Myha'la On Conscious Gifting, Whimsical Fashion & Feral Workouts

The end of the year always gets everyone in a reflective mood, and maybe that’s why we all crave a big blowout bash to kick out the nostalgia-leaning feelings and get the next year started on a wild foot. That’s not what Myha'la has in mind, though, as she exclusively tells NYLON: “I’m old and don’t want to go outside and be out late.” Her and her husband unofficially celebrate their wedding anniversary on New Year’s, and she will more likely than not be living her soft-girl life wrapped up in Cou Cou Intimates around the holidays, especially now that she is one of its campaign stars.

The Cou Cou holiday campaign is a celebration of all things soft, and the selection includes pajamas, bras, tanks, and boy shorts that are deserving of a spot in your intimates drawer. A major (and unavoidably bright) highlight includes a much-sought-after red color way, which is “is surprisingly difficult to get right,” says Rose Colcord, founder and creative director of Cou Cou Intimates. “We wanted something that felt familiar to your first-ever lipstick and rosy winter cheeks, and that has the confidence and elegance to be timeless.” The result comes across in bra tops and the ever-popular Rina top, which Myha'la cites as a favorite.

The collection and accompanying campaign embrace a slower moment in fashion; with endless drops from endless brands and seemingly never-ending amounts of red carpets and major fashion moments, Cou Cou is celebrating the smaller and slower moments in between. “There’s so much pressure to consume, which makes it an interesting moment to pause and think about desire,” Colcord tells NYLON. “What do we want, and what are we really hoping that thing will give us?” The holidays can feel like a more-is-more moment for decadence and gift-giving, but Myha'la agrees with Colcord and has landed on a minimalist approach: “I don’t feel the need to have an abundance of gifts to know the person loves me. If it’s one really thoughtful, considerate gift, that does it for me.”

Myha'la is in her all-natural bag and always a thoughtful, intentional actor and fashion star in her own right. The actress and personal fashion hero of mine always has had a low-key, high-energy sense of style, wearing natural glam and hair whenever she can to complement her uncomplicated approach to dressing. Her approach to self-care is equally as unfussy; she’s recently gotten into cooking, watercolor drawing, and staying active, including “feral” workouts that keep her body busy and mind calm on set in Wales, where she is wrapping up the fifth and final season of Industry. And as for the future? She wants to be in her bag for 2027, literally and metaphorically: “I’m in a stage of my life and career now where I’m interested in creating my own work.” Below, NYLON caught up with the busy girl on her day off to talk about conscious consumption, scarf dressing, and the art of leveling up.

Tell me about your experience with Cou Cou. Were you familiar with the brand?

Yes, I was. I have been a fan of the brand for a really long time. I’m always looking for sustainable and healthy options for me and my body — and also for style, because sometimes that’s a hard thing to get. You can’t really get organic cotton and also be cute. I’m always looking for a way to stay deep in my whimsical self, and the brand has always made me feel soft, whimsical, and crunchy. I was so excited they wanted me to be a part of this campaign.

How do you practice self-care or take a little time for yourself right now?

This week I’ve actually been off work, so I’ve been doing nothing but self-care and paying attention to myself because I’ve been alone. I’m staying in a place that’s really far away from everything and everyone. There’s animals around, so I try to make a point every day to go outside and look at the sky, the animals, and the nature around me because I haven’t had that privilege in New York.

Just the other day, I bought a sketchbook and some watercolor pencils. I’ve never drawn, really ever, and I thought maybe that might be a nice way to express myself creatively. I got myself something fun to do, a little hobby, a little something to add a little color and life to my mornings. I do that alongside my morning journal. I cook for myself a lot. I find nurturing my body with healthy food is a great way to take care of myself. I have a lot of dietary restrictions, so I’ve been forced into cooking — not that I didn’t always love it. I can’t have dairy, I can’t have gluten, and I can’t have sugar all of a sudden because of a health thing. It’s really annoying, but it’s forced me to be creative and pay attention to how I’m feeding myself in terms of nutrients, but also, food feeds my soul. I can have yummy food that’s both satiating, nutritious, and also exciting to me.

Today I did a little workout because it’s cold in Wales, so it’s kind of impossible to go outside and work out. Today I found this lady who does something she calls a feral workout, and she was jamming and looking really happy, so I did some of her stuff today. It was wash day, so I washed my hair today. I did a mask and I did the whole three-hour-long process of doing a scalp detox and a hair mask. I got myself really squeaky-clean.

What are your plans for the holidays?

I get to go home for the holidays, which is great. This year, for the first time, I’m going to spend the holidays with my husband’s family, which I’m really excited about. We got married in the first week of January two years ago, but we sort of picked New Year’s as our anniversary because it feels like everyone’s always looking for something to do, and I’m old and don’t want to go outside and be out late. So for New Year’s, we will probably celebrate our anniversary, have nice food and an early bedtime.

How are you styling some of the new Cou Cou pieces this fall?

A new addition to my Cou Cou collection are the socks. I haven’t had the socks before, and I’m so obsessed. Yesterday I wore the gray ones out with my little black Repetto flats. So cute. They’re nice because they’re warm enough but not too thick, and you can still wear them with a ballet flat. For my workout, I was wearing the Cou Cou bra, actually, the gray balconette one. I love a gray anything. Give me gray and I’m here for it. I wear the little red shorts to sleep most nights. I also have them in the flowery pink print. I also have the Rina top in pink and in gray, and I wear those often.

In the transition from warm-enough weather to colder weather, if I don’t want to wear a big jacket, I’ll just throw a scarf on top of that. That honestly keeps me warm enough. I’ll do the Rina top and scarf — and the scarf is big. It’s covering my neck, but I can also wrap it around my whole body.

A Lenny Kravitz scarf, or not that big?

OK, not that big. I would never dare try to compete with Lenny Kravitz.

Are you starting to think about holiday gifts? What is your gifting mantra?

I love gifting things I know the person needs. This might sound controversial, because I know if you’re doing a gift on the holiday, you get them something they couldn’t give themselves, but I always love receiving a gift that feels really thoughtful in the sense that the person observed a need of mine. It doesn’t have to be like, “Oh, I fixed your kitchen faucet, you needed that,” but if I’m like, “Oh, I really need a massage.” I love conscious gifts, something that someone really needs. I’m not big on stocking stuffers. I don’t enjoy being an over-consumer around the holidays because it’s easy to do that with Black Friday sales, and I don’t want to do too much. I don’t feel the need to have an abundance of gifts to know the person loves me. If it’s one really thoughtful, considerate gift, that does it for me. When I do that, I want them to know I’ve really thought about them deeply when I’ve given them that gift, whatever that might be.

What are your intentions for 2027?

In 2027, I’m getting to that bag, honey. I want to get rich. I’m in a stage of my life and career now where I’m interested in creating my own work: be it writing, producing, whatever, stuff that has come out of my mind, my soul, things that mean something to me, and being a part of the creative developmental process from the very beginning, having ownership and authority in my work. And I want to be able to make money off those things, obviously. But that to me feels like a kind of wealth I can own. And not just an actor, but a person who’s creating my wealth of legacy via creating things of my own.

Having that much ownership over something is powerful.

Yeah, absolutely. As an actor, you see something from your own beginning to end, but there’s something to be said about, like, “I found this script or I wrote this script, and now we’re in production, and now we’re in post, and we got into a festival, or the box office.” I’m interested in being a part of the whole process because I fancy myself a bit of a leader and producer in those ways. I’m good at building a thing, not just being one piece of it. I’m looking forward to exercising those gifts.

Shop the Holiday collection on Nov. 9 on coucouintimates.com.