Julia Roberts Is Back, & You’ll Never Guess Where

Julia Roberts has certainly held the title of "America’s Sweetheart," but over the past several years, the movie star has made a point of quietly stepping away from fame. Sure, she’s still doing films — and racking up awards — for roles like 2013’s August: Osage County, but nonetheless, she embodies a rarity: an actress who prefers laying low to life in the spotlight.

But, this morning, Roberts made a major comeback, and it’s definitely not where you’d expect. Designer Riccardo Tisci has recruited the Oscar winner for Givenchy’s spring 2015 campaign — a choice that's both unexpected and, come to think of it, actually logical. In the black-and-white shots photographed by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, Roberts models Givenchy’s most iconic house pieces: a boxy jacket, white lace shirt, and woman’s tuxedo dress. Rather than going for of-the-moment trends, Tisci said he wanted to dress Roberts in instantly recognizable classics. Given the actress’ inherent understated elegance, this seems like a perfect fit. As Tisci told Style.com of the low-key inspiration behind the campaign, “Sometimes, you shoot someone who’s so popular, you try to make it glam, but I really wanted her the way she arrived: black jacket, men’s shirt, jeans...no makeup.” It might be a French fashion house, but Tisci said his goal was to achieve a tomboyish, American cool with this campaign. Consider it done.

Given the other recent faces of Givenchy — including Marina Abramović, Erykah Badu, and Isabelle Huppert — it looks like Tisci has moved away from using runway models for a while. And, unlike other brands, Givenchy isn't about scoring a girl with a huge social media following, either. As Tisci put it, “The world is so full of images, so full of everything, if you don’t have an identity, it’s very difficult to find the point of where you want to go." (Style.com)