Oh red carpets, how we’ve missed you. After nearly four months, the SAG-AFTRA strike has come to a close, and while the ribbon’s still not tied, the trade association has reached a tentative agreement. Among the more immediate aftereffects of the deal, alongside improved healthcare and increased compensation? That actors will return to the press circuit, free to promote their films, regardless of waivers.
The cast of The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was one of the few to receive a waiver, which meant that leading ladies Rachel Zegler and Hunter Schafer had a head start on the whole returning-to-the-red-carpet thing. Not that they needed to warm up, of course—if anything, it seems their closets have been cattle rods for its reinvigoration. That much was clear at the film’s European premiere earlier this week, when Zegler and Schafer lit up Berlin: Zegler, nodding to franchise predecessor Jennifer Lawrence in an Alexander McQueen gown dipped hem-first in crimson, a reference to character Katniss Everdeen’s fiery metamorphosis in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire; Schafer, stealing the show in Schiaparelli haute couture autumn/winter ’22/’23, a long-sleeved crochet dress dress tiled with hand-painted fragments—a walking mosaic.
Zegler, who plays Lucy Gray Baird in the prequel, and Schafer, who assumes the role of designer Tigris Snow, extended their sartorial streak in London, arriving at the world premiere in outfits that would have made their fictional counterparts proud. It was high-necked Dior for Zegler, styled by Sarah Slutsky Tooley; she looked a gothic vision in a sheer gown from the maison’s spring/summer 2024 collection. Schafer, on the other hand, was sheathed in gold, draped in a crinkled bolero, bra and bustled skirt from Prada spring/summer 2009. Stylist and fashion director Dara Allen paired Schafer’s look with pearl drop earrings and a high bun, in the manner of Miuccia’s original runway presentation—no doubt Cinna would have approved.
Here, we bring you the best fashion we’ve spotted on the Hunger Games red carpet so far.
