If there was ever someone to twist and turn the red carpet lingerie trend into something new, it’s most definitely Taylor Russell. Today, the actress showed up to the Venice Film Festival in a jaw-dropping take on the little black dress.
Russell, a jury member in Venice this year, donned a custom Loewe stunner to the premiere of director Luca Guadagnino’s buzzy new film, Queer. The dress flowed from a body-con bodice into a floor-skimming skirt that featured a va-va-voom leg slit. Sheer lace inserts on either side of the skirt nodded to the lingerie-as-outerwear trend as did Russell’s matching see-through pumps. Instead of a traditional neckline, Russell’s featured a sculptural hood that hung loosely across her shoulders. She paired the showpiece with a blunt pixie cut and a selection of blinding diamond jewelry.
Aside from reuniting with Guadagnino, whom she worked with on Bones and All, the evening also served as an opportunity for Russell to soak in the director’s latest project which is already garnering considerable praise from critics. Its stars, led by Daniel Craig and Drew Starkey, brought all types of classic black tie fashion to the red carpet ahead of film’s Venice premiere later that evening.
The director and his leading men slipped into custom looks by Loewe creative director Jonathan Anderson. Like Guadagnino’s Challengers, Anderson also designed the costumes for Queer and has been outfitting the cast since they arrived in Venice.
Guadagnino slipped into a double-breasted suit that he accented with a white button-down shirt, sleek shades, and the brand’s Campo derby shoes. Craig and Starkey, wearing some sharp shades of their own, sported off-white and navy suits, respectively. Lesley Manville and Omar Apollo—who teamed up with Craig and Starkey as part of the Queer cast—Justin Kuritzkes and Past Lives director Celine Song also rocked Loewe. Last night, the group joined W editor in chief Sara Moonves to toast the movie’s premiere.
Guadagnino’s Queer is an adaptation of William S. Burroughs’s semi-autobiographical novel of the same name. Craig, in his first post post-007 dramatic film role, plays the role of Lee, a World War II veteran living in Mexico City who finds himself infatuated with a younger man. Starkey’s performance as Allerton, Lee’s complicated love interest, is receiving rave reviews from critics with many lauding the role as “star-making.”
“The novel for us was never a novel about unrequited love, or an older gentleman trying to convince a younger one, who is straight, to love him back,” Guadagnino said yesterday. “We felt that there was something in this book that was more about the idea of connection and disconnection and, more importantly, repression and compression.”
He added, “So for us, the idea that this could become not only a great love story, but possibly the ultimate love story—and a very universal one—was irresistible.”