SIENNA STORMS THE HIGH STREET

This autumn, two bastions of British style are joining forces: Sienna Miller and M&S. Emma McCarthy talks tailoring, boho nostalgia, and crisps with the woman whose wardrobe we've all coveted

And just like that… we’re in the ‘Siennasance’ era. The godmother of boho chic and perpetual British style icon Sienna Miller has moved back to London after seven years in New York. When we meet over Zoom – right before the news broke she’s expecting her second child, and first with boyfriend Oli Green – she’s just picked up the keys for a new rental she’ll live in while looking for a permanent place to call home. She flips the camera to give me a virtual tour of the pile of packing boxes around her. She declares herself ‘a sweaty mess’, running late from a school uniform fitting for her 11-year-old daughter (naturally, she looks nothing of the sort, her hair perfectly undone, wearing vintage jeans and a brown blazer with a pair of crochet doily earrings bought on a recent holiday in Turkey).

As it transpires, the new school year was the main motivation for the move. “It was always the plan for Marlowe to take her 11 plus exams in London,” she tells me, revealing that the pair celebrated their first night back by sharing a Pizza Express delivery in bed, watching TV. “I think if I’d still loved New York as much as I used to, I would have stayed. But I just missed home.”

What did she miss most? “Crisps,” she declares, succinctly. “The irreverence. The sense of humour. Oh, and a good pub.” As British as it comes. Which is why her new role as an ambassador of high street institution M&S is a perfect fit.