Sydney Sweeney fronts Variety's 2023 Power of Young Hollywood issue in a plunging vintage Guess swimsuit, dripping in gold Versace jewelry, while licking an ice cream cone. The look is perfectly fitting with her sultry sense of style, which is further emphasized with her interior shots, all lensed by Eric Ray Davidson. Described as a "'90s-throwback magazine queen, channeling the glory days of Cosmo cover girls," the 25-year-old "Anyone But You" actress and executive producer also models a Barbiecore-pink vintage Versace swimsuit with a large side cutout, baring major hip cleavage on an ice sculpture. Her logofied platform mules to match her magenta chrome nails (painted by Zola Ganzorigt) are like the icing on the cake.
Sweeney's go-to glam squad helped style the shoot, including Molly Dickson on wardrobe duty; Glen Oropeza, who blew out her dirty-blond hair into bombshell waves; and Melissa Hernandez, who employed Edie Sedgwick-inspired baby-doll eyes with thick liner, along with playful pink lips in various shades. Sweeney also wears a lavender wraparound skirt set with ab-baring cutouts (also vintage Versace, sourced from Opulent Addict), teamed with chunky Stuart Weitzman iridescent mules that are thick as a pair of bricks.
"I find power in my femininity. I use my brain, and I use everything that I'm learning every single day in this industry as my power," she says when discussing her projects, which include the creation of production company Fifty-Fifty Films with her fiancé Jonathan Davino. She acknowledges the fact that many people will likely always think of her as her "Euphoria" character Cassie Howard: "I don't think I'll be able to change it, but I'm glad that people are like, 'Wow, she can act,'" she says.
Prior to the Variety cover reveal, which she celebrated on Instagram, Sweeney wore Miu Miu on Harper's Bazaar Australia, continuing her reign as muse for the brand. She also wore cutout leather chaps on set of a music video; nailed the boob window cutout trend in a brown satin gown while vacationing in Ibiza with Izabel Goulart; and channeled "Euphoria"'s Howard in a pink miniskirt for a Bai campaign in June.
Ahead, see Sweeney's Variety shoot in full.