Two years after dazzling the Palazzo del Cinema in a couture Balenciaga gown—and taking home the prize for Best Young Actress in Luca Guadagnino’s Bones & All—Taylor Russel has returned to the Venice International Film Festival. Rather than premiering her latest release, the 30-year-old has stepped out at the official opening of the programme as a jury member of the 81st edition.
Despite the occasion being the debut of Tim Burton’s campy ghost sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Russel has eschewed the gothic undertones of the film by arriving in an angelic and rare archival piece from Chanel’s Fall/Winter 1993 haute couture show.
In a dress one year older than she is and originally worn on the runway by legendary supermodel Claudia Schiffer, Russel has firmly etched her name in fashion’s chronicles as one of the 21st Century’s most stylish screen stars.
With her personal aesthetic a little more muted—think her matching street style from The Row with former boyfriend Harry Styles—the red carpet is the arena where Russell’s know-how exudes. (Case in point: the vintage tailored suit set from John Galliano’s Spring 1995 ready-to-wear ‘Pin Up’ collection she wore earlier in the day at a press call.)
The piece features a transparent PVC corset featuring botanical embroidery, a cloud of the same synthetic material gathered at the waist and an elongated mermaid-style train. Life in plastic, c’est fantastique.
If you recognise the boned lining of the clear bodice it may be because Margot Robbie wore a similar piece from the same collection to the 2023 Met Gala toasting Karl Lagerfeld. The late German designer mightn’t have lived long enough to see Russell’s career shine, but this pull certainly makes her an honourary ‘Choupette’.
In her ascent to superstardom, Russell has aligned herself with Loewe, making her debut at the 2024 Met Gala in a custom wooden design by creative director Jonathan Anderson and even opening their Spring/Summer 2023 women’s collection presentation during Paris Fashion Week. With the 2024 Venice Film Festival concluding on September 7, we can’t wait to see Russell continue to make the Lido di Venezia her runway.
This story first appeared on GRAZIA International.