For the London premiere of her psychological drama "Mother Mary," Anne Hathaway chose a dress that could have been plucked from the depths of the ocean - or the pages of a neurology textbook. The Oscar winner wore a sculptural black gown from Iris van Herpen's spring 2020 couture collection, "Sensory Sea," a line that drew on two unlikely muses: the ethereal tendrils of hydrozoa and the intricate neural pathway drawings of Spanish pathologist Santiago Ramón y Cajal. The result was a Gothic silhouette - long, billowing sleeves and a flowing skirt set against a sheer base - that felt both organic and otherworldly.
Van Herpen, a Dutch designer known for merging haute couture with technology, has long pushed the boundaries of what lingerie and fashion can evoke. Her work often echoes the structural experimentation found in 19th-century corsetry, where whalebone and steel mimicked the body's own architecture. Here, the black fabric's swirling lines suggested the very synapses firing beneath the skin, a fitting nod to the film's exploration of fame and identity.
Hathaway accessorized with black lattice pumps by Aquazzura and understated Bulgari jewels - a contrast to the dress's drama. Stylist Erin Walsh, who also dresses Hathaway for "The Devil Wears Prada 2," used this look to signal the darker, ethereal pop-star persona of the film's title character. Now in theaters, "Mother Mary" follows a singer reuniting with her costume designer on the night of her comeback - a story where, much like this gown, the layers beneath matter as much as the surface.
Originally reported by WWD