Joey King Shares the Secret Behind Her Playful Style: ‘Brat Summer Brought Out Something in Me’ (Exclusive)

Even if she weren’t wearing Longchamp shades of green and orange, Joey King would stand out in a crowd.

The 25-year-old actress, know for her roles in The Act and The Kissing Booth, stopped by the legacy accessories brand’s Fall/Winter 2024 collection launch on Wednesday, Sept. 4 — the eve of New York Fashion Week. Always one to shut down a red carpet, King brought her A-game to the New York City event, donning high-waisted green satin pants, a bright orange bralette and a white sleeveless vest, her black Le Roseau mini handbag in tow.

“It’s kind of different every time,” King tells PEOPLE of choosing her looks with her stylist, Jared Eng. “Sometimes we get a call and it’s like, ‘You’ve been invited to this,’ and it’s the night before. And we’re like, ‘What the f— am I going to wear?’ ”

Regardless of the function (or if there’s a time crunch), playfulness is always top of mind for the star.

“If I’m not having fun with the outfit, then I’m not going to wear it well. I’m not going to be confident,” she explains. “There’s looks that I’ve done in the past that I feel like, ‘Oh, those were mistakes,’ because you can tell I’m not necessarily vibing or feeling myself in it.”

Her confident, risk-taking fashion choices are precisely why Longchamp wanted her to be the evening’s special guest.

“I think that we are happy to surround us with energetic women that are very authentic,” Juliette Poupard, newly minted head of events for the brand and a fourth-generation member of the family-run business, tells PEOPLE. “When I look at her, you can see how authentic she is, but also how stylish, elegant. She’s exactly what we love.”

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At just 5 feet 4 inches, King still stands tall — metaphorically speaking — in the bustling event space, which featured interactive elements like an aura room and onsite makeup artist.

“I almost wore the orange [Le Roseau bag] tonight, but I thought it was a little too much with my orange top,” she says of her colorful look.

“Too much” doesn’t seem to be in King’s fashion vocabulary, though. At the June premiere of her movie A Family Affair, the actress wore a sheer black tulle top with 3D roses and a matching sheer skirt.

“My grandma asked me in the car, she’s like, ‘Are you nervous?’ ” she told PEOPLE on the red carpet. “I was like, ‘No,’ And she was like, ‘Well, your whole ass is hanging out.’ And I was like, ‘All right, Grandma, let’s just take a beat.’ ”

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She wore a similarly risqué ensemble at Cannes Film Festival in May, donning a sheer blue corset gown.

“I feel like Brat [summer] brought out something in me,” King says of the trend inspired by Charli xcx‘s album Brat. “Like, ‘I’m going to get my tits out or dye my hair a fun color. It just makes me want to be the most fun young version of myself.”