Deep in the San Fernando
Valley, Mette Towley is sitting
barefoot on a red velvet couch in a shed
turned music studio; an oversize silk shirt
hangs loosely from her curvy frame, and a
single diamond earring dangles from her
ear. A producer who goes only by “Jimmy”
has just stepped out of the early-evening
session, in which he and Towley have been
working on songs for her first-ever EP, due
this spring. Since 2018, Towley has been
spending more time in London, where she
filmed Cats—the musical motion picture
directed by Tom Hooper, out this month.
But when she is in Los Angeles, she can
typically be found in a studio like this one—
often after a morning workout at Modo
Yoga or Bünda (“Home of the better butt,”
according to its website). “I think I’ve
always been more interested in the process
than anything else,” explains the barefaced
28-year-old, who has dark, short hair and
broad shoulders—40 centimeters across,
which is unusual for a dancer, she tells me.
Towley is referring as much to the music
she’s making as to the last two years of her
life, which got her here in the first place.
A Minnesota native who studied
American modern dance and dance theory,
Towley moved to L.A. in 2013. “I auditioned
for everything—cruise lines, private parties,”
she recalls. She landed gigs as a backup
dancer, most notably in 2014 with Pharrell
Williams, with whom she
Body of Work
A n accomplished dancer and
choreographer, Mette Towley
is taking on Holly wood
and the music industry, defying
expectations along the way.
DANCE, DANCE
REVOLUTION
TOWLEY IN A RODARTE
DRESS. DETAILS,
SEE IN THIS ISSUE.
PHOTOGRAPHED BY
MICHAEL BAILEY-GATES.
FASHION EDITOR:
ALEXANDRA CRONAN.
TALENT
TA L E N T>1 3 5
VLIFE
132 DECEMBER 2019 VOGUE.COM
HAIR, RAMSELL MARTINEZ; MAKEUP, SANDY GANZER. PRODUCED BY PREISS CREATIVE. SET DESIGN BY EVAN JOURDEN.
