Micaela Erlanger breaks down Gal Gadot’s red carpet looks for Batman v Superman: Dawn of JusticeBy Kerry PieriPublished: Mar 25, 2016
Micaela Erlanger has lent her enviable eye to red carpet standouts from Lupita N’yongo to Jared Leto. As a stylist, she’s become synonymous with her ability to take calculating risks—and give her clients serious red carpet clout in the process. Her latest press extravaganza has been with Wonder Woman herself, former model Gal Gadot. The Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justic
World tour found Gadot in everything from Dolce mini dresses to Balmain sparklers and a red Prada gown worthy of a superhero. Erlanger breaks down her process, her philosophy and plans for the next round…
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So you’re dressing Wonder Woman, how do you go about coming up with a red carpet concept?
Yeah, well my approach with every client—especially when promoting a press tour of this scale—is always kind of the same methodology. We think about who the client is, where they’re going, what it is they’re promoting and what’s appropriate for the occasion. So, keeping that in mind, we’re dealing with Gal, who is new to the red carpet scene. This is her first press tour of this scale. And it’s for a role that is so important…It was really critical to us that we make sure that we promote her and her body of work in a really strong, impactful way…And I think we nailed it.
In custom Prada
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Me too! Do you take into consideration—without getting costumey of course—the fact that she’s playing such a famous and iconic figure in the film?
Absolutely. It’s so dynamic, and lovely, and we were so excited that she was playing such a powerful role for women, and the message behind that is also so exciting. She has a huge role—and her role is going to be carried through. This is a massive franchise. We’re not messing around. So yeah, that was certainly something we took into consideration..
At the NYC Premiere of Batman vs.Superman at Radio City Music Hall
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Which designers are you gravitating towards for her? And why?
I think we were really looking for—of course—what looks best on the client. But for me, it wasn’t necessarily about picking specific designers, it was more about providing diversity and variation in our choices—which was really important. Especially, again, since she is promoting something of this scale. I know she was in “Fast & Furious” but this was really putting her on the map. It was a big responsibility, but we just want to have fun with fashion and to make some exciting choices and decisions.
In Giambattista Valli
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So you wouldn’t say that you’re ever trying to go for a certain theme, it’s about each individual look being as impactful as possible?
Yes, it is. And of course it’s keeping in mind what our overall story is. I mean here she is, she’s absolutely beautiful, incredibly talented and promoting a massive film… and she’s Wonder Woman! So we wanted to highlight that and keep it as appropriate and on point as we could in every city she was attending. It also had to be glamorous, it is her movie premiere, you know. So we chose striking looks that only she could carry—I mean she was fierce in every outfit. And that was sort of how we were able to pay a nod to Wonder Woman—she owned every look.
In Dolce & Gabbana at the Batman vs. Superman Photocall at the St. Regis in Mexico City
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And she was very funny on Jimmy Kimmel about how she was very into Wonder Woman’s breasts and her costume. There have a been a lot of dresses that show off her décolletage (in a very chic, tasteful way!) is there a correlation there?
It wasn’t even something we thought about! She looked great in just about anything we tried on… but it’s sort of funny I wasn’t even thinking about that. But there you are!
How do you approach the talk show appearance vs. the big red carpet moment?
I think you have to be comfortable and approachable. Overall it always has to be interesting for the occasion. Whether it’s a cute pantsuit or flirty little dress, or something more polished and professional for a press day, we’re going to run the gamut. And then you better believe we’re going to bring the glamour for her major carpets.
In Altuzarra, arriving at Jimmy Kimmel Live
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Break them down for us…
You know, Mexico City, it might as well have been the Cannes Film Festival… it was such an extraordinary city—and it’s a massive world premiere, so it was a massive carpet, and we chose something that dress that has an almost Spanish sensibility about it, with the high-low hem, the little ruffles and the floral details. And then you’re at Radio City Music Hall! You better believe you’re going to wear something fun and glamorous and fierce—why not go for something short and surprise people? And then London was our knock-out glamorous movie star, major red carpet look. It was so funny they had been black carpets for all of the premieres and they did a red carpet for London and she wore the red gown, which wasn’t done on purpose, it was just kind of fate! There’s always thought behind our choices, and there’s intention. It was a beautiful collaboration, between Gal and I.
As you said, this is the start of a really large franchise, do you feel like you’re just beginning to tell this story?
Oh yeah! This is just the start of our story. There’s more to come.