The dos and don'ts of method dressing with Micaela Erlanger

0:04Micaela Erlanger: Hello and welcome back to the Glossy Podcast. I'm your host, senior fashion reporter Danny Parisi, and this week we are discussing red carpet dressing and particularly the phenomenon of method dressing on the red carpet. If you haven't heard the term, you probably know what I mean. Zendaya wearing ancient earrings to the Odyssey premiere, Dakota Johnson wearing a web dress to the premiere of Madam Web. When the look that the celeb is wearing on the red carpet thematically is tied to the movie or the event that they're a part of. I feel like there's a lot more examples of this recently, particularly with the Odyssey, which just came out.

0:37Micaela Erlanger: There was a lot of themed dressing on the red carpet for that movie. And we have a really great guest to discuss this phenomenon, Michaela Erlanger. Michaela is a celebrity stylist. She's worked with a lot of very big name clients on movie premieres and other events. Most recently, she dressed Lupita Nyong 'o for the premiere of The Odyssey, but she's also worked with Ana de Armas and Meryl Streep, Anya Taylor-Joy, and she does amazing work with all of them. So thank you for being on the show with us today, Michaela. Thank you so much for having me. Good to see you. Yeah, and I want to ask you about exactly what we just discussed, method dressing.

1:09Micaela Erlanger: But really quick, could you just tell us a little bit how you got into styling, how you work with your clients, what type of clients you like to work with? Just a little background on yourself and your work. Yes. So I went to Parsons School of Design and through a series of extraordinary internships, found my way into the world of editorial, where I freelanced as a fashion assistant at Harper's Bazaar, amongst many other publications. ultimately finding my way to an opportunity to work with Annabelle Tolman, who became my mentor for about six years, where I was her assistant, working across a lot of celebrity styling clients.

1:51And, you know, since then, branched off on my own. It's been, gosh, close to 17 years now that I've been in business. And I have had the great fortune of working with extraordinary talent from Lupita to Meryl and many, many others along the way. And I'm really grateful to be able to do what I love. I think, you know, for me, it's always been about creating a visual narrative. And it's also been a strategic process as it relates to the business of the red carpet. And I have a love for both and blending the two. And I get to work across so many incredible projects. And like you said, just wrapped the Odyssey, just wrapped the Devil Wears Prada 2, you know, work across incredible tours and campaigns and really proud of the business that I've built.

2:45Micaela Erlanger: Yeah, I was going to actually call out specifically some of Meryl Streep's looks for the Devil Wears Prada 2 press campaign and red carpet were so cool. I just loved all the vibrant red that you put her in. And I don't know, it just it all looked really great. Thank you. Well, we're glad that you're here. So the topic we wanted to talk about is method dressing. And one of the reasons I'm happy we're getting to talk to you is because I've seen some interviews you've done and some comments you've made about not wanting to take it too far. And one of the things that we talked about when we were kind of thinking about this episode is, I think it can be very fun to have the look sort of match the movie.

3:20Micaela Erlanger: But I also think there is a risk of being a little gimmicky or going a little too far. So I would just love to hear your thoughts just in general on the phenomenon of method dressing as a stylist, like the pros and cons, what's your take on it? Well, I feel like method dressing is actually nothing new. We, stylists in general, I think have been sort of playing with this theme and this idea for a very long time. I think the rise of social media has kind of amplified this sort of narrative. But I think, like I said, I think the idea of method dressing is rooted in being able to create a strong visual narrative.

4:02And of course, wanting to engage the audiences, both the fashion lovers and the film lovers, and to be able to excite them in the promotional tour for the film. And And an easy way to harness that is to think about the character which they might be playing and how we can draw, you know, a line between that and the real life person, the actor, who is, you know, showing up to promote such a project. But for me, I haven't always felt like it has to be that literal. I've kind of coined the term meta-addressing because I like the idea of referencing a character or referencing a film or referencing a moment or a dialogue or a period in time without it having to feel, to your point, like gimmicky or obvious.

5:04and still maintaining the excitement around whatever it is that we are promoting and styling for. But really, it also comes down to the, I think the essence, like you want to show up dressed appropriately for the moment. And if that moment is a red carpet in New York or in Paris or in London to promote a film, how does that take shape? And anyway, as you say, the rise of method dressing or my interpretation, meta dressing, you know, it comes out in a lot of different ways. Yeah.

5:39Micaela Erlanger: I mean, and I just from looking at some of the looks you've styled, I think that you, I think that's clear that you are not trying to be overly literal. I mean, I'd love to dive deep on one specific look, which is Lupita Nyong 'o and that dress with the big arm holes. I think it was a Christian Calvin dress. Yeah, it's a beautiful dress and it does have sort of a Mediterranean Grecian kind of vibe to it, but it's not, you know, super literal. And also I'm thinking maybe something like the Odyssey might be a little easier than like a science fiction movie where, I don't know, maybe the references might inherently feel a little more gimmicky.

6:15Micaela Erlanger: I don't know. Could you tell me about your approach to specifically Lupita for the Odyssey and how you balance between referencing the character in the movie, characters, I should would say, since she plays two characters. Yeah. And not being too literal. Yeah, for sure. I mean, I think with the Odyssey, I read the book in high school, and Christopher Nolan is notorious for keeping the sort of storyline of his projects, like very tight lipped. And actually, in this particular case, Lupita was pretty tight lipped about the character that she was playing. We knew it was Helen of Troy. I too knew as much as the public did.

6:51And that was about it. So it was really left to my interpretation. And of course, I ultimately got to see the film and I think I nailed it. But it really was for me thinking about how we wanted Lupita to show up on the carpet as her most authentic self, while of course, sort of tying back to the sort of inspiration and themes that are rooted in Greek mythology. And so as it relates to that particular dress, which I thought was pretty spectacular. I think it was also stunning. Yeah, I also thought it was a bit of a surprise for people. You know, we didn't go for some maybe more expected chiffon pleated ethereal moment.

7:35We went for something that was still a simple, elegant, understated silhouette. But when you turn to the side, you had that extraordinary sort of shape and peak of her figure. and she's playing Helen of Troy, right? The most beautiful woman in the world. And you don't need a lot of clothing or a whole lot of look when it's all about, you know, who is the woman wearing the dress and how does she stand on her own? And so I thought that that sort of played into that idea in, you know, more of a ephemeral way.

8:15Micaela Erlanger: Yeah, I mean, I like that term you use, meta-dressing, because it is very in line with the character without looking like it's from the costume department. Exactly. And it doesn't look like something she would actually wear in the movie, but it does have these thematic kind of connections to the character. Definitely. I mainly wanted to ask about the, like, I wanted to focus on one look, but now that we're talking about it, Meryl, like dressing Meryl for Devil Wears Prada too, because that character has such a specific and very iconic look. and I again think you did a good job of balancing between the clothes she was wearing did kind of have Miranda Priestly vibes but it didn't just look like she was in character because she's not in character on the red carpet she's Meryl Streep you know what I mean so could we could ask you a little bit about some of those looks too and and some of the same vibe of like how you balanced yeah you know I think again that was a really fun amazing tour to work on it was all about the fashion.

9:14And again, not wanting any of that to overwhelm who the client was, in this case, Meryl. Meryl showing up as her authentic self, but feeling confident and empowered and looking amazing was also a really important part of the equation. And in this case, you know, we kind of leaned into kind of looking for some Easter eggs and again, And referencing references, like the Saint Laurent coat that she wore for the fan event in Shanghai was this phenomenal kind of like military inspired jacket. And that was a really exciting look for me personally, because we were actually referencing the monologue, the infamous monologue where she talks about Cerulean.

10:06And she talks about this fictional collection that Yves Samarant did where he showed these Cerulean military jackets. And, you know, that's where the color, you know, first trickled down into mainstream. And you all remember the monologue.

10:22Micaela Erlanger: The famous monologue. The famous monologue. But there was no real collection that had Cerulean military jackets. However, in... Oh, they made that up for the script. They made it up for the script. There were previous collections that had blue jackets in them and that had military jackets in them, but not Cerulean military jackets. Anyway, it just so happened that with the season that we were working with, there was a blue coat dress. It was not Cerulean either. But again, it kind of like loosely referenced that particular moment in the first film. And so, again, it was like this reference within a reference.

11:05And if you knew, you knew. And it was the kind of opportunity where we could get people excited. And if you were paying attention, then you would pick up on these kinds of things. So that was great. We also leaned into, you know, eyewear, right? Miranda Priestly is a reference to an iconic fashion editor. And so and she notoriously wears sunglasses. So we were kind of having fun with some Easter eggs and planting some seeds along the way. And then I think just generally speaking, you know, across any film project, whether it's Lupita and the Odyssey or Marilyn Devil Wears Prada or another client on another press tour, we're also thinking about where are they going?

11:47What is that environment like? What's the color of the red carpet? What's the color of the backdrop? What's the branding material look like? And how are they going to show up photographed in these moments and have the most impact? And so that also comes into consideration. And one thing I found super fascinating, particularly about the Odyssey, was that somehow that all the stylists, it was me, it was Law, it was Leslie, it was Aaron. We all kind of kept our clients in like somewhat of a similar color palette. And it was not intentional, actually. Interesting. But I do think that we were probably all thinking similarly in that regard.

12:29And so again, you know, everything is has the opportunity to become like a viral moment now. And so I think a great stylist is thinking about not just how a client shows up in a fantastic outfit or gown or whatever, but also how does that have impact overall when the photos come out? And so it's all part of the plan.

12:54Micaela Erlanger: Yeah, yeah. Well, that's interesting that you guys all kind of landed on similar color palette and similar. And it does seem like a lot of the best stylists, as we were talking about and including yourself, like kind of understand that there is a line between, you know, something costumey and something that's like tastefully referential to the film. And I'm also wondering from, I'm sure it depends on the client, but I wonder how your clients feel about some of this balancing act. And like, do any of them have a particular, do they come to you and say, like, I would love for the look to really be very referential to the role?

13:30Micaela Erlanger: And others are like, I really don't want that. I want it to be something more neutral. I mean, what's the client's take on it? You know, it varies client to client and it varies project to project. Like, are we promoting a period piece? Are we promoting a Disney action movie? Are we promoting an animated film? Like, what is it that they are on the carpet for? Are they showing up to an award show where they need to look like a leading actor? You know, what's the narrative? What's the objective? And how do we show up in the most authentic way, keeping all of that in mind? So it is never just like a cookie cutter response.

14:16There's always a dialogue and there's always a lot to consider.

14:20Micaela Erlanger: No, I think that that makes a lot of sense. And I'm sure some movies kind of maybe it's a little bit easier to pull out a subtle thread. I mean, again, to go back to Lupita, I know you also used I'm forgetting which look it was from, but there were ostrich feathers on. Oh, yeah. It was a custom Sally LaPointe look that we that we wore for her first day of press in New York. And that was such a killer look. I love that look. that's i was gonna say i think that's like a little bit more of a specific shout out where other like the the christian cowan dress we were talking about is like more kind of the themes and if you kind of think about it intellectually like oh i see how that connects to helen of troy whereas the ostrich feathers i don't know that to me seems more like ancient royalty like that seems a little more specific so it seems like even tell me if i'm wrong even within with the same client and on the same press tour you might sometimes do something a little more sometimes a little less yeah you know i think it it definitely varies that look in particular i love that was actually a combination of an idea i had and one that lupita brought to the table and she reminded me that helen of troy i think the story goes that she was born of zeus and a swan and so the idea of incorporating feathers, which also sort of have like, I don't know, an ethereal quality to them, felt like a very natural sort of homage and nod to that piece of the story.

15:50And so and again, it stood on its own. It was not costumey. It was fabulous. But it was another kind of thing where it kind of called back to if you know, you know, and, you know, lovers of the book and of Greek mythology might be able to pick up on that. Yeah.

16:10Micaela Erlanger: And if you know nothing about Greek mythology, it's still just like a great, beautiful, great look. Yeah. I know we're running out of time. Let me ask you one or two more things. I want to zoom out a little bit from method dressing, although I do think it's an interesting phenomenon, I think, and I appreciate your take on it, more just about stylists in general. It feels to me like, and maybe just because I write about it, it feels to me like stylists are more frequently in the public eye. I feel like the average lay person knows who La Roche is. They know who you are. When they see their favorite celebrity wearing that certain look, I feel like it's more likely that the public actually knows who styled it.

16:46Micaela Erlanger: And maybe beforehand, that was more of a behind the scenes thing. Is that something you feel on your end? And does that make your job harder, easier, anything like that? Yeah, I would say that it's definitely changed a lot from when I first started. And social media, I think, has everything to do with that. For a long time, stylists were kept behind a curtain. And with the rise of BTS and all of the incredible things that come with a platform on your phone, You know, not only are we valued for the work that we do, but we also get to have a narrative and a voice in it and show and share the process.

17:25And that's so amazing. And, you know, the creativity that we bring to the table, I think, is then more recognized. And I think that, too, it's like, yes, we are responsible for shaping the public image of some of the most important, biggest names in entertainment. And by default of that, we are also looked at as talent. Right. We are creatives. We are visionaries. We are small business owners. We are authorities on fashion. And so, yes, our profiles have risen. And as they should, you know, I think that it's incredible to be recognized for the work and the role that we play as a really important team member in the creation of, you know, these moments.

18:19and also, you know, just in the industry as a whole. And I think it goes so much further than just beyond picking out pretty clothes. It really is about, you know, how we are able to shape, position, strategically think about the direction that we're taking our clients, the value that we add by giving exposure to the brands. You know, there's a whole business to all of this as well. And it's amazing to be recognized for the work and the value that we bring.

18:55Micaela Erlanger: Yeah. I mean, just like you said, there's the image of the client. There's the image of the brands that they might be wearing. There's the image of the movie or award show or whatever event they're going to. And then now there's also the image of the stylist. There's a lot of reputations and a lot of art involved with the whole process. All of it. Okay. I think that's all the time we have for this conversation. But Michaela, thank you so much for being on the Glossy Podcast and for sharing your insight. I mean, this was a great conversation. I'm looking forward to seeing whoever you're styling next, whatever movie premiere you're going to be styling next.

19:27Micaela Erlanger: Thank you.

19:32Micaela Erlanger: And thank you for listening to the Glossy Podcast. Don't forget to give us a rating and a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, wherever you listen to this, because that helps us out so much. And don't forget to subscribe to the Glossy Podcast to hear interviews with industry insiders. And we can review segments where we break down the news. The new episodes come out every Friday. Till the next time, thanks for listening.