By Alyona Golovanyova
If you have felt like wearing a head-to-toe pastel dress or vintage lace just to express yourself, you can thank
Hollywood’s new fashion marketing: method dressing. There was a time when a red carpet was defined by a simple
formula and guidelines: a floor-length gown with bright makeup, an understated tuxedo, and a question from
interviewers what they were wearing. That era is officially dying. Social media, such as TikTok, Instagram, and
fashion blogs have been transitioning fashion on the red carpet into more modern and meaningful shows, which
affects everyday wear.
Method dressing is a fashion practice where stars extend their on-screen outfits to the red carpet. Actors mirror the
themes, aesthetics, and characters of the project they are promoting. Originally, Zendaya and her stylist, Law Roach,
brought fame to this trend in every project that Zendaya is stars in: the tennis-vibe heels and gowns for the
Challengers, a wet-look leather gown for Dune and robot suit for Dune 2, Spider-Man T-shirt for the Spider-Man:
Brand New Day, “Goddess Athena” for The Odyssey and many more. Today, a lot of rising stars are applying this
method to their press tours.
The latest fashion icon featuring method dressing is Lily Reinhart for the book-to-screen adaptation The Love
Hypothesis. The Love Hypothesis is an adaptation of Ali Hazelwood’s bestselling romance novel. Lily Reinhart and
her stylist, Ib Abdel Nasser, decided to transform the premiere into a creative love letter to iconic classic romcoms,
bringing back to life the wardrobes of these memorable classics – including looks from How to Lose a Guy in 10
Days, 13 Going on 30, Atonement, Ever After: A Cinderella Story, and Uptown Girls.
Another rising movie star, McKenna Grace, is also following lead. The upcoming highly-anticipated new movie that
she is starring in, Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, has already been glowing with her outfits, making tributes
to Jennifer Lawrence’s character in the previous Hunger Games movies and revealing “easter eggs” for the fans:
iconic Katniss’s Wedding Gown, 60’s Style Mini with butterfly hair clips, Pastel Pink Gown also with butterfly hair
clips and braids, Academy Museum red gown, tea-length butterfly dress.
Historically, luxury fashion houses relied mostly on fashion shows and weeks, like in Milan or Paris. Today, with the
creativity of stylists, high-profile press tours function as living, weeks-long fashion shows. They generate social media
engagements on TikTok and Instagram, which further results in higher sales and heightened interest from fashion
enthusiasts.
But how does it affect everyday fashion? The answer is simple and right in front of our eyes. Method dressing acts as
a major catalyst for mass-market fashion style. When Zendaya was promoting Challengers with tennis-net patterns
and tennis-ball heels, “tennis-vibe” and vintage sportswear flooded the high-street retailers. Or, when Lily Reinhart
wore a simple but iconic pastel yellow dress from How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, high-street brands were translating
their collections with pastel-colored slip dresses and archival 2000s-inspired romcom aesthetics. Fast-fashion brands
are now following the press-tours looks just as closely as runways to predict consumer demand.
This fashion practice also represents the move from only wearing expensive gowns by famous fashion brands, which
stars can wear on the red carpets, to a more every-day, meaningful and extraordinary style. Representing a wardrobe
that relates to the characters or movie’s aesthetics demonstrates how even on red carpets stylists and celebrities want
to express emotion more than just a gown or a costume. This fashion style also can be applied to everyone’s life, not
only celebrity events. Fashion is one of the ways of how people can represent themselves or express their feelings
without saying anything. The same goes for movies – on the red carpet you can guess the vibe or even find some
spoilers of the movie.
Fashion remains our most compelling silent expression, proving that what we wear still speaks louder than any script.