Latest news with #PastLives'
Elle
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Elle
Everyone Wants To Dress Like Dakota Johnson In 'Materialists' – How To Style Her Style
When a woman's job involves the business of love, what does her wardrobe look like? That was the question Katina Danabassis was tasked with answering as the costume designer of Materialists, the new film from writer-director Celine Song. Danabassis previously worked with Song on Past Lives, her critically acclaimed directorial debut. Now, two years later, she is dressing a new, and very different, leading lady. Unlike Past Lives' Nora (Greta Lee), who decidedly doesn't care much about her apparel, Materialists' Lucy (Dakota Johnson) pays more attention to her clothing choices. She is, after all, a professional matchmaker. She's acutely aware of the role that personal style plays in how someone is perceived by the outside world, particularly when trying to attract potential suitors. Even so, nothing about Lucy's leading lady wardrobe seems the least bit forced or frivolous. Danabassis cites the '90s minimalism of the late Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy and 'a touch of French sensibility' as essential ingredients in crafting Lucy's fashion taste. 'We aim to achieve naturalism in the character's wardrobe,' Danabassis tells ELLE. 'It is paramount to the story to not distract when thinking about the wardrobe. If it's feeling loud, that's where it gets a little hard for me.' While Lucy might not shy away from bickering with her boyfriend on a busy New York City street, her outfit choices are noticeably quieter, softer, and more subdued. And some are certainly influenced by iconic onscreen looks from the celebrated romantic comedies of yesteryear. Let's take, for instance, the bar scene when Lucy, John (Chris Evans), and Harry (Pedro Pascal) go out for drinks after watching John's play. She's wearing a long, black leather coat over a white top and light-wash denim – a combination that calls to mind one of the most quintessential leading lady looks of all time. 'That leather jacket and the white underneath, that's not not a nod to Notting Hill and the epic beret outfit,' Danabassis says. 'I am not oblivious to the fact that this is going to exist in the greater canon of rom-coms and rom-drams. It's all part of the fun.' Below, Danabassis dissects some of Lucy's sartorial sensibilities. At the beginning of the movie, Lucy is introduced to viewers as she power-struts her way through the city. She's a woman on a mission, and it's hard not to root for her when she's stomping around in tall black leather boots paired with the sleekest skirt suit and a super-silky, cream-colored blouse. The look was partly inspired by Johnson's mother, Melanie Griffith, and her role as the suited receptionist in the 1988 film Working Girl, and by a stylish stranger Danabassis encountered one day. 'I saw a girl crossing Bowery in a skirt suit wearing thigh high boots, carrying a trench coat over her shoulder with her finger, and I was just like, that is memorable as hell,' she says. 'The knee-high boots, to me, that's part of the friction in the outfit that makes it so badass. If she was wearing a pump, it's kind of predictable.' While there are two wedding scenes in Materialists, it's the one in the beginning of the film that sets up the rest of the story. At her client's black tie reception, Lucy is quite literally confronted with her past and (potential) future when she meets Harry and reconnects with her ex, John. For this impossibly messy-yet-enviable entanglement, she's wearing a strapless, floor-length gown by Proenza Schouler in a stunning cerulean hue. 'On the rack, that dress looks like nothing, but Dakota gravitated toward it, put it on, and it just worked,' Danabassis recalls. 'I also really liked the city vibe to it; I liked that it wasn't super romantic. I liked that it was communicating business without being too sexy, and the back is so beautiful.' Lucy's penchant for silver accoutrements shines throughout the film. From the heels, choker, and ring she wears with the blue dress to the myriad of other heart-shaped accessories she dons elsewhere, her go-to choice of metal is clear. But it's not just about personal style; the hardware is also symbolic of the class hierarchy Lucy experiences. 'Celine was like, 'This is a silver movie. Lucy's a silver girl,'' Danabassis says. 'Another little differentiating point is that [Harry's] a gold man. The [engagement] ring she sees is gold – she's down here and he's up here, and she's having to navigate those differences.' The billowy button-up might as well have its own podium in the Rom-Com Fashion Hall of Fame. Lucy's spotted in a couple of these staples, including an oversized blue striped top the morning after she first stays the night at Harry's. Then, in the third act, she's in a classic white version styled with worn-in denim when she embarks on the road trip upstate with John. 'The casual looks are really simple basics that are in everyone's closet,' she says. 'It's nothing crazy, it's just this tissuey, billowy, cotton top that's beautiful and looks so good. We're not reinventing the wheel; we're just riffing.' Theoretically, the buttercream dress dripping in ruffles and florals was an item Lucy had packed for her trip to Iceland with Harry. When those plans fall through, she inadvertently gets another chance to let the ultra-romantic gown have a moment in the spotlight. 'It's like she was trying to get in touch with the lover in her,' Danabassis says of Lucy wearing florals. 'That's why you see it so much with John and not so much with Harry. One gets these clean lines, business, transactional talk, pragmatic stuff. And then the other one gets more leading with the heart. One is mind, one is heart.' Mekita Rivas is a freelance journalist based in Washington, D.C. She has covered culture, style, and politics through the lens of gender, race, and ethnicity since 2016. Previously an editor at Cosmopolitan, senior contributing fashion editor at PopSugar, and senior fashion writer at Bustle, her writing has been published in the New York Times, Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, InStyle, Architectural Digest, and Refinery29.
Elle
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Elle
Everyone Wants to Dress Like Dakota Johnson in 'Materialists'—Here's How to Do It Right
Every item on this page was chosen by an ELLE editor. We may earn commission on some of the items you choose to buy. When a woman's job involves the business of love, what does her wardrobe look like? That was the question Katina Danabassis was tasked with answering as the costume designer of Materialists, the new film from writer-director Celine Song. Danabassis previously worked with Song on Past Lives, her critically acclaimed directorial debut. Now, two years later, she is dressing a new, and very different, leading lady. Unlike Past Lives' Nora (Greta Lee), who decidedly doesn't care much about her apparel, Materialists' Lucy (Dakota Johnson) pays more attention to her clothing choices. She is, after all, a professional matchmaker. She's acutely aware of the role that personal style plays in how someone is perceived by the outside world, particularly when trying to attract potential suitors. Even so, nothing about Lucy's leading lady wardrobe seems the least bit forced or frivolous. Danabassis cites the '90s minimalism of the late Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy and 'a touch of French sensibility' as essential ingredients in crafting Lucy's fashion taste. 'We aim to achieve naturalism in the character's wardrobe,' Danabassis tells ELLE. 'It is paramount to the story to not distract when thinking about the wardrobe. If it's feeling loud, that's where it gets a little hard for me.' While Lucy might not shy away from bickering with her boyfriend on a busy New York City street, her outfit choices are noticeably quieter, softer, and more subdued. And some are certainly influenced by iconic onscreen looks from the celebrated romantic comedies of yesteryear. Let's take, for instance, the bar scene when Lucy, John (Chris Evans), and Harry (Pedro Pascal) go out for drinks after watching John's play. She's wearing a long, black leather coat over a white top and light-wash denim—a combination that calls to mind one of the most quintessential leading lady looks of all time. 'That leather jacket and the white underneath, that's not not a nod to Notting Hill and the epic beret outfit,' Danabassis says. 'I am not oblivious to the fact that this is going to exist in the greater canon of rom-coms and rom-drams. It's all part of the fun.' Ahead, Danabassis dissects some of Lucy's sartorial sensibilities. At the beginning of the movie, Lucy is introduced to viewers as she power-struts her way through the city. She's a woman on a mission, and it's hard not to root for her when she's stomping around in tall black leather boots paired with the sleekest skirt suit and a super-silky, cream-colored blouse. The look was partly inspired by Johnson's mother, Melanie Griffith, and her role as the suited receptionist in the 1988 film Working Girl, and by a stylish stranger Danabassis encountered one day. 'I saw a girl crossing Bowery in a skirt suit wearing thigh high boots, carrying a trench coat over her shoulder with her finger, and I was just like, that is memorable as hell,' she says. 'The knee-high boots, to me, that's part of the friction in the outfit that makes it so badass. If she was wearing a pump, it's kind of predictable.' While there are two wedding scenes in Materialists, it's the one in the beginning of the film that sets up the rest of the story. At her client's black tie reception, Lucy is quite literally confronted with her past and (potential) future when she meets Harry and reconnects with her ex, John. For this impossibly messy-yet-enviable entanglement, she's wearing a strapless, floor-length gown by Proenza Schouler in a stunning cerulean hue. 'On the rack, that dress looks like nothing, but Dakota gravitated toward it, put it on, and it just worked,' Danabassis recalls. 'I also really liked the city vibe to it; I liked that it wasn't super romantic. I liked that it was communicating business without being too sexy, and the back is so beautiful.' Lucy's penchant for silver accoutrements shines throughout the film. From the heels, choker, and ring she wears with the blue dress to the myriad of other heart-shaped accessories she dons elsewhere, her go-to choice of metal is clear. But it's not just about personal style; the hardware is also symbolic of the class hierarchy Lucy experiences. 'Celine was like, 'This is a silver movie. Lucy's a silver girl,'' Danabassis says. 'Another little differentiating point is that [Harry's] a gold man. The [engagement] ring she sees is gold—she's down here and he's up here, and she's having to navigate those differences.' The billowy button-up might as well have its own podium in the Rom-Com Fashion Hall of Fame. Lucy's spotted in a couple of these staples, including an oversized blue striped top the morning after she first stays the night at Harry's. Then, in the third act, she's in a classic white version styled with worn-in denim when she embarks on the road trip upstate with John. 'The casual looks are really simple basics that are in everyone's closet,' she says. 'It's nothing crazy, it's just this tissuey, billowy, cotton top that's beautiful and looks so good. We're not reinventing the wheel; we're just riffing.' Theoretically, the buttercream dress dripping in ruffles and florals was an item Lucy had packed for her trip to Iceland with Harry. When those plans fall through, she inadvertently gets another chance to let the ultra-romantic gown have a moment in the spotlight. 'It's like she was trying to get in touch with the lover in her,' Danabassis says of Lucy wearing florals. 'That's why you see it so much with John and not so much with Harry. One gets these clean lines, business, transactional talk, pragmatic stuff. And then the other one gets more leading with the heart. One is mind, one is heart.'
Gulf Today
16-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Gulf Today
Celine and Johnson talk about the film and falling in love
Before Celine Song was an Oscar-nominated filmmaker, she was a playwright in New York who needed day jobs to pay rent. That's how she found herself as a professional matchmaker. What may have begun as a purely transactional gig, a way for her to keep making her art in an expensive city, taught her more about people's wants and needs and the true contents of their hearts than she could have ever imagined. 'I always wanted to write something about it because there seemed to be a story in it that is massive and very epic in proportion,' Song said. 'It affects every human being on Earth.' And while waiting for her breakout film 'Past Lives' to debut, she did. That film is 'Materialists,' a modern-day New York love story starring Dakota Johnson, Pedro Pascal and Chris Evans that's heading to theatres this weekend. Johnson is the matchmaker presented with two different types of men for herself — one a poor struggling actor and ex-boyfriend, the other a wealthy 'unicorn' — and the internet has already been drawing battle lines. But, like 'Past Lives' wasn't really about a love triangle, 'Materialists' is about something more than the question of which guy is the 'correct' choice. Song and Johnson spoke about the film, falling in love and the modern marketplace of dating. How did you find each other? SONG: We met up thinking that we were just going to get to know each other and be friends and I walked away from that conversation — this is just from my perspective — but I think I was still sitting there when I texted my producers and the studio being like, 'I think I've found my Lucy.' That's how casting works for me, it's always about falling in love. It's very connected to what we talk about in the film. JOHNSON: I knew you had this movie that you were about to start making. I was basically told it was too late. I was like, but I really want to meet her because she's so smart, and I've seen interviews and obviously had seen 'Past Lives.' I just wanted talk and get to know her as an artist and a person and so I went into this being like there's no chance that I'll be in this movie, but maybe she'll make another one. We just had such a good time talking, Where do we meet Lucy in life? JOHNSON: She's sort of at the top of her game in her work and is very disconnected from her heart and focused on being a perfectionist and getting people to get married. On the surface, you see her as a very transactional person and not really invested in people's souls, but she actually is and really does want the best for them. She's also on her own journey of trying to figure out what it is she wants for herself in this life, and, essentially, do you fight for the thing that you think you want, or do you fight for that thing that you know you need? Is that right, Celine? SONG: That's so good. What are you trying to say through the two men in her life? SONG: It was never going to be a conversation about which flavor of a person. It's actually so much more about this marketplace of dating that all of us live in if you're single, and also the marketplace that Dakota's character is navigating. She knows the math better than anyone else in the film. She's an excellent matchmaker. Pedro plays somebody who is probably, in straight dating, someone of the highest possible value. JOHNSON: Celine speaks so eloquently about the marketplace of dating and I glitch at those words because I'm like, you can't explain love that way. But that's actually how people are. Marriage used to be a business deal. It was like, my father wants your cows and my mother needs your wheat and whatever. Associated Press
Toronto Star
14-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Toronto Star
Oscar-nominated Canadian filmmaker Celine Song sounds off about love in her new rom-com, ‘Materialists': ‘We're trying to control this thing that's uncontrollable'
'Love is a miracle,' says Celine Song. 'It's this one thing where you're always being asked to jump off a cliff. You have to believe every day that it's going to happen.' This earnest, hopeful sensibility has carried across the films of the Canadian writer-director, who announced herself as a major voice with her Oscar-nominated debut feature 'Past Lives' (2023). Drawn from Song's own experience of immigrating from South Korea as a child, the sweeping yet intimate drama follows Nora (Greta Lee), an aspiring playwright who reconnects with a childhood crush from Seoul as she pursues her creative ambitions in New York. Though she ultimately marries the novelist she met at a fateful writing retreat, Nora contemplates the significance of both relationships when her former classmate comes to visit. Winnie Wang is a writer and film programmer whose work has been featured in Cinema Scope, Documentary magazine and Little White Lies.
New York Post
14-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
‘Materialists' review: Dakota Johnson goes from ‘Madame Web' to meh matchmaker
movie review MATERIALISTS Running time: 116 minutes. Rated R (language and brief sexual material). In theaters. Watching the new, unromantic, non-comedy 'Materialists' can feel like going on a shaky first date. There's something… off. Advertisement Is it 'Past Lives' writer-director Celine Song's love-triangle script, which is unnatural and stilted even by the standard of rom-coms such as 'Maid in Manhattan' or 'Two Weeks Notice?' Or is it star Dakota Johnson's stainless-steel 'tude as New York matchmaker Lucy? The always cool actress is auditioning to play the Terminator here. If you answered 'all of the above,' you're correct. Advertisement Yet our unease is partly by design. Song isn't so much trying to join the romantic comedy canon as she is firing a cannonball directly at it. 'Materialists' doesn't make you laugh or smile. Of this particular movie experience, Nicole Kidman might say, 'We come to this place to ponder, analyze and wince.' I flipped from being intrigued by the mysterious characters and tantalized by the luxury real estate to sitting there perplexed by the weird plot escalations that, while meant to drag rom-coms down to earth, drag viewers out of the film instead. On rare occasions, I was entertained. 4 Dakota Johnson and Pedro Pascal star in 'Materialists.' AP Advertisement At the start, the pieces are familiar to anybody who's seen 'The Wedding Planner' or 'The Wedding Singer.' There's Lucy, a love-averse young professional who's obsessed with her job in the relationship biz. Her sole criterion for her own future husband is that he be rich. Then — hello! — she meets a millionaire named Harry (Pedro Pascal) at a wedding at the Lotte Palace, and he sweeps her off her feet with his confidence and metal credit cards. Uh oh. At the same fete, she also reunites with a poor but hot former flame named John (Chris Evans). Whoever will she pick?! Advertisement 4 Lucy (Johnson) meets Harry (Pascal) at a wedding, and they start dating. AP The first half goes down as easily as a glass of 1990s bubbly, but there is an undercurrent of darkness. Song throws in cutting, albeit overwritten, observations about modern courtship — a k a you better have looks and money. Lucy adamantly insists, 'It's math,' and compares her job to working at the morgue. She finds matches for clients that 'check most of our boxes': Income, height, age, race, BMI. When Lucy hears about a surgery in which men get their leg bones broken to add six inches of height, she thinks it's a fabulous idea. Her matchmaking process is freakily clinical. It's practically the DMV — the Department of Marriage Vows. And the exercise mirrors the app-centric way people search for significant others nowadays. How depressing. 4 Lucy, a matchmaker, is an off-putting character, by design. AP Indeed, the men and women she works with are uniformly sad, vapid and shallow. There's not a single person in this movie you'll want to spend more than two minutes with. What we assume, of course, is that Lucy will learn that love is an intangible thing — a spark, not arithmetic. Advertisement That sort of happens. While one message is that people are more than numbers, the takeaway is far from upbeat or celebratory. What the statistics actually conceal are ugly, nasty qualities in people. Mostly that they're liars and creeps. Lucy herself is unpleasant-to-odious, again on purpose. The movie acknowledges that she's awful, and we're not meant to like her much at all. But off-putting characters must be more engaging than she is to justify the spotlight. 4 She's torn between Harry and John (Chris Evans). AP 'Materialists' lost me halfway through, admittedly, when it became more ambitious. A traumatic turning point is realistic and jarring; however, the film can't recover from it either. Advertisement Although I admired Song's aims to subvert a glossy Hollywood staple, I longed for the way her 'Past Lives' so simply and poignantly explored our 'what if?'s. Next to that, 'Materialists' is blunt and narratively messy. You can sense Song trying very hard to reach her ultimately unsatisfying and not-so-insightful end destination. En route, the acting is, frankly, ghoulish. Good for Johnson for breaking free from the embarrassing comic-book confines of 'Madame Web.' She still reads lines in a dreamy haze as if there is a crystal ball in front of her. And there's not much chemistry with Pascal or Evans, both of whom are fine, if a smidge somnambulic. Sadly, the follow-up from the director of 'Past Lives' had me dreaming about her past projects.
