An interview with actress Stacy Martin on red carpet fashion

Considering the few years we’ve had, it’s amazing to celebrate movies and fashion, Stacy Martin tells me. I usually try to be very French about it, but I’m so grateful to witness it all. The actress has certainly been busy making the most of life, after the last few years of restrictions and social distancing; recently she was on the Cannes Film Festival red carpet then flew to Italy for the Louis Vuittons Cruise 2024 show, sitting front row with Cate Blanchett, Gemma Chan, Oprah Winfrey, Emma Stone, Phoebe Dynevor and Alicia Vikander. Of course, her wardrobe lived up to the occasion.

The film that I presented [Bonnard, Pierre et Marthe] in Cannes speaks of a painter, whose work is full of colors. He is often known as the painter of joy, Martin tells me on the phone from France. I wanted something that went with that spirit and the color scheme of the story. After seeing Louis Vuitton’s sketches and the fabrics that would create his look, she felt he perfectly embodied the personality of the film. It’s amazing how it all fits together, she said, excitement in her clear voice. Usually I’m more messy with the organization side of things, but this time I made a very conscious effort to try to represent the film as much as possible.

Fashion and art are so intertwined, I think a lot of people forget that, Martin continues. Much like an iconic painting, hours of time and resources go into creating a red carpet moment. Just like she did with her Cannes dress, Martin enjoys working closely with designers who like to break the mold and try to reinvent the codes of fashion and identity, assigning some of her favorite names with which work like Miuccia Prada and now Nicholas Ghesquire of Louis Vuitton. .

Half my job is dressing up and wearing otherworldly costumes, she says. People turn to the red carpet to dream and tap into the imagination, much like art. In her eyes, red carpet dressing acts as an exhibition not just of a designer, but of the work of an entire team. It’s a very specific short performance, she explains. There’s a whole team of people behind it and when you walk onto the red carpet you really realize it’s all about that defining moment. It’s such a humbling experience, you want to celebrate all the hard work you and the team put in. You want to make everyone proud.

Months of work, for a short moment when you’re the center of attention, that feels like a lot of pressure. Does she feel the weight of the search for perfection? When I started and the industry was so new to me, it was so overwhelming. Today, I am much more familiar with all that, she says. Having my stylist, Rebecca Corbin Murray, makes me feel less alone in the process. I no longer listen to that nagging voice inside that we all have; instead, I remind myself that not everyone has that opportunity and you just have to take advantage of it.

Finding such a dress for special occasions seems like a daunting task, but Martin keeps it simple and trusts his instincts. The more practical you can be in a fitting, the more honesty you can bring to the process and the better something looks on you. A dress can look so good on one person and completely different on the other, so I’m pretty brutal with what’s not going to work for me, she says.

This inner intuition never fails her, as the actress always brings something special to the red carpet. As the Cannes Film Festival draws to a close for another year, Martin saves the best for last; for her personally, this is her most memorable fashion moment to date.

While trying on dresses for the event, I had that moment for the first time where I didn’t want to let go of that dress, she admits, when usually she’s not one to get attached to different pieces she wears to various events and premieres. However, this specific dress I just couldn’t let go of. She had already had her first look sorted during the fitting in Paris, so when she was asked to wear this black and white dress to return to Cannes, she was overjoyed. Louis Vuitton very kindly said that the dress was for me. There is such a simplicity that is quite quirky in the manner of Ghesquire. It’s so good.

Fashion defines identity and how we want to present ourselves to the world, she says. It’s a very instinctive way of communicating. We value words and language a lot, but at the end of the day, the way we dress and the way fashion evolves is an instinctive, visceral, and personal way of saying things that sometimes we don’t feel we can. -being not brave enough to say, or that we might not be fully able to understand or explain to other people. It will always be important.