“That’s very nice, I don’t know about that!” quips a modest Nicola Coughlan when I congratulate her on becoming one of fashion’s most in-demand campaign stars. “It’s sort of a journey…” After Kim Kardashian personally booked her to become a Skims model (the shapewear tycoon is a huge Bridgerton fan), the 37-year-old Galway native found herself in Brooklyn surrounded by flowers on the set of Kate Spade’s autumn/winter 2024 shoot.
The whimsical nature of Spade’s world is not a huge leap from Coughlan’s current reality. After wrapping the Bridgerton season three press tour – which saw the leading lady channel “mermaid glamour” in Botticelli-inspired Rodarte and gold Misho bodices engraved with hearts – Nicola started filming The Magic Faraway Tree. In Simon Farnaby’s adaptation of the Enid Blyton classic, Coughlan plays the woodland fairy, Silky, alongside her eccentric castmates, Lenny Henry, Michael Palin, Claire Foy and Andrew Garfield. When she’s not wearing wings, she’s in anything comfortable and decidedly un-sprite like.
The Kate Spade campaign shoot was less pink and posy-packed than usual, and thus a welcome opportunity for Coughlan to get back in the make-up chair – minus the glitter – and feel like the most polished version of herself. “[Modelling] is not something I ever thought I’d be doing, but the more I learn to enjoy it, the more I settle into it,” she says of her new sideline. Posing in Spade’s easy-yet-elegant workwear and cheerful accessories came naturally for Nicola, who saved up her first salary from playing Netflix’s favourite tattletale, Penelope Featherington, to buy one of Kate’s cute bubblegum bags with a red heart pinned proudly on the front. “I just adored it,” she recalls. “Every time I look at it now, it really reminds me of that time, and I still use it.”
The Barbie arm candy will have to jostle for attention next to the new Spade Flower Jacquard bags, featuring an updated (read: luxe) version of the brand’s heritage print crafted by Italy’s famous Limonta mill. It wasn’t a hard sell for Coughlan, who, like Spade, is slightly pivoting her feminine, fun approach to getting dressed. “I’m trying to not buy as much stuff and to buy better,” she notes of gravitating to Kate’s timeless, well-cut pieces, like the black shirt dress she wears in Joshua Kissi’s photographs.
It’s not just the chic shoulder bag Coughlan signed up to shout about. Fellow actors and campaign stars Taraji P Henson and Marsai Martin come together to announce the new Global Fund for Women’s Mental Health, which, per the brand, “focuses on cultivating greater access to joy by advocating for and investing in mental health solutions for women.”
“Unfortunately, it’s still a taboo subject and it shouldn’t be, because it’s something that a lot of people will struggle with in their life,” adds Coughlan. “I think we need to make it clear it’s nothing to be ashamed of – it’s completely normal.” The words “honoured” and “talented” consistently crop up when speaking about Coughlan’s Kate Spade family, but the small screen darling’s most used phrase – “lovely” – is pure Nicola through and through. Watch this space, the Bridgerton favourite in fairytale mode will be just as enchanting.
Original article can be found on British Vogue
