TAKE IT AWAY,
TALLULAH

From Fairy Picnics to Home Decor and Mental Health, This Willis Sister Is Ready for Her Close Up

Interview: Erika Houle

Don’t try this at home. Or do, if your last name is Willis and your mother is Demi Moore: shaved heads are a family affair. Especially when your dad, Bruce, is willing to ceremoniously welcome you to the club. At her childhood house in Idaho, where she’s been in isolation with her loved ones (including a dream troop of pups), Tallulah’s also been sharing regular reminders that it’s perfectly okay to not be doing well in these times. Breeding empathy from fear has long been her strong suit.

Before virtual haircuts and family TikToks became a reality, I met Tallulah at Milk Studios Los Angeles not long after her 26th birthday. She’d just debuted a different, French blue dye-job, like a cosmic rite of passage marked with a dash of vanity as some form of self-liberation. Through frankly sharing her personal transformations, Tallulah’s online presence has not only become a rare kind of confessional, but a means for her to document her growth. She’s not pressed to perpetuate self-promotional plays of optimized living, instead relying on vulnerability and candid moments to garner a more relatable response. “I was given this platform from birth that I didn’t choose,” she says. “And I’ve really begun to try and embrace it.” Most recently, Tallulah channeled that fervor for connectedness into her new clothing line, Wyllis, which she’s designed to spread awareness around mental health and wellness—comfy, vintage-inspired crewnecks ideal for curling up on the couch or gifting to a best friend.

On set, charged up on Red Bull in a high-glam Rick Owens gown, to a soundtrack of barking dogs, wind machines, and Robyn’s “Dancing on My Own,” Tallulah leaped and twirled for the camera as though the star of her own movie montage. (Like mother, like daughter.) Here, slipping back into her Champion sweatshirt and baby pink beanie, Tallulah spoke with me about home decor, family traditions, and the art of saying ‘no.’

Tallulah wears Maison Margiela blouse and Saint Laurent belt. Featured In Top Image: Rick Owens long dress and Simon Miller sandals.

Erika Houle

Tallulah Willis

Tell me about growing up in Idaho?

I was completely naked, 24/7. If I had to wear clothes, it was a total meltdown. I think getting underwear on for school was a big achievement every morning. It was only when I was in my early twenties and I went back and visited that I was like, ‘Wow, this place is so special.’ I’m really charged by nature, like an outlet in the wall, and that came from being there for such prominent years. It let my imagination grow. We had this giant bush and one afternoon me and my sister Scout took gardening trimmers and hollowed it out, then went to the grocery store and got chips and guac and salsa and picnicked in there and made it a little fairy house. I’m so grateful that’s where I grew up.

Do you still have the same place there?

Yeah.

When you visit, do you stay in your childhood bedroom?

We’ve sort of switched around the rooms, now there’s a “sleeping room,” which is Scout’s old bedroom and it has three twin beds in it, so for the holidays, we all stay in there.

Tallulah wears Maison Margiela bodysuit, Junya Watanabe skirt and Rick Owens boots.

How much of your identity is shaped by your sisterhood?

It's one of the biggest pillars of who I am. My relationship with my sisters, even the language we use with each other, it’s so respectful and beautiful. I wouldn’t be me without them.

What role do you play within your family?

I think we constantly move around in terms of being support systems for each other. It’s not permanent, each of us are always rotating on being the mood-lifter, the jokey one, to being the real space holder, kind of managing conflict. There are many hats worn. We have a very special sense of humor.

Are you big on traditions?

The biggest family tradition is every year on Christmas we get matching pyjamas and take a big group photo, then we sleep in them and wear them the whole next day. And we all buy dogs. We can’t stop. I was at my mom’s house last night with my sisters. We have a group chat called Lineage of Females.

Did your fashion sensibilities also come from your sisters?

That one probably came more from my mom. When we moved to L.A., she had this closet of high heels, and there was one pair I could sneak into that was cork and lucite. I would put them on, and then I went to the fabric store and got this teal silk, and made a Grecian draped dress around my tiny, flat body. I wanted to be grown and older. I think Samantha from Sex and the City was my aesthetic in the third grade.

Who defined your idea of glamor?

My mom. I’ve always seen her as such a glamorous human being. It’s funny because now her uniform is very much overalls or jeans and a big sweater, but then she flips that switch. She just went to this Harper’s Bazaar gala in Europe for Fashion Week and she looked unbelievable with this crazy ponytail extension, and I was just like, ‘Bitch, you’re coming for all of us!’ It’s been that way for as long as I can remember.

Is there one particular look, or cover story, that was really it for you?

There are so many. One that’s always been like, ‘Wow, that’s apex,’ was for the Oscars. It was this lilac gown with embellishments. Her boobs were all pushed up and her hair was in these Marilyn Monroe curls and she looked iconic and timeless.

Do you think that style is something that can be inherited?

Absolutely. But I also believe it’s just rocking what makes you feel good. I don’t subscribe to the idea of ‘I can pull that off or I can’t.’ I dyed my hair blue three days ago and I’m already stressing about it.

Why?

I don’t know if I can pull it off or not, but I like trying to eradicate the idea of ‘I can’t do that’ from the fashion vocabulary.

Tallulah wears Balenciaga blazer, Balenciaga trousers and Wandler heels.

Do you identify as a fashion designer now?

I can say through somewhat shaky breath, yes I am a fashion designer, I designed a line. And, I think that’s a label or a hat I’ve finally felt comfortable owning.

With your new line, Wyllis, you’ve focused a lot on advocating for mental health awareness. What does that mean to you?

It’s imperative because I’ve struggled a lot with mental health, and having the privilege to be a very emotional person. There were times where I felt completely alone and it wasn’t because I wasn’t physically surrounded by people. It was a subject matter that I didn’t have the language for, so when I was able to get a strong footing within that, and lift myself out of it a little bit, it became clear to me that I’m not the only one feeling this.

How did you choose which organizations some of the proceeds would go towards?

Right now we’re working with the National Alliance of Mental Health. I am trying to be very vigilant about the charities I align with. Things that feel right. If I’m asking people to spend money on something, I want them to trust me.

You recently turned 26. Do you feel your age?

I do. I turned 25 in one of the lowest places I probably had been, so having a year of growth and work and movement, and celebrating myself, my skin suit started to fit better. Like, my toes filled in to where they should be. The biggest thing for me is that I’ve had a lot of distrust in my decision making. I’ve been sober almost six years, but there’s still that part of me that’s like, ‘I’m the bad girl that did bad things.’ I’m really working on having more faith in myself.

What else makes you feel like a grown up?

Getting more into home decor. I used to be like, ‘Let’s talk about shoes and boys,’ and now I’m like, ‘I need a runner.’ Wallpaper excites me. I have my fur babies, and being a mother to them is a lot. I have to keep my shit together! A huge one for me is setting boundaries and living authentically for myself and not for other people, which is a thing that blocked me for a long time. Even just learning to say no, like lovingly saying, ‘I can’t go out tonight.’

Featured In This Image: Ashley Williams cardigan, Ashley Williams dog cardigan and Ashley Williams dog cardigan.

What kind of ambiance do you aim for in your home?

I have this funny thing where everything in my place is round or soft. There was a lot of intention around making a similarity between who I am as a person and my space: cozy, inviting, bright colors, mismatched, a little kitschy. I just got this amazing, huge oil painting of fish underwater that’s so Miami. I bought bookends the other day, and I was like, ‘Oh my god, I never thought that I would be seeking out bookends!’ But I found the most amazing bookends! It’s a giant nose. I love weirdly proportioned body part art objects.

Where do you look for inspiration?

On Etsy. Whatever I’m needing to look for, it really calms me down. The other day I was looking at capes.

Capes?

What if I need to make a cape?

What’s on your bedside table right now?

My antidepressants, a birthday note from my boyfriend, a miniature tin carousel, and I think a bag of pretzels I was eating last night.

What would someone be likely to find under your bed?

Dust bunnies.

Dog hair?

Dog hair.

Your favorite small pleasures?

I love a good bevvie in the bathtub. A Kevita in the bath with a bad good sci-fi fantasy fiction romance novel, some incense going, that’s it.

At the beginning of 2020 you tweeted about this being the year that you fall in love with yourself. How have you been intentional about that?

The best thing I’ve done with loving myself has been listening to those around me that love me. The people haven’t changed, and their love for me hasn’t changed, but my ability to accept their support has shifted.