New images from Cruella show off the film's wild fashion sensibilities. Emma Stone plays the titular character, Estella de Vil, an aspiring fashion designer in London who begins working for Emma Thompson's Baroness von Hellman. The Baroness is the head of a prestigious fashion house in London and Cruella's latest trailer gave a glimpse into the life of the film's antagonist. Glenn Close originated the live-action version of Cruella de Vil in Disney's adaptation of 101 Dalmatians and its sequel, but the upcoming film will give a new perspective to the character.
Cruella is currently slated for a May release when it will hit theaters and Disney+ simultaneously. In addition to Stone and Thompson, Joel Fry, Paul Walter Hauser, Emily Beecham, and Mark Strong will all appear in the film. Early looks at Cruella have drawn comparisons to Joker, but Stone has said that the film is a different sort of origin story, one centered in the world of London high fashion.
Oscar-winning costume designer Jenny Beavan's work was previewed in a new set of images from EW that show off some of the outfits Stone will be designing and wearing in the film. From the simple to the eclectic, Cruella's looking to make a statement with her outfits and Beavan set out to make sure that the costumes were both practical and bombastic, mirroring 1970s London in the best way possible.
Anyone familiar with Cruella de Vil remembers her for her cruelty and her affinity for fashion. It's the driving force behind her villainy in 101 Dalmatians, but Cruella looks to be taking a different approach. Stone's character will certainly become villainous during the course of the film, but she begins the movie with a wide-eyed eagerness to enter the fashion industry earnestly. Of course, Thompson's Baroness is the one that seems to force her into the role of the villain that viewers have come to love to hate over the years, but first she's going to make her grand entrance in style.
Beavan has won two Oscars for her work as a costume designer - one for 1986's A Room With A View and the other for 2015's Mad Max: Fury Road. Cruella's costumes may be her most ostentatious yet, as they must walk the line between theatrical and fashionable. It's clear from the images above that, at some point, Cruella will realize her affinity for the spotted pattern she's known for being obsessed with, but the journey there will likely be just as salacious as her prior onscreen appearances.
Source: EW
