While
we're always happy to have a little relief from the red carpet insanity
of awards season, summer can also be a bit dull on the fashion front.
Thankfully, one of the season's biggest releases also stars two of our
favorite stylish actresses: Up-and-coming Margot Robbie, and erstwhile supermodel Cara Delevingne. While they've both been burning up the "Suicide Squad"
press tour with amazing looks, Delevingne's sartorial choices in
particular — packed with thigh-high boots and sheer fabrics — have had
us swooning.
Delevingne's "Suicide Squad" wardrobe comes courtesy of styling team Rob Zangardi and Mariel Haenn, who worked with Delevingne on her first proper press tour as an actress for 2015's "Paper Towns."
Because she was making her major film debut, the duo focused more on
bringing Hollywood glam vibes rather than leaning on her fashion cred.
"When we styled the promo tour for 'Paper Towns,' our goal was to
maintain Cara's effortless, cool-girl vibes but to add movie star
polish," Haenn says. "We kept things whimsical yet intellectual, adding
touches of Cara's quirky personality and avoiding anything too high
fashion."
Unsurprisingly, a super-villain movie like "Suicide
Squad" has quite a different vibe from the kind of teen drama penned by
John Green. Delevingne's Enchantress is pegged to be the baddie of the
movie, which means Zangardi and Haenn could go for an edgier look. "You
want to give a nod to the character without being too literal, so [we
did] some darker colors, and the thigh high boots came in to give in a
rock and roll, goth type feel," Zangardi says.
They pulled a
bunch of options and brought Delevingne in for fittings, where she
weighed in on the looks (and was also a lot of fun — Zangardi says there
was plenty of dancing involved). Once they had everything narrowed
down, they worked to be sure that every ensemble told a cohesive story
and that every event had an appropriate look; that meant a laid-back
DSquared² look for San Diego Comic-Con, a buttoned up Emanuel Ungaro set
for press junkets, and a jaw-dropping Alexander McQueen dress for the
London premiere (Zangardi and Haenn's favorite).
Of course, it's
not hard to make a supermodel look good. "Wearing a pair of thigh-high
boots and a really mini short isn't a look that most girls can pull off,
but because she has the exceptionally long legs, she's able to pull off
a little bit more than some of the other girls." And Delevingne's day
job means she's more open to trying experimental looks, never hesitating
to try on things that might look "completely insane" on the
hanger. "Cara is extremely open to trying new things. She's basically a
dream client," Haenn says.
At the end of the day, though, both
Zangardi and Haenn say that working with Delevingne is such a pleasure
because of her personality and her own quirky off-duty style. "We don't
have to take fashion so seriously," Zangardi says. "It was about giving
her a bit of an edge without taking it too far, and letting her sense of
style come out."
"She has such a great sense of who she is, both
as a person and in terms of her personal style," Haenn says. "As a
result, there is a strong point of view but at the same time, she's
always open to experimenting and pushing the envelope. It feels truly
collaborative with her."
See all of Delevingne's killer "Suicide Squad" press tour looks in the gallery below.
Magnus Resch, the
art market entrepreneur behind the Magnus price data app, has responded
to claims that his service had stolen information from other databases
and galleries. The free app, which combines aggregated public
information with digital recognition technology, also includes prices,
the holy grail of the primary market.
In July, the Magnus app was removed from the Apple Store on the back of
copyright claims from three German galleries who asked for images—as
well as the price data—to be removed.
Resch says that his competitors are threatened by the service that the
app offers: other providers charge for price data while galleries “fear
they may be harmed by pricing transparency”, he says.
Soon after the Magnus app launched in April, Artsy, an online art
database that partners with galleries and institutions, complained about
copyright infringement of certain images. Resch acknowledges that Artsy
had a valid claim and says that he removed the relevant images from his
app, which Graham Newhall, Artsy's communication manager, confirms.
Newhall says that Artsy, whose co-founders include the mega art dealer
Larry Gagosian, has made no subsequent complaints. Newhall says that
“innovation and technology in the art market is potentially good for
everybody, but our strong concern was to protect the copyright and
privacy of our partner galleries, auction houses and institutions.”
Another online database, ArtFacts, headquartered in London but
operating out of Berlin, complained to Apple about Magnus lifting its
data, also soon after the app's launch. Resch says these claims have “no
substance”.
Marek Claassen, the director of ArtFacts, says that while he agrees
that “transparency in the primary market is needed”, it would have been
“normal business practice” for Resch to have licensed data from others
in the industry.
Magnus launched with more than eight million gallery and auction
prices, together with information about the artists and their
exhibitions. Galleries' websites are the building blocks of the service
and Resch uses an outside data collection business to gather
information—around 80 people have been working on the app since 2013.
Another one of Resch’s initiatives, Larry’s List, similarly trawls
through a huge amount of publicly available information to present data
on art collectors worldwide.
Much of the other information (photographs, primary market prices) on
Magnus is user generated, which is providing a challenge to copyright
laws in several industries. However, Resch says, “I don’t see any
gallery asking Instagram to take down images.”
Resch adds: “This move towards greater and greater transparency… cannot
be stopped. Whether we are challenged in the press, or threatened with
lawsuits, we will fight it and win—the app will be up again soon.”
