Kristen Stewart talks about how her looks tell her own story in Spencer

Todo el mundo conoce a la princesa Diana, o cree que la conoce. La realeza, que habría cumplido 60 años este año, sigue siendo objeto de fascinación entre el público y los artistas. Después de capturar las luchas privadas de Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis tras el asesinato de su marido en Jackie, de 2016, el director chileno Pablo Larraín se centró en la historia de Diana. Su nueva película, Spencer, ofrece un relato ficticio de la Princesa, interpretada por Kristen Stewart, en un momento decisivo durante las vacaciones anuales de Navidad de la Reina en Sandringham House, en Norfolk, Inglaterra. Los tres días cruciales que van desde la Nochebuena hasta el día de San Esteban magnifican los numerosos problemas de la vida personal de Diana. Vigilada por el séquito de cortesanos de los Windsor, atrapada en un matrimonio fracasado y obligada a mantener las apariencias mientras lucha contra un trastorno alimentario, está muy lejos de los cuentos de hadas.

Larraín frames his film as a fable, exploring the dark side of the monarchy without giving up the fantasy and beauty that the system maintains.Diana's life falls apart, but looks like a princess and is luxurious.That contrast is part of what makes the film powerful.To create the look of the allegorical Windsor, costume designer Jacqueline Durran and Stewart had to agree.Luckily, they had the help of a fashion giant: "It was a total collaboration," Stewart said by email, "we were all together in this: Pablo, Jacqueline, Chanel and I.It was very intimate ".

Chanel opened his files to production, lending and recreating vintage pieces so that Stewart wore them on the screen.This level of access allowed Durran to enhance the luxury atmosphere that Larraín and production designer Guy Hendrix Dyas created: "In terms of style and glamor, the collaboration gave the film something that we would not have had otherwise," he says."Chanel's pieces added that aura that Diana had as a princess, so it was an incredible combination in that sense".

There are thousands of photographs and articles on Diana on which to be based, but the abundance of information was a double -edged sword."At first, it was an intimidating situation because there were many images of her," says Durran, who focused his attention on the photos taken between 1988 and 1992."What he wanted to find was the logic behind his elections and the key pieces that were seen in that period.Certain elements are repeated: the color blocks, the golden buttons, the flaps in contrast, the pole neck sweaters and the high waist jeans and slightly trimmed with flat shoes "."I had to establish a contrast between the formal and restrictive clothing that leads during his official life and her way of dressing when she can be herself," says Durran."To tell this story, we had to see a real difference between those garments".

To do this, Durran used a series of file jewels to get both types of Diana looks.Stewart has a striking red tweed coat from the Patrimo de Patrimo de Autumn 1988 collection while Diana is harassed by the paparazzi, black velvet dresses from the fall collections of 1983 and 1988, and vintage accessories.Some modern pieces also sneak;In a scene, Stewart looks at the 46 look skirt from the Haute Costura 2020 Virginie Viard collection.

Chanel had a special place in Diana's closet.Fond of her classic costumes and padded bags, she wore her collection away from home while playing her role as Princess de Wales.Stewart was evocative to Diana's clothing teams: "In some photographs [of Diana], it seems that another person had dressed it," he says, "even if the suit is beautiful, it seems that she is a prisoner with him.While investigating, I realized that whenever Diana wore Chanel, she seemed herself.When it seemed powerful, Chanel often carried ".Stewart incorporated the observation to his interpretation: "When you see the movie, all Chanel's looks are used when Diana needs help," he explains: "If the scene was difficult or felt threatened, we put it a Chanel suit to give it a little support.Although he did not feel well inside, he stayed firm and shone at that time ".

Stewart has some experience wearing Chanel.Brand ambassador since 2013, it has been known for its distinctive seal carrying the brand's designs.Although his style is very far from Diana's, he felt that Chanel's archive pieces were essential for history: "If I did not have a relationship with Chanel, we would have begged the house to play with their garments; if they did not allow us,We would probably have imitated them, "says Stewart."The character needed them.They are such an important part of her.There is a delicacy and vulnerability [in clothes] that makes it even more beautiful.He is so raw and honest that when he puts them, you can feel that he loves them ".

Unfortunately, many of Diana's best moments with Chanel occurred after her departure from the royal family, and Spencer's story develops during a period in which the courtiers controlled her wardrobe."All these restrictions had to be taken into account," says Durran."The royal clothing code, which contains rules on all types of garments, from the length of the hems to the color of the nail polish, could not be ignored.Even so, when Durran found the movie resistance piece, a dress without straps of the Chanel Haute Couture Collection of the spring of 1988, was not willing to change it."At first, I worried that we had to add sleeves and hide their arms due to protocols," he says."When I had the test with Kristen and Paolo in London, she put it on and was so great, the perfect look for an extremely glamorous princess.We hadn't even planned to use it for such a big part of the movie, but it was too good to let it pass."

Adorned with pleated tulle flyers, a satin belt with applications and a delicate pleasant composed of fabric flowers, the dress was properly opulent.However, after more than 30 years in the archives, the original was too fragile to function as a suit: "It was too beautiful, you could not even get to the street," says Durran."Luckily, Chanel told us that he could replicate the piece completely.".They needed 1.034 hours -700 dedicated exclusively to embroidery- to double the haute couture look.With five seamstresses at Chanel Atelier working without stopping, they were able to carry out the project in a little less than a month: "We are indebted to them," says Durran, "they hardly had time and were able to recreate all the details.In the end, the only difference was that the new version remained Kristen even better than the first ".

Although it was not the only piece recreated for the film, the haute couture dress occupies a prominent place in the final assembly and in its poster, which shows Diana curled up on the ground, with the body wrapped in tulle layers.For Stewart, the haute couture dress reflected the privileged and at the same time unhappy Diana: "It is heartbreaking how beautiful it was," he says about the look."We review the files thinking: What is the dress? And it was so undeniably the right.Seeing someone on bathroom with such a dress is really heartbreaking.You cannot imagine that someone is wrong with a dress that is so spectacularly beautiful, unique and unique.It gives me a lot nostalgia.Normally, I don't have an emotional reaction to the characters in my movies, but every time I see Spencer, I want to cry ".

For Durran, helping to facilitate those powerful responses of Stewart was the main role of costume design: "My work is to support it as an actress," he says."Seeing the final movie was overwhelming because all I wanted was for my work to give Kristen everything I needed to achieve its interpretation.I believed a lot in it, and is hypnotizing like Diana ".

Article originally published by Vogue Us, Vogue.com