Pamela Anderson On ’90s Nostalgia And Her New Denim Collection
Powerhouse and style icon PAMELA ANDERSON talks to CHLOE STREET about great jeans, the beauty of going makeup-free, and creating a sartorial ode to the ’90s with her Re/Done collab – plus, she puts her styling skills to the test in our Fashion Challenge
“I’m just being in the moment and there are really no rules… I’m really interested in moving forward and doing things my own way,” says Pamela Anderson, as she calls me from the car on her way home from our NET-A-PORTER Fashion Challenge shoot.
I had been due to meet the Canadian-American actress, model and all-round megastar on set once filming wrapped, but Anderson’s ultra-minimal glam requirements (no hair, no makeup, just a slick of lip balm) were such that everyone was in and out within 30 minutes of the allotted four-hour shoot schedule. “I save a lot of time this way,” she laughs sweetly. “The poor glam team: I walked in and said to them ‘I just need you here for moral support!’”
In truth Anderson, who has, in her three-decades-long career, graced more shoot sets than most, needed nothing of the sort – nailing the task with the alacrity and aplomb of a seasoned professional. This talent for serving charm and realness to camera was first evidenced with the launch of her Netflix documentary, Pamela, A Love Story, in January 2023, an intimate and honest telling of the whirlwind highs and (often horribly traumatic) lows of her life in the aggressive and misogynist media spotlight of the ’90s – from the moment she first appeared on our screens in that red swimming costume in 1992 through to her present-day life as a Broadway star. The documentary has garnered 48 million views, two Emmy nominations, and legions of young fans beguiled by her incredible ’90s style – so much so that #Pamcore is perennially trending on TikTok.
“It’s kinda funny for me to see people enjoy those looks that weren’t created by a stylist, they were just created by me. I always say a stylist wouldn’t have let me out the door like that,” laughs the 56-year-old mother of two. “It’s fun that you touch a nerve, or you make people feel something with just being authentic and true to yourself. I was always having a good time.”
“I just want to leave myself alone now… I’m good enough as I am. This is me; this is what I’ve got, and this is what’s happening
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These days Anderson is resolutely forward-looking. Partnering with Re/Done, she’s launched a collection of denim and off-duty staples that promises “a little wink to the past”, rather than any attempt to completely reproduce her ’90s wardrobe. “Sometimes, people want to drag me back, they want to recreate those looks… I just kind of want to leave that stuff in the past.”
The collection is an ode to the best of the era – think low-slung jeans, denim shirts and white denim shorts, plus ’90s baby tees, cropped hoodies and bucket hats – and, given Anderson’s passion for the planet and all living creatures, it’s all 100% vegan. Even the Levi’s leather back pocket patch has been swapped for a paper made from apple skin. “Sustainability is really important to me,” says Anderson, who was campaigning for Peta and against fur long before veganism became cool. “But I don’t go out of my way to bash brands for things. That’s not who I am. I think of myself as a romantic activist… Everybody has their own way of contributing to the world and making their best choices – and so I kinda leave that up to them.”
Just as her activism was radical in the ’90s, Anderson’s hit the headlines recently for a different form of chutzpah – the simple act of going makeup-free. Attending the Vivienne Westwood Paris Fashion Week show back in October, Anderson ditched the bombshell beauty aesthetic in favor of a fresh-faced look – and the media frenzy was arguably greater than when she stripped off for a Peta campaign. “I didn’t think anybody would notice. I was just doing it for me. I was like, ‘I’m not going to play this game’,” says Anderson, who chose to nourish her soul with a long walk round Paris and a visit to the Louvre rather than sit in a hair-and-makeup chair for three hours. “I thought, really, it’s not that important – people are going to see me for five minutes; how bad can it be?!”
“Look, I’m not trying to be this natural beauty, because I’ve done things to my body that I can’t take back. There are no regrets, but I don’t want to keep at it. I always say there’s a trade-off with things like that; there’s an upside and a downside – and I’m out of downsides! I’m talking about my breasts,” she adds, unprompted. “I just want to leave myself alone now… I’m good enough as I am. This is me; this is what I’ve got, and this is what’s happening.”
When it comes to her beauty regime, Anderson takes a DIY approach. She creates her own face oil from rosehips she grows in her garden and makes her own moisturizer by mixing shea butter and olive oil. She doesn’t wear perfume (“I like my own fragrance”) but instead dabs on a “love potion” that she makes herself from oils like sandalwood, rose, neroli and ylang ylang. “I made this little concoction, in this little amber bottle with a little heart I put on it in nail polish, and it’s been with me forever,” she says coyly. “It’s not really working at the moment, but it’ll come!” Otherwise, though, her self-care routine mainly consists of walks in nature, writing her weekly newsletter (“I don’t even know how it happens – it just pours out of me and then I can rest”) and the occasional massage.
“With this social-media world, it’s easy to fall down that rabbit hole of comparing yourself to others – all the filters, etc… You get to the point where it’s all becoming a bit robotic. Imperfections are human, they’re sexy. The differences are what make us interesting
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Does she feel a responsibility to redress the narrative on aging and beauty for the benefit of younger generations? “In a way, I am doing it for the girls,” she concedes. “My sons have beautiful girlfriends – and I have had stepdaughters in the past – and, with this social-media world, it’s easy to fall down that rabbit hole of comparing yourself to others – all the filters, etc… You get to the point where it’s all becoming a bit robotic. Imperfections are human, they’re sexy. The differences are what make us interesting.”
Her advice to young people would be to find something that inspires them and follow a road less traveled. She has always pushed her children to tell her something they have never heard before, something from the gut. She wants them to think about what they truly feel, and what they truly love – “otherwise, days fly by and you’re just doing someone else’s life.”
‘Be yourself’ is something people say a lot, and sometimes half the battle is knowing what it is you want to be. It’s a constant journey, she says, but nowadays Anderson’s firmly in the driving seat: “I’m just sick of playing a character of myself, so I’ve kind of just broken through whatever that issue was, and now I’m just really accepting. I feel so free.”
The Fashion Challenge
From heading to a fashion event straight off the plane to a special dinner with friends – watch as Pamela Anderson puts her styling skills to the test…