Quinta Brunson covers InStyle and talks faith, fashion, and freedom
By Zoe Ellis // Faith + Fashion // EEW Magazine Online
Quinta Brunson covers new issue of InStyle
“Abbott Elementary” creator-star Quinta Brunson stuns in a new cover story for InStyle where she talks openly about her faith, fashion, and freedom.
“I believe in God. I have a very spiritual relationship. I believe I’m a vessel,” said the 33-year-old Emmy winner whose mockumentary set in an underfunded Philadelphia school is a bonafide hit.
Though Brunson is deeply rooted in her faith, that doesn’t mean she feels restricted, boxed in, or forced to suppress who she is and what she wants. According to her, the liberty she feels is best expressed through a Beyoncé lyric— “I was born free”—from the iconic singer’s popular anthem, “Church Girl.”
Photos By Rosaline Shahnavaz for InStyle
Being liberated “is starting to really be my ministry,” continued Brunson who recently realized another dream, hosting “Saturday Night Live.”
“I was born free. I can do what I want,” she emphasized using themes borrowed from Queen Bey’s bop.
“That’s important for us, especially for Black girls to remember. You were born free. You can do whatever you want. And the more you do it, the more it may piss some people off, but the sentiment is still true. You can do whatever you want.”
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Despite her comfort with unapologetic self-expression and clarity about what she wants, the fashion industry wasn’t quick to jump on board. InStyle reports that stylists weren’t vying for an opportunity to dress her petite frame. “I’m 4-foot-11 with breasts and a butt. And that’s just the cardinal sin: to be short and have the nerve to have any type of curve,” she said.
That’s not a problem, however, for Brunson’s current stylist, Bryon Javar. When the two linked up, it became instantly clear that they were a match made in fashion heaven.
“Before working with Bryon, there were times where I would work with other stylists and I’d just have to be like, ‘I’m not this young,’ or, ‘This feels too young for me.’ And it would be like, ‘No, you can pull it off,’” explained Brunson. “And I was like, ‘But it’s not about pulling it off. It’s about what I want to represent when I come to certain award shows or certain events I have to do.’ I’m not just an actress, not just a writer, not just a producer, not just a showrunner. I want to make sure I can convey who I am through what I wear.”
While plenty women struggle to embrace their unique style and love their body, this isn’t an issue for Brunson, a former dancer. “Dancing is learning how to have control over your own body at a very young age. We usually hear about control in a manipulative way or in reference to sex, sexual control, or attractiveness. But I’m talking about truly having ownership over the mechanics of your own body, learning to control different muscles,” Brunson said.
“I’ll talk to friends who came into appreciating their bodies much older or who still have trouble appreciating their own body, and it makes me realize over and over and over again how much dance did for me. My body is mine. I work it, I control it, and it doesn’t belong to anyone else.”
This empowered and liberated woman of faith continues to spread her message of body positivity, the power of ordinary people, and the benefits of living your convictions out loud.
