“There’s a lot of pink and a very feminine vibe,” said Thomasin McKenzie, perfectly describing the setting.
The actress had just walked through the doors of “Miss Dior Avenue,” the luxury house’s Los Angeles pop-up celebrating the latest incarnation of its Miss Dior fragrance. The space was decorated to look like a 1960s city street, coated in rose-colored hues, lined with flowers and filled with the new scent, created by Dior Perfume creation director Francis Kurkdjian.
“It was actually my first ever perfume, I’m not kidding,” she went on at the event Wednesday night. “My parents for Christmas got me a box of four mini Dior perfumes, and Miss Dior was the one I gravitated to. It was in a tiny, tiny bottle, and I carried it around with me for years. I love tiny things, and I loved the bottle. But I also did buy a full size, because I very quickly ran out of the perfume.”
McKenzie was hard to miss, wearing all black. She had on a Dior top adorned with an oversized bow (“because they’re very on trend right now”) paired with a pleated skirt.
“Both are so beautifully made,” she said. “And perfect for me, because I fell over today and grazed my knee and arm so the fact that I’m fully covered is really great.”
Was the downpour outside to blame?
“It wasn’t actually,” she explained. “It was just before it started coming down. I just tripped on a rock or something.”
It was just one of those days. “So annoying.”
But now, it was behind her. And she looked every bit the part amid the backdrop, channeling a classic French ’60s look with the help of her fashion stylist Thomas Carter Phillips.
“I’ve been with him since I did a film called ‘Leave No Trace,’ since I was 17,” said McKenzie, now 23. She’ll next be seen in “Joy,” Ben Taylor’s upcoming Netflix film with Bill Nighy and James Norton. “So, it’s six years later. We really have grown together. And he’s guided me and cared for me.”
Alexandra Shipp had her stylist in tow, Alexandra Mandelkorn.
“I’m the street,” Shipp said of her coat, which was covered in names of Parisian roads and boulevards. “I’m representing for the sidewalk,” she laughed.
“I just want to throw it out there, Dior makes these really cute pantaloons that are like shorts, but they’re a nice thick material,” she said. She had them on under a sheer, close-fitting Dior dress. “I’m obsessed with them. I love them. Because I have quite a large rear end and usually shorts will ride up but these fit really nicely on the booty. And that is a rare find. I’m kind of living for Dior’s underwear right now.”
“She wears clothes so well,” Mandelkorn chimed in. “And it’s the most fun, because she’s adventurous and open to trying new things.”
Shipp is currently appearing in the romantic comedy “Anyone but You” and “Barbie,” which received eight Oscar nominations including Best Picture.
“I’m not just saying this because I was in ‘Barbie’ but this is so ‘Barbie,’” she said of the installation — featuring a Miss Dior Cinema, Miss Dior Flower Shop and Miss Dior Café. Though Natalie Portman, face of the fragrance since 2011, was missing in action, she was featured on screen in the theater via behind-the-scenes glimpses into her film campaign.
“I want to play with everything here,” Shipp continued. “And I also want to inhale that entire rose wall. I just want to live in that rose wall.”
She won’t be at the award ceremony on Sunday but she has party plans.
“I’m gonna have some fun,” she said, hinting she’ll be wearing Mônot.
Chase Hudson, among the content creators in head-to-toe Dior, said he’ll be watching from home. “I’m excited for it.”
He’s a fan of Miss Dior, he said. “It’s definitely my favorite one on my girlfriend.”
He had yet to smell the newest scent, though. “I have to try it.”
