Former Gossip Girl Blake Lively, is all grown up; and she’s got the growing brand, the gorgeous family, and the Gucci contract to prove it.
It’s been a big year for our July cover star Blake Lively. She gave birth to James, her daughter with husband Ryan Reynolds, in December, and recently launched Preserve, an online store devoted to unique artisanal goods that is the realisation of a long-held ambition for the 27-year-old star. “I always wanted to have a company where I could share artisans, designers and chefs from all over the world – it’s what I do in my personal time,” says Blake. “I’m always going to small interesting towns and finding the coolest furniture shops or designers, and so it’s sharing that on a bigger platform than I’ve done before.”
Blake Lively was a very stylish pregnant mama
She may be carving out a niche as the Millennial’s answer to Martha Stewart, and raising her baby daughter at the same time, but Blake has by no means turned her back on the area that first brought her fame. After returning to our screens in The Age of Adaline (worth watching for Blake’s fabulous vintage wardrobe alone), Blake is currently working on All I See Is You, from the director of Monster’s Ball and Bond film Quantum of Solace, and a Woody Allen project that also stars Bruce Willis, Kristen Stewart and Jesse Eisenberg. It’s safe to say she has no plans to make Preserve her full time job just yet.
Blake’s packed schedule comes after a sabbatical for the star, who admits she was “exhausted” when filming wrapped on the final series of Gossip Girl. “It’s hard, hard work. I really wanted time for myself, because I went from high school into Gossip Girl… I never got that extended vacation, that moment after school when you stop and say: ‘OK, now what do I do?'”
If her current levels of personal and professional fulfilment are anything to go by, Blake’s self-imposed hiatus was exactly what she needed.
Five things you didn’t know about Blake Lively
1. She was home schooled as a child
2. She was named after her grandmother’s brother
3. She is notoriously accident prone
4. She is close friends with Florence Welch, of Florence and the Machine, who performed at her wedding
5. At high school Blake was a cheerleader, class president, and a member of the show choir
What You’ll Learn From The July Issue
Which designers have gone where in fashion’s five year rollercoaster of change
The healthy foodies you should be following on Instagram
Dubai’s hot new fitness tribes… and how to join them
Why Bodrum and Baku should be on your travel wish list
