Some women know fashion like the back of their hand. Priyanka Chopra Jonas knows it like the lanes of the L.A. freeway. The megastar calls ELLE from behind the wheel of her car, where, in between merging lanes, she speaks with real delight. Among the topics: the new house codes of Dior, the excitement of helping launch an independent designer, and the challenge of dressing for her latest film debut—a period pirate action flick called The Bluff that just dropped on Amazon Prime—without looking like Captain Jack Sparrow.
“I actually love method dressing if it’s subtle and informed,” says Chopra Jonas, referring to the new-ish way Hollywood stars dress to match their on-screen characters during film debuts. (See: Margot Robbie in all-pink-everything for Barbie; Zendaya wearing bridal-inspired looks for her wedding-themed thriller The Drama.) “It’s just when it’s forced that it’s kind of annoying! But for The Bluff? A pirate movie? It’s screaming for us to go for it and have some fashion fun.”
Enter Wayman Bannerman and Micah McDonald, the stylists behind Teyana Taylor and Chase Infiniti’s recent red-carpet coups. “I asked them to watch the movie before we started this press tour,” Chopra Jonas says. “I wanted
“Then we tried it with this hat by Rinaldy Yunardi, an Indonesian designer. This hat just says high fashion pirate. We had to use it somewhere!”
“This was for morning TV, so I didn’t want to be so on the nose with the pirate thing. It might be a little aggressive before people had their coffee! Instead, we went with this incredible Tory Burch dress. The fit was beautifully cinched at the waist and it was modern, but still had a callback to earlier eras. And the color is so gorgeous.”
“We paired it with a Clyde hat, a bit ’90s, with Bulgari jewelry and a very soft lip color.”
“I didn’t let my daughter see the Judith Leiber clutches because, to be honest, she’d probably try to keep them. They’re so sparkly and fun. This treasure chest was a must.”
“Isn’t this the most gorgeous netting? It’s beachy and Caribbean, so it’s a callout to the setting of The Bluff, but it’s also so modern. I love what [Rachel Scott] at Diotima is doing.”
“I was amazed when I saw this go down Jonathan Anderson’s runway at Dior—it was one of my favorite looks. One of my favorite Dior eras is Galliano, and this really reminded me of that period because of that sense of fantasy, but with Jonathan’s amazing modern twist. So fun; so epic.”
“Yes, we’re going pirate. But it’s a Dior pirate, okay?!”
“This is Datt, a line from Vietnam. The idea behind that look was sea-foam and the waves and the ocean—it is just so pretty. It has this amazing structure at the shoulders, and you can manipulate it however you want. I made it [sit] off one shoulder, almost in the shape of a wave. It is so well-constructed—it needed no alterations. I just slipped it on, and it was comfortable and really worked with my body.”
“I’m a big fan of the designer Savannah Rose—I think she does amazing work. This look felt like an homage to the period, especially with the collar, but it was also surprisingly comfortable. It looked so feminine. Honestly, almost everything I wore felt like a character, which made it so much fun.”
“Gaurav Gupta is one of India’s finest. I had actually seen this outfit during Paris Fashion Week—so many people sent it to me and were like, ‘We have to see you in this.’ It just worked so well for The Bluff; we’re doing it here with Jimmy Choo shoes. My character is taken from her home in India when she’s young, so this felt like an homage to her roots, especially with the drape and the silhouette. The color is so vibrant and beautiful—it reminded me of the sun in the Cayman Islands. I went much simpler with the jewelry than originally intended because I wanted the simplicity of the time. There is a beauty in the drape and silhouette that made it really impactful.”
“I love mixing fashion houses we all know and admire with up-and-coming designers who have a different perspective. KNWLS has been a favorite of mine for a while now, and this nods to the action and adventure of the film. Plus it gives the body such an amazing shape.”
“This Altuzarra outfit with Christian Louboutin shoes is so beautiful—the color is incredible, and it felt so whimsical, almost like a fantasy. I loved that about it. It was kind of like shipwreck…but fashion.”
“Should we have named the bejeweled Judith Leiber parrot? Maybe. Probably. It was like my little best friend for the day. Fashion shouldn’t always be so serious. This press tour has been a blast.”
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