Method Dressing: The Movie Premiere Phenomena
Recently, it has become more evident celebrity stylists are taking a more intelligent marketing approach when dressing celebrities on movie premier red carpets.
Method dressing is credible to the promotion of new, upcoming movies as it allows the audience to curate a visual identity of the characters in the film. In addition, it involves integrating fashion with a movie’s theme and cultural influence, thus making a movie more memorable and marketable.
The most striking examples of method dressing to me are the global premieres of Barbie, Challengers and Wicked. Whether through costumes directly inspired by the film (Challengers), correlating colour palettes to a movie’s aesthetic (Wicked), or nostalgic homages to past costumes (Barbie); these premieres have raised red carpet fashion into a phenomenal storytelling device of itself.
Barbie (2023)
To many people, Barbie was the first movie phenomenon where it became clear method dressing was the next grandiose thing for marketing new films on the carpet. For almost half of 2023 Margot Robbie was seen dressed in head-to-toe Barbie affiliated clothing—whether that was 1960’s Barbie or a re-imagination of the iconic doll.
Robbie and Ryan Gosling were omnipresent during the press tour and, thanks to Andrew Mukamal (Robbie’s Stylist), Margot’s red-carpet costumes were too. Barbie’s method dressing was a satirical ode to the movie that allowed viral moments arouse to help increase the excitement towards the new Greta Gerwig movie.
When reflecting on the summer of 2023, one dominant image I can remember is how pink everything became and how ‘all the girls’ were having the summer of Barbie - Barbiecore. The dressing of the celebrities and film promotion reinvented the Barbie aesthetic and allowed women and young girls to embrace pink power. Personally, the constant display of pink mended my relationship with the colour, as beforehand I almost felt weak for admiring the colour. However, the Barbiecore phenomena allowed me to view pink as a bold, rebellious force that resembles a statement of defiance and power. Nevertheless, today designers such as Valentino and Elsa Schiaparelli illustrate hot pink as a coercion of luxury and poise.
The method dressing surrounding Barbie rebranded pink; it embraces contradiction, ergo it can be whimsical yet also strong and commanding.
Zendaya & Challengers (2024)
The Oscar nominated Luca Guadagnino film Challengers, an American sporty drama film, blessed our cinemas on April 26th, 2024. The movie stars Zendaya, Mike Faist and Josh O’ Connor therefore the premiere was stacked with a vast of remarkable costume.
Although Faist and O’ Connor took a more subdued approach, we can trust that Law Roach, Zendaya’s personal stylist, had her covered in tennis-core for the worldwide tour premiere.
Roach is responsible for Zendaya's most memorable looks on the red-carpet over her career; Therefore, it is no doubt that with Challengers an aesthetic around dressing like tennis players became popular.
Law and Zendaya infused tennis iconography into the premiere outfits. From an Alexander McQueen lime green ensemble to custom Loewe tennis ball heels and pleated skirts, Zendaya's fashion became synonymous with the movie’s athletic aesthetic.
Zendaya has established herself as a pioneer of method dressing, seamlessly incorporating film’s themes into her red-carpet choices. From Dune to Spiderman, it is undeniable Law Roach appreciates dressing on theme and wants to keep Zendaya at the forefront of both film and fashion discussions.
Wicked (2024)
No discussion of method dressing would be right without talking about Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo who constantly embraced their dynamic green and pink costumes that were incontestably on theme to their characters. Although their press interviews were defying, it was their wicked sense of fashion that was the centre of my attention.
The marketing of Wicked was immense, the movie promotion was everywhere—no, literally everywhere! It did feel as if every brand had a collab with the movie because pink and green were the colours of the back end of 2024 and will arise once again when part two of film comes out in November 2025.
Ariana and Cynthia have paved great homage to the original musical and now Oscar-nominated film on the carpet. Indisputably, Cynthia's character Elphaba is green and can be depicted into darker, cooler tones of clothing overtly gothic contrasted to the rest of Shiz. However, Ariana’s character Glinda is pink, she is seen in soft pastels that emanate her energy and presence in the film. As we all know by now 'Pink goes well with green,' therefore it is possible we will continue to see aspects of their characters once again for the Wicked: For Good movie press tour and premieres.
Method dressing is not just how accurate a stylist can align fashion with a films theme –but instead it is all about how creating a movie is an immersive, interactive, and unforgettable experience. By colliding fashion with filmmaking, celebrities, and stylists it becomes a powerful marketing strategy that defies beyond the cinema screen and into our everyday lives.
By Ella Hewitt