Jenna Ortega walked the red carpet this Friday night at the 21st Rome Film Festival to promote her upcoming movie “Klara and the Sun.” Appearing alongside director Taika Waititi, Ortega was wearing a vintage Pierre Cardin mod dress complete with the designer’s well-known bullseye motif.
Ortega wore a sleeveless boatneck shift dress with a straight silhouette that sported one of Cardin’s best-known detailings. Dating back to 1966, the dress is from Cardin’s “Target” collection. A sort of nesting doll design with circles, the left half of the otherwise bright white dress is dominated by Cardin’s bullseye: a large red oval containing a small mustard yellow oval with a black circle at the center.
The dress’s circular design is highly reminiscent of the “Klara and the Sun” poster, which features Ortega as the titular character with her side profile enveloped by a golden sun. For the Rome Film Festival showing, Ortega paired the dress with a slightly retro updo, cream colored pointed heels, and bold red lipstick for a vaguely 60s-inspired vibe.
Cardin’s Target dresses, marked by bold colors and geometric patterns, were often described as having something of a space age, futuristic look. It was a great choice for Ortega’s latest sci-fi film. The “Wendy” star is heavily promoting the movie at the moment, and is no stranger to making bold fashion choices for events surrounding “Klara and the Sun.” At the film’s London premiere, for example, Ortega wore a statement headwear piece. Dressed in a custom gold-colored gown with black lace embellishments, Ortega paired the look with an ornate, lacy headpiece in a goldenrod hue.
Based on Kazuo Ishiguro’s 2021 novel of the same name, “Klara and the Sun” is a dystopian science fiction story set in the future in the United States. For the film, Ortega plays the book’s narrator, a solar-powered obsolete AI companion selected to befriend and bond with a sick girl. The hotly-anticipated film has been hitting the festival circuit this fall and is set to premiere in theaters on October 23.