ lunch, and a balloon-sleeved taffeta blouse and skirt by Lanvin, a label which has earned a new cool factor lately thanks to creative director Bruno Sialelli, who has been on a mission to dress today’s bright young things, like Harry Styles and Gigi Hadid as well as unexpected cultural icons, including Paris Hilton.

Piper has described her new film as an anti-romcom which aims to challenge the ‘have it all’ mindset, with a story centring on a single mum working at a production company. The clothes she’s chosen to wear while she’s been promoting Rare Beasts underline that message - these are sophisticated yet sassy looks (or as Piper wrote on her Instagram, ‘snappy’) which defy any stereotypes which might still exist around what a thirty-something mother with three children might or might not wear (Piper has two sons, aged 12 and nine from her marriage to actor turned failed London Mayor candidate Laurence Fox, plus a two-year-old daughter with her new partner musician Johnny Floyd).

Like any woman from her teens to her late thirties, Piper’s style has evolved considerably over the years. As a 15-year-old bursting onto the pop scene with her record-breaking single Because We Want To, she was recognisable for her crop tops, baggy jeans and messy ponytails - a poster girl for wearing whatever you like, with attittude.

Since then, she’s veered from girly to grungy as she navigated professional success as a singer and actress, but the look she’s doing at this stage in her career, with Rare Beasts as well as the TV show I Hate Suzie among her recent accomplishments, feels like a polished version of that instinctive teenage style.

In recent years, Piper has turned to Hollywood power stylist Rebecca Corbin Murray for help in shaping her image. Corbin Murray’s other clients include Florence Pugh, Lily James, Sophie Turner and Gemma Chan and she is renowned for her ability to hone a strong and cohesive look for her star clients which always gets them noticed, even amidst major competition on the red carpet.

As the director, writer and star of Rare Beasts, Piper would never have had an issue standing out while promoting its release but her bold, fashion-forward outfits over the past few days reinforce the fearless honesty which she’s making her own through her work -as well as serving as excellent inspiration for a return to proper, full-on dressing up. In fact, 'Be More Billie' could be just the comeback mantra we need.

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