Decoding Method Dressing: From Zendaya’s Challengers-inspired tennis outfit to Janhvi Kapoor’s No.6 Jersey Blouse

Method Dressing 101: Zendaya’s tennis outfits for Challengers to Janhvi Kapoor’s Mr. and Mrs. Mahi promotional fits, actresses and a few actors going the extra mile with their fashion game for promoting their movies on the red carpet have been the talk of the town. The outfits invoke conversations around the movies before they have rolled out on screen keeping the audience engaged and raising anticipation. But what is this phenomenon that is rising to trends at movie screenings at Cannes? 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Janhvi Kapoor (@janhvikapoor)

Decoding Method Dressing 

Many are aware of Stainslavski’s take on method acting urging the actors to step into the skin of the characters to really put them in the place of the character. 

The current phenomena of cosplaying the theme of the movie through fashion also known as Method dressing is drawn from a similar thought. Method dressing is a fashion phenomenon where the actors of a film or a project bring the characters of their story to the red carpet transpiring reel to real emphasize the visual aesthetics of the role and extend it beyond the cinematics.    

Zendaya and Law have been doing this for years. After Barbie, Wonka was a big press tour of late 2023 and it's star Timothée Chalamet named Z as his method dressing inspo. Something they both famously did for Dune 2021 promo. Let's research before spreading fake news pls. https://t.co/XzB2z0QMs9

— Pam (@WaitingonDune) April 12, 2024

Method dressing however is not a new phenomena, and the recent trends are not quite so the case befitting the definition of method dressing. 

As per a Vogue article by Hannah Jackson dated on 18 May 2024, “method dressing is when an actor pays homage to the film they’re promoting through clothing. This isn’t a new phenomenon: at the 1992 premiere of A League of Their Own, Geena Davis wore a dress with baseball stitching.” 

Contemporarily, the phenomenon skyrocketed with the Barbiecore of Margot Robbie for Greta Gerwig’s ‘Barbie’.    

Icons of Method Dressing in Cinema 

Margot Robbie 

The Barbiecore aesthetic of Robbie in the promotions for Greta Gerwig ‘Barbie’ was all over the internet becoming a mass phenomenon encouraging viewers to don in pink to the theaters. From Robbie’s Armani Privé Pink gown for Golden Globes to her Vivienne Westwood Barbie ensemble replicating the titular doll at the Barbie screening in London in 2023, method dressing paid off. 

Zendaya 

Zendaya became synonymous with method dressing, opting for the technique for the promotions of ‘Spiderman: No Way Home’, ‘Dune: Part One’, and more recently ‘Challengers.’

Anna Taylor-Joy 

For the red carpets of George Miller’s ‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’ Anna Taylor-Joy stood out in a spiky vintage look from Paco Rabanne’s spring 1996 haute couture collection. Earlier she stepped into the shoes of Princess Peach for The Super Mario Bros. Movie promotions. 

Jenna Ortega 

Wednesday Addams’s aesthetic was poured on the red carpet with characteristic gothic style. 

Janhvi Kapoor 

Near home, Janhvi Kapoor has hopped on the method dressing bandwagon with her Mr and Mrs. Mahi promotional outfits.  

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A post shared by Janhvi Kapoor (@janhvikapoor)

While the impacts and limits of the phenomena are yet under analysis, it is noteworthy how only a few actors have tried so hard for their movies with a stretch of fashion.