The Matrix - Resurrections - US Premiere - Gold Pill Necklace

Probably many of you have heard that I was invited to the US premiere of the new Matrix - Resurrections movie in San Francisco and that I had the incredible honor to design and make the red carpet outfits for the director Lana Wachowski and her wife Karen Winslow, but also for many others. In the course of the design phase, the further idea of designing a pill necklace came up.

But how does such an exciting day actually go? What happens behind the scenes?

The last 2 months before the premiere were quite busy and tense for me and the closer the day of the premiere came, the more tense I was. I still didn't know if the outfits for Lana and Karen would really fit, since there were only interim fittings before they left Berlin, but they never tried on the finished outfits. Luckily 3 days before the premiere I had the chance for a final fitting with them in San Francisco and everything fit perfectly, so at least I could relax a bit about that. I was prepared for the worst case scenario and had the cut, fabrics and ingredients in my already excess luggage to have an outfit remade on the fly by a tailor in San Francisco.

The morning of the premiere on 18.12.2021 itself I have spent with a tea and bananabread sitting in the middle of Union Square, while I have watched countless Americans to photograph themselves in front of the cracked Christmas tree. Then at 1pm I went with my two babes Jen and Missy to Saks Fifth Avenue to the CHANEL department to get our makeup done for the evening. This unfortunately took much longer than planned, so I was quite pressed for time. Because at 15:00 I was already arranged with the photographer Just Loomis, so that he makes photos of me, as I get ready in the hotel room for the event. I literally ran back to the hotel to quickly put on my outfits and change. Then Just Loomis came and took some photos of me in the hotel room. He had the great idea to just go out on the street and do some kind of editorial shooting there. Wonderful pictures were taken spontaneously and I am still very happy about it. Funnily enough, I got a message from a "making The Cut" fan on Instagram that evening, saying that she had seen me on the street shooting and couldn't believe I was in San Francisco.

From the "street shoot" I went straight into the cab, together with Just Loomis to a location where all the friends who had traveled from Berlin and elsewhere for the premiere gathered and got ready for the event together. There I met all the other people I had equipped for the evening to help with the final touches or styling: Tom Tykwer, Marie Steinmann, Sarah Mc Teigue, Marcel and Stephanie Dettmann, Esther Silex, Sabrina Strehl and Matti Bückner, Jen Florin and Missy Livingston (Moderna), Rainer Wendt, Tinka Scharfe, Jasmin Pohl, Julia Lord, Kathrin Diele, Maria Richter and many more. It was a wild bustle and happy greeting, passing make up and lipsticks back and forth and admiring all the outfits, not just mine.

Like kids going on a school trip, we were lovingly seen off there by Lana and Karen to be driven together on a big tour bus to Castro Street / the Castro Theater. Wow, what a scenario! The whole street was blocked off, limos and buses pulled up and screaming fans behind barriers. We were able to get out right in front of the Castro Theatre and enjoy the shimmering air. Unfortunately, this was not very warm. On the contrary, it was incredibly cold and first lightly to barely clothed ladies, myself included, started to freeze.

But then we went to the stage / Matrix Logo Land, a podium that was built directly on Castro Street, so that all the fans outside who didn't have a ticket for the premiere could watch the spectacle of the photo shoot. What an honor for me. Lana and Karen had specially organized that there was a separate shoot for me on this stage with all the people around me who were wearing Esther Perbandt that night. It almost felt like I had turned the Matrix Red Carpet into a guerrilla fashion show performance. And what a celebration for me to see Lana glowing like that the whole time in my "Pills" dress designed especially for her.

From there we went to the actual "Red Carpet", an area that was strictly limited to the stars only due to Corona. Here, too, I had the honor of being one of the few to walk the red carpet and receive the flurry of flashbulbs. After this part was over, we had to wait in the back of the Red Carpet for some time in the cold until just all the stars had walked across the Red Carpet and completed their interview marathon. But it was also the special moment to see Freema Agyeman and Carrie-Anne Moss again, who I already had the pleasure to meet in Berlin. Carrie-Anne's dress was open in the back, and that's how the photos came to be of me closing her dress in the back on the Red Carpet.

The most impressive dress, at least in terms of dimensions, was worn by actress Jada Pinkett Smith, a bright red couture dress by Giambattista Valli. But also the color degradée suit of actor Neil Patrick Harris from the collection of Berluti, fit perfectly into the color surround of the "Green Carpets". Because in keeping with the Matrix CI, there was of course no "Red Carpet", but a "Green Carpet".

Then it was finally into the cinema hall, where I sat right next to Marc Jacobs and his companion, whom I had briefly met the night before.

What I was looking forward to beforehand, besides the film of course, was Lana Wachowski's speech. If one person can give incredibly personal, heartwarming, honest speeches, it's Lana. It's not the first time I've been close to tears during one of her speeches.

I thought the movie was great, humorous. It's not easy to make a sequel after all these years, but Lana managed to bring a twist to the story that I didn't expect. Also the idea that Neo and Trinity meet again after more than 20 years, respectively get to know and love each other anew is wonderful.

After the screening, the Berliners and Friends & Family crew were taken back in our tour bus to the aftershow party, a waterfront location right on the bridge...., which was decorated with strings of lights on each pier to celebrate, with the lights running up and down, like the Matrix Code. There were huge fireworks and of course would be celebrated until the early hours extensively and danced to the Djs Marcel Dettmann, Moderna (Missy Livingston) and Esther Silex, who came from Berlin.




THANK YOU LANA WACHOWSKI

For letting me be a part of the amazing Matrix-Resurrections Premiere. Thank you for the intelligence, creativity and love you spread.

THANK YOU

Photography // Just Loomis
Music // „Can you see her“ by Moderna y Theus Mago
Editing // Tiago Ribeiro, Unicornluv.com

THANK YOU

For presenting my creations in the most outstanding way

Lana Wachowski, Karen Winslow, Jen Florin, Missy Livingston, Tom Tykwer, Marie Steinmann, Sarah Mc Teigue, Sabrina Strehl, Esther Silex, Matti Brückner, Stephanie Dettmann, Rainer Wendt, Tinka Scharfe, Kathrin Diele, Maria Richter, Jasmin Pohl, Julia Lord