Diane Keaton was a style icon

The late actress' fashion aesthetic is as much a part of her legacy as her indelible role in the 1977 film Annie Hall

- Vanessa Friedman

Diane Keaton, the Oscar-winning American actress who died on Oct 11 aged 79, was one of the last movie stars to arrive in Hollywood before big brands changed the celebrity dressing game.

She never used a stylist, but came with an aesthetic so clearly and compellingly formed that she shaped fashion rather than allowing fashion to shape her.

As a result, her penchant for men’s suiting, for layers, for turtlenecks and coats as evening wear and accessories — bowler hats, glove, belts and glasses — is as much a part of her legacy as her indelible roles in Annie Hall (1977) - the film that first introduced the Keaton aesthetic to the world - and Reds (1981).

And it is a reminder, in a time when it often seems that movie stars have outsourced their own taste and traded away wardrobe decision-making for financial security in the form of brand ambassadorships, that personal style can be its own powerful currency.

Keaton inspired not just her early director and onetime boyfriend Woody Allen, who famously asked Keaton to dress herself for Annie Hall, but also designers such as Ralph Lauren, Jenna Lyons and Thom Browne.

It was the impetus for two books from Keaton herself: the 2014 essay collection, Let's Just Say It Wasn't Pretty, about finding and staying true to your own style, and the 2024 coffee-table tome, Diane Keaton: Fashion First.