Florence Pugh has spent the past decade transforming herself from a promising British independent-film actress into one of Hollywood's most sought-after stars. Along the way, the 30-year-old has made one thing abundantly clear: She has no intention of becoming thinner, quieter or more covered up simply to make other people comfortable.
Now starring as the deliciously wicked Cathy Ames in Netflix's miniseries East of Eden, Pugh would probably prefer audiences to concentrate on her acting rather than what she eats, how much skin she exposes or whom she chooses to date. Her position has remained remarkably consistent: Her body, her relationships and her wardrobe are nobody else's business.
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Florence Pugh specializes in portraying complex women who defy easy labels of ‘good’ or ‘bad’
(Illustration: Erez Amiran)
East of Eden – Trailer
(Courtesy of Netflix)
From indie darling to Hollywood powerhouse
Pugh began acting professionally at 17, landing a role in The Falling through an open audition. The opportunity allowed her to bypass the traditional route of drama school, small supporting roles and working unrelated jobs while waiting for her big break.
Florence Pugh in Valentino at the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party
(Photo: Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images for Vanity Fair)
By 2019, she had established herself as a cult favorite with her emotionally devastating performance in the horror film Midsommar. That same year, she broke into the mainstream as Amy March in Greta Gerwig's adaptation of Little Women, earning an Academy Award nomination.
Since then, Pugh has specialized in playing women who resist easy categorization. Her characters are rarely straightforward heroines or villains. They are complicated, contradictory and occasionally deeply uncomfortable, qualities Hollywood has not always known how to accommodate.
Florence Pugh in a David Koma outfit at a Marvel event in 2024
(Photo: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)
Florence Pugh in a Valentino gown at the London premiere of Dune: Part Two in 2024
(Photo: Joe Maher/Getty Images)
Florence Pugh in a Victoria Beckham gown at the 2022 Academy Museum Gala
(Photo: Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images)
That resistance to conventional expectations extends well beyond her performances. Her highly publicized three-year relationship with actor and filmmaker Zach Braff, who is 21 years her senior, became a recurring subject of scrutiny. The age difference generated endless commentary about a relationship between two consenting adults, reflecting the entertainment industry's seemingly inexhaustible appetite for policing celebrities' private lives.
Florence Pugh in a Loewe dress at a screening of Thunderbolts in New York in 2025
(Photo: Mike Coppola/Getty Images)
Florence Pugh in a Rodarte outfit at an East of Eden event in London in 2026
(Photo: John Phillips/Getty Images for Netflix)
Over the past two years, Pugh has been romantically linked to actor Finn Cole, who was born the same year as her. With the age-gap controversy apparently no longer an issue, critics have been free to return to other familiar targets: her body, her weight and the depth of her necklines.
Florence Pugh in a Francesco Murano outfit at a Thunderbolts event in London in 2025
(Photo: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
Florence Pugh in a Wiederhoeft outfit at the 2026 London Film Festival
(Photo: Joe Maher/Getty Images for BFI)
How does Florence Pugh dress?
Imagine a fascinating collision between extravagant romantic femininity and a body that refuses to be disciplined into conventional Hollywood proportions.
Her wardrobe is filled with corsets, tulle, lace, ruffles and flowers. But those traditionally feminine elements often appear alongside exposed nipples, visible underwear, body piercings, dramatic hairstyles and heavy footwear.
Pugh in a Vivienne Westwood gown at the 2026 Emmy Awards
(Photo: Amy Sussman/Getty Images)
Florence Pugh in a Tamara Ralph gown at the 2026 premiere of Spider-Man: Brand New Day
(Photo: Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for Sony Pictures)
The Florence Pugh fashion phenomenon as we know it today arguably began in Rome in the summer of 2022, at Valentino's haute couture show.
Pugh arrived wearing a completely sheer pink tulle gown designed by Pierpaolo Piccioli, then the Italian fashion house's creative director. The dress left her nipples visible, a detail that triggered a predictable online uproar.
Rather than apologize, retreat or promise to dress more modestly, Pugh embraced transparency as one of her signature fashion statements.
Florence Pugh at Valentino's Fall/Winter 2022-23 haute couture show
(Photo: Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images)
Florence Pugh with designer Pierpaolo Piccioli at Paris Fashion Week in 2023
(Photo: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images for The Business of Fashion)
Florence Pugh at Valentino's Fall/Winter 2023-24 haute couture show
(Photo: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)
Florence Pugh in a Valentino gown at the 2022 Venice Film Festival
(Photo: Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images)
In a 2024 interview with British Vogue, she explained that her clothing choices were not driven by a desire to make people admire her body or by a particular agenda. She simply wanted to wear whatever appealed to her at the time.
For anyone convinced that a woman standing 1.62 meters tall, without a conventionally model-thin figure or surgically enhanced breasts, should dress according to a restrictive set of rules, Pugh's answer was effectively to mind their own business.
Florence Pugh at Valentino's Fall/Winter 2023-24 show
(Photo: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)
Florence Pugh in a Valentino gown at the New York premiere of Dune: Part Two in 2024
(Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)
Florence Pugh in a Valentino gown at the 2023 Met Gala
(Photo: Mike Coppola/Getty Images)
Pugh has a particular fondness for oversized silhouettes, often balancing dramatic volumes with light, delicate fabrics.
She repeatedly returns to designers who deliver the combination of romance and rebellion she favors, including Valentino, Rodarte, Vivienne Westwood, Elie Saab and Harris Reed.
Her jewelry frequently comes from Italian luxury house Bulgari, for which she serves as an official ambassador.
In a Jean Paul Gaultier x Simone Rocha gown at the 2024 Vanity Fair Oscar Party
(Photo: Amy Sussman/Getty Images)
At the 2024 Golden Globe Awards, she returned to the sheer Valentino formula, this time in a red gown that once again left little to the imagination. By then, it was clear that exposed nipples were not an accidental wardrobe malfunction but a deliberate and recurring element of her style.
At the British Academy Film Awards that year, she took a different approach, wearing a black velvet Harris Reed gown with a sculptural silver corset resembling medieval armor.
In a Valentino gown at the 2024 Golden Globe Awards
(Photo: Amy Sussman/Getty Images)
Florence Pugh in a Harris Reed gown at the 2024 BAFTA Film Awards
(Photo: John Phillips/Getty Images)
Florence Pugh in a Valentino outfit at the 2023 Academy Awards
(Photo: Mike Coppola/Getty Images)
For the London premiere of Thunderbolts in 2025, she again combined black fabric and transparency, choosing an Elie Saab gown with floral embroidery and lace.
At an after-party that same day, she changed into a Dolce & Gabbana ensemble featuring a sheer coat layered over what appeared to be pink lingerie.
Florence Pugh in an Elie Saab gown at a screening of Thunderbolts in London in 2025
(Photo: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
Florence Pugh in a Valentino gown at the 2022 London Film Festival
(Photo: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for BFI)
In 2026, as Pugh promoted Netflix's East of Eden, her red carpet wardrobe increasingly embraced period-inspired fashion, though always with her own exaggerated interpretation.
At the series' London premiere in September, she wore an enormous black taffeta Rodarte gown with bare shoulders and sleeves resembling oversized flower petals. The effect was somewhere between a Victorian widow and a carnivorous plant.
Florence Pugh in a Rodarte gown at a screening of East of Eden in London in 2026
(Photo: Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)
Pugh in another Rodarte outfit at an East of Eden event in Hollywood in 2026
(Photo: Unique Nicole/Getty Images for Netflix)
At another event in New York that month, she embraced lingerie-inspired dressing in a black satin bra and matching Erdem skirt.
Days later, still in New York, she unveiled one of her most extravagant looks yet: a Vivienne Westwood creation featuring a corset with a plunging neckline and zipper, enormous poisonous-green sleeves, a silver skirt and a dramatic train.
Pugh in a Vivienne Westwood gown at the New York premiere of East of Eden in 2026
(Photo: Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for Netflix)
What's next?
There is something particularly revealing about the way luxury fashion has responded to Pugh. An actress who has repeatedly rejected conventional beauty expectations and the pressure to dress respectably has become an increasingly attractive ambassador for some of the world's most prestigious brands.
Alongside her longstanding partnership with Bulgari, Pugh has also been chosen to represent luxury automaker Jaguar.
The irony is difficult to miss. An industry historically built around rigid standards of beauty and exclusivity is embracing a woman who has made a career of challenging those standards.
Pugh in a Rodarte gown at the after-party following the New York premiere of East of Eden in 2026
(Photo: Emilio Madrid/Getty Images for Netflix)
Pugh in a Patrick McDowell gown at a Jaguar launch event in 2026
(Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for JAGUAR Land Rover)
Cheers or jeers?
Pugh doesn't always dress to look conventionally beautiful. Sometimes she looks stunning, sometimes almost ridiculous, and occasionally it seems as though the dress is wearing her rather than the other way around. In an era when every public appearance is carefully orchestrated to win applause, Pugh is willing to risk a fashion disaster. That is what makes her a true style icon.