Last Week, Stars Embraced Excess in All Its Glory

For the world’s most stylish there is no such thing as a “summer slowdown.” Last week, for example, there was a full slate of blockbuster premieres, awards shows, film festivals, and fashion events; red carpets galore, essentially. For fashion-minded stars, the busy schedule offered the opportunity to dress boldly and beautifully, near daily, in neon prints, sequins, marabou, lamé, crystal embroidery and—surprise—rose buds. At Men in Black: International’s New York premiere Tessa Thompson leaned into the film’s sci-fi theme in a silver Rodarte look with puffed sleeves and an excess of ruffles and metallic sheen—precisely what a modern action heroine should be wearing in any galaxy.

Chloë Sevigny may have the unglamorous job of battling zombies in Jim Jarmusch’s The Dead Don’t Die but the actress turned the film’s New York premiere at the Museum of Modern Art into a style outing in a graphic, feathery Marc Jacobs number. Sevigny’s red carpet winning streak has been unstoppable since the Cannes Film Festival; she is consistently dazzling and directional, the twin ambitions of after-dark style.

How to be modern and extravagant: That is the question these women seek to answer weekly. At Cartier’s collectsion launch in London’s Shoreditch Town Hall, Claire Foy arrived in a glittering Simone Rocha dress that almost outshined the jewelry. Likewise, in Capri, Laura Harrier’s dress by Julien Dossena for Paco Rabanne—cocktail length and covered in delicate blooms—made for a super-chic and super-sweet star turn at Bulgari’s Cinemagia dinner. Even the MTV Movie Awards yielded a welcome winning style surprise in the form of Euphoria’s Hunter Schafer in a sleek yet wild print dress by Casey Cadwallader for Mugler. Not an archive piece or even an archive mid: Schafer seemed to be saying, with this dress, today we go big…because summer is now on and we’re not going home.