HOW DEMI MOORE BECAME A NEW FASHION DARLING AT 61
At the Cannes Film Festival, iconic actresses always command the spotlight. Brigitte Bardot, Grace Kelly, Catherine Deneuve, Jane Birkin, Sharon Stone, Cate Blanchett, to name some, have, in previous years, made global headlines basking in the paparazzi’s glow at the world’s most glamorous film festival. Now, it is Demi Moore’s turn.
That was decided earlier this week when in advance of the sultry, 61-year-old star touching down at Nice Côte d’Azur Airport to attend the 77th festival, The Hollywood Reporter heralded her arrival, noting five high-profile appearances she’ll make over the next week including as host of amfAR’s 30th anniversary charity gala on May 23 and, momentously, her first appearance on the Cannes red carpet in 27 years.
It happened on Friday night, when after Moore fulfilled her duty as the “godmother” of the Trophée Chopard, by bestowing the annual laurel, on behalf of the brand, to up-and-coming actors, Mike Faist and Sophie Wilde, who she’ll now mentor, she accompanied the Swiss jeweller’s artistic director and co-president, Caroline Scheufele, to the premiere of Yorgos Lanthimos’s Kinds of Kindness.
Increasing the poignancy of her moment on the red carpet was that in 1997, when Moore debuted there, at the premiere of Luc Besson’s The Fifth Element, she was supporting the starring role in the stylish thriller by her then husband, Bruce Willis. The action hero, with whom Moore remains close, was diagnosed with the language disorder aphasia in March 2022.
Increasing the anticipation of Moore’s second red-carpet appearance on Sunday night, is that it will commemorate her own debut in a film vying for the festival’s prestigious Palme d’Or – namely, The Substance. The plot of the “feminist take on body horror,” from French filmmaker Coralie Fargeat, is top secret. Moore’s stylist, Brad Goreski, divulges that his client will flaunt a look evoking the film’s focus on feminine anatomy. In other words, Moore is method dressing. “Her red carpet look reflects themes in her film,” offers Goreski.
Moore’s taut physique remains as trim and tantalising as it did when, aged 29, she appeared in body paint by make-up artist Joanne Gair fronting Vanity Fair’s August 1992 issue. The legendary Annie Leibovitz image was published a year after a heavily pregnant Moore, flaunting nothing other than diamond jewellery, posed on the cover. Noting how a maternity bump became a badge of honour, rather than a burden, thanks to “buck naked” Moore, Vogue observed: “There was a seismic shift in the representation of pregnancy once the picture was printed.”
Moore’s body – said to be maintained by gruelling workouts that would put the Kardashians to shame – became her stock-in-trade and will surely light up the screen during The Substance. “She has the perfect body,” confirms Lou Eyrich, the costume designer/producer of Feud: Capote vs. The Swans. The critical acclaim Moore has received for immortalising Ann Woodward, a New York socialite driven to suicide by rumours that she had murdered her husband, means her week at Cannes is about much more than her immediate obligations.
The festival is surely a stop on Moore’s campaign trail to land an Emmy nomination for Ryan Murphy’s dramatic series (which is streaming on Disney+), and also the place for her to promote Landman, the upcoming streaming TV show from the producer Taylor Sheridan. “Demi plays the stylish wife of a rich Texan oilman,” reveals Eric Buterbaugh, a Los Angeles floral designer and perfumer who is one of Moore’s longtime friends.
“She has so many roles at the festival this year and we have fabulous looks to support them,” offers Goreski.
Her Cannes wardrobe was a collaborative effort, adds the stylist. “We do it together,” he says of their work. The preparations were likely intense. “I sat with her before she left and I was looking through her stuff – and the amount of outfits she needs is crazy,” adds Buterbaugh. “Demi loves clothes and she studies them. She knows what works on her body. She’s completely into it.” Nowadays, Moore often carries her chihuahua Pilaf as her signature accessory, too.
Along with Moore and Goreski’s primary sources – namely, the houses of Dior, Fendi, Gucci, Saint Laurent and Schiaparelli, for starters – work by the roster of young designers with whom Moore is friendly might sparkle as she gets down to business on the French Riviera. The roll call includes Harris Reed (who created the get-up she wore to the Met Gala), Carolina Herrera’s Wes Gordon and Olivier Rousteing, Balmain’s designer, who crafted the show-stopping black-and-white feathered sequin bustier gown Moore wore to Feud’s January premiere.
Another inspirational resource for the duo is Moore’s “mega collection” of vintage clothing which is said to include 40,000 items. She began collecting in the mid Eighties when she was a teenage star of General Hospital, the American afternoon soap opera. She scaled up – amassing hordes of museum-quality clothing from Lily et Cie, the famous Beverly Hills vintage boutique – as she became Hollywood’s “most bankable actress” in the early Nineties.
A Forties lavender gown, which Moore wore to 1992’s 64th Academy Awards, helped her bounce back from the depths of Women’s Wear Daily’s Worst Dressed List. Moore landed there in 1989, after turning up at the Oscars brandishing an ensemble she had designed. “The bizarre combination of bicycle shorts, bustier and bustle skirt [was]... one of the worst outfits in the history of the Academy Awards,” noted Vanity Fair.
But Moore’s daring, her sense of play and enviable physique is what has helped establish her as the fashion icon she is today, enjoying the sunshine and ready to command the red carpet at Sunday’s premiere of The Substance. “Demi thinks ‘outside of the box’ and she wears what excites her, not what’s on trend,” says Eyrich.
“There have been some hits and misses along the way,” concedes Buterbaugh. “The misses might have happened when fashion didn’t have her full attention – because when Demi puts her mind to it, she nails it. Right now, she’s having a ball.”
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2024-05-18T09:01:20Z dg43tfdfdgfd