'Maria' is a cinematic fashion feast fit for a diva

Angelina Jolie is well-versed in the art of scene-stealing. No matter the film, it’s hard to focus on anything or anyone else when she’s commanding the camera. In her latest project, however, the Pablo Larrain–helmed Maria (based on the life of famed opera singer Maria Callas), Jolie has rare but stiff competition in the gorgeously crafted wardrobe created by a costume maestro himself, Massimo Cantini Parrini.

In the film, clothes represent different seasons of the singer’s time on earth. Avant-garde costumes mark her most memorable performances, while luxe wool coats and exquisitely tailored gowns represent her (at times controversial) social life. Oversize glasses, sparkling brooches, and more precious details seen throughout the biopic symbolise the inner perfectionist that consumed Callas’s work ethic and personality. In other words, Maria is a visual fashion feast fit for not just any diva but the ultimate one.

Ahead, Massimo Cantini Parrini details bringing Maria Callas’s life to the big screen, working closely alongside Angelina Jolie, and shares which outfit out of the over 60 (!) custom looks he created that he’s most proud of.

Harper's Bazaar: How would you describe the style of the real-life Maria Callas, and what did it take to translate that for the screen?

Massimo Cantini Parrin: Working on the costumes for Maria Callas was not that difficult in terms of finding or drawing inspiration, as Maria Callas was a diva and she had been interviewed and photographed by so many different journalists and people. But beyond the most iconic photographs that we had all seen sooner or later of Maria Callas, I was also able to dig deeper and deeper in my research to find other pictures of where she was portrayed at homes of friends, dining out—a number of events that were not typically those linked to her professional life. That was a great inspiration, and it allowed me to imagine and create her wardrobe, which spans throughout the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s. Of course, for the movie, we were guided by Pablo Larrain’s ideas, and we designed a wardrobe that really embodied the idea of his film and designed a wardrobe that matched the story. I designed and made 60 costumes, but, in the end, around 50 ended up in the movie.

HB: Something I noticed when I was watching the film was, of course, you have the gorgeous performance ensembles, and you have the outfits that Angelina Jolie as Maria wears when she’s going out and about in her real life. I also paid attention to the clothes in the background of her room and in her wardrobe. There were quite literally clothes everywhere she went in her apartment in the film. Why was it important to showcase the clothes that weren’t just on her body?

MCP: We really needed to re-create all of her world. In fact, with the production designer, we worked on this aspect when presenting all of these clothes and garments in her room and in her walk-in wardrobe. This is a room that may be considered a secret room since it is full of her memories of her mementoes (from her performing career).

There are some dresses that we can also see fit on some mannequins that are exhibited in her secret room, and this is full of dresses that were also worn by Angelina Jolie throughout the film, because this specific dressing room contains the outfits that she wore in her past years, in the ’50s and the ’60s, during her soirees or her events. It included not only the outfits, not only the garments, but plenty of handbags, purses, shoes, jewellery, scarves—it was full of garments.

HB: One of the pieces that Maria wears that’s prominent in the film is her cream nightgown, when she’s in her apartment, and it’s really a central piece of the film. How did you create the perfect nightgown for her?

MCP: I designed this dressing gown, imagining it as her own protection. Once she was at home, she was protected when wearing the dressing gown that was enveloping her. I looked at the grandmother’s dressing gowns to draw inspiration for this one; I made it in an ivory, light colour because she normally wore black when she went out of the house in that last week of her life. But once she was at home, I wanted to see her wearing something that was light so as to convey a joy in a way—a sort of freedom. I worked closely when creating the dressing gown with an old lady based in Rome who is a very skilled knitter. She was able to use these two yarns of wool; one yarn was flat, and the other one was a cashmere yarn, and she knitted them together with these stitches that really stand out with this 3D sort of workmanship.

HB: Glamour comes through everything in this film, and that’s a testament to the pieces that you created. How much of that effect of creating opulence was via the wardrobe, and how much was also in part from having a very powerful woman like Angelina Jolie wearing them?

MCP: I really felt a very rare emotion when working on this film and when working with Angelina Jolie. Angelina really entered the character and stayed in character throughout the whole movie. When I was creating these clothes, I was creating with diva Maria Callas in mind and creating dresses that Maria Callas would have worn, and then to have them worn by a modern-day diva like Angelina Jolie—that was extremely moving for me.

Angelina was so professional when we were working on the preparation of the wardrobe. I worked in close contact with her and had prepared plenty of sketches of designs. I had showed her plenty of different fabrics and swatches of fabrics and ideas, and together we decided which were the best ones that fit the movie.

HB: Accessories are also essential in this film. You have hats and the earrings and the brooches and gloves and so many beautiful details. What were the tiny must-have accessories you really needed to bring Maria and her world to life?

MCP: Accessories are always extremely relevant when making a movie like this one, and the details make all the difference in recounting an era for a movie. In terms of the jewellery, not all of them were vintage, but most of them I had to re-create because they were not easy to come around. Maria Callas also loved scarves, for example; she wore many of those. There were different types of footwear and the gloves. You see how many different gloves Angelina Jolie wears in in this movie. Putting together all of these accessories—that took a lot of time and energy because I had to look for these items everywhere. I travelled a lot, and most of the items were found in London. I looked in Italy as well, but it’s not easy to come about these objects in Italy.

HB: Is there a specific item you created for Maria that you’re especially proud of?

MCP: There are two garments. I’m very proud of the dressing gown. We’ve already spoken about it, but it really took me a lot of time to design it and to have it made, as I wanted it to come out with the right proportions and to be special. I didn’t want it to look like any classic ’70s dressing gown; I wanted it to have a special allure. Another costume I’m very proud of is the performance outfit that Maria Callas wears in Madea, the opera. The dress itself has a very, very simple silhouette, simple lines, and what is special about it is that it is completely painted by hand. It took me a lot of time to get the exact copy of the original made from scratch by us, so that’s another outfit I’m very proud of.

All images: Netflix 

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