The long-teased live-action Disney film Cruella, was released on May 28, 2021. Based on the stylish villain from 101 Dalmations, the film stars Emma Stone as Cruella DeVil, an unhinged fashion mogul with a fixation on dalmations.
The focus of the live-action film is on Cruella's backstory, including her childhood. Though some critics questioned why this infamous character required a backstory, and others criticized the film's writing, Cruella still received positive remarks in many areas.
One such area is its costume design, which has social media raving.
Many Twitter users expressed their admiration for the various lavish costumes in the film - and their desire to obtain Cruella's entire wardrobe.
In the film, Cruella is an aspiring fashion designer in London, one of the major fashion capitals of the world, in the 1970s. The costume design, as well as many other aspects of the film, draws on London's edgy punk scene at the time. Some of the punk-inspired costumes include an embellished military jacket and a black leather jacket. Of course, however, in true DeVil fashion, here are also many extravagant dresses featured in the film.
The film's director, Craig Gillespie, told the LA Times that he was inspired by a few notable fashion designers, including Alexander McQueen.
"His rebellion against the establishment and the shock value of his shows and the creative outrageousness of some of his work. I felt like that was very much in character with what Cruella was trying to do."
He also named Vivienne Westwood, who dressed the Sex Pistols, as an inspiration.
The costume designer for Cruella is Jenny Beavan, who also designed costumes for Mad Max: Fury Road. Beavan has made a name for herself in the costume design industry, having won an Academy Award for her designs in the 1986 film, A Room With A View. She has also been nominated for the award 10 times previously.
Beavan designed a total of 277 costumes for the cast of Cruella, including a whopping 47 for the title character. She and her team created the costumes in an impressively short time period - just 10 weeks!
The budget for Cruella was $200 million, and it is expected to surpass that amount in profits based on Disney's past performance with similar films at the box office.
Disney was very successful with Maleficent, which provided a warmer perspective on a well-known villain from one of Disney's popular movies. The film starred Angelina Jolie, and told the origin story of Maleficent from The Sleeping Beauty. Disney fans are also now calling for the company to make more films of this nature, including one of Ursula from The Little Mermaid.
Cruella may currently be viewed on Disney + for $30 (on top of a regular subscription) and in select movie theatres around the world.