Gillian Anderson for Fiasco magazine

Dress-ups with a Hollywood leading lady of iron

She played the solitary, iconic characters of Miss Havisham to Stella Gibson, from Lady Dedlock to Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire. She won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama in 1997 for her role as FBI Special Agent Dana Scully in The X-Files and then again in 2021 for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or TV Movie (The Crown) for her portrayal of the Iron Lady … all 5’3” of her.

Out of the spotlight, she has campaigned for women’s rights in Afghanistan, against sexual violence towards girls in Myanmar, for better access to HIV treatment in South Africa and education in Uganda, against domestic violence in the UK and child trafficking across the globe, for the rights of indigenous tribes in South America and conservation of cheetahs in Namibia, against deforestation in the Amazon and rabbit fur farms in China – and has just kicked off her new audio show with the remarkable story of Nobel Prize winning scientist Rita Levi-Montalcini. The show uncovers stories on sexual liberation, social challenges, phenomenal women and more. I could go on, the list is endless. Gillian Anderson is a force. She was then. She is now.

So what a dream and absolute pleasure it was to be asked all those years ago to style her for the cover and spread of Fiasco magazine’s Black and White issue. I duly accepted. Thank you Dave.

Model: Gillian Anderson
Photographer: Dave Wise
Fashion editor: me
Hair: Eugene Davis
Makeup: Lauren Kay