Cailee Spaeny won big at last year’s Venice Film Festival, scooping the Best Actress gong for her mesmerising turn in Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla – and the 26-year-old was equally as captivating upon her return to the prestigious event this year.
Attending Miu Miu’s Women’s Tales event, Spaeny opted to wear a teal green dress from the brand’s red carpet gown collection – similar to a style she’d fallen in love with when seeing it on the Miu Miu autumn/winter 2024 catwalk. It was the versatility of the dress that really appealed. “There’s something elevated but laidback and effortless, but pushing the envelope,” Spaeny tells me.
We caught up with the actress just before she hit the red carpet, during which she told us how fashion is her form of self-expression, how to breathe new life into old clothes, and why she looks to Audrey Hepburn for fashion inspiration.
Talk us through your look for this evening. Why does it feel like a good fit for you?
“I’m in Venice for the Miu Miu Women’s Tales short film premiere. Women’s Tales is all about giving women the freedom to express whatever they want to express, in their most authentic way. When I wear and work with Miu Miu, I always feel like I’m getting to express myself through the clothing.
“I went to the Miu Miu autumn/winter 2024 fashion show, and remember seeing a [similar style] black variation of this dress. I loved that it was this timeless, classic silhouette with an unexpected cut-out on the chest. Then, before Venice, I went to the Miu Miu store and I saw the dress again in this incredible teal, turquoise, emerald shade that sprung out at me. My stylist Nicky Yates and I both just went: ‘Yep, that’s it. That’s the one.’”
What makes Miu Miu such a great fit for your personal style?
“Aside from them being such an iconic brand that we all know and love, I think the artists and the team at Miu Miu really reflect the brand; there’s something elevated but laidback and effortless [about them]. They’re always pushing the envelope, and they’ve been really easy and fun to collaborate with.”
How involved do you get in the styling process?
“I love the process of styling. I love getting to have discussions with Nicky, who I’ve been working with very closely on my last three press tours. We’re always trying to find how we nod to the film that I’m promoting, while also continuing to find my own sense of style. Miu Miu has been there from the beginning.
“For me, I feel very emotionally connected with this brand; Miu Miu styled me for my first premieres when I started and they’ve been around for some of the most important moments in my career. There’s lots of love there. But fashion and styling is really part of work for me, and I take it on as an act of expression.”
What’s your ideal ‘getting-ready’ set-up?
“I like to put on some ’70s music, I like a coffee nearby, and I like having a couple of hours to spare. I just want good people around and good vibes. I try to hand-pick a playlist that everyone will like. I like lots of time to get ready; I always feel like that’s really luxurious, because you can just sit back and relax, and everyone can have a little snack, and we can sing along to a song, or we can have deep conversations, or I can mentally prep myself before whatever event is about to happen.
“Often, getting ready is my favourite part of the night, because I love all the people that I have around who helped me. Sometimes it’s more about getting in the mental space than it is about the glam, so having good people is key.”
What kind of fashion makes you feel your most confident?
“The fun of fashion is that you can change it depending on your mood or what kind of version of yourself you want to be that day. I feel confident when I’m being authentic to myself.”
How has your style and relationship with clothing evolved over the years?
“It’s evolved a lot. Growing up in the American Midwest with not a lot of money and coming from a house with lots of hand-me-downs, I learned very quickly to adapt an item of clothing to me. Whether it was oversized or not trendy anymore, I learned quickly how to restyle it and make things my own.
“Now clothing is such a huge part of my job, and I have free reign to decide who I am and what I want to express through the clothing. Once you spend so much time using clothes to find a character when you’re working on a film, I think that then blends into your life, and you apply that to your style. I use clothing to bring me back to myself.”
What has been your most memorable fashion moment in recent years?
“I loved the all-white gown with the beaded cape I wore in Venice last year for the Priscilla premiere. It just felt like full Hollywood glamour; the dress, but also the moment, actually stepping out into that red carpet.
![cailee at the premiere for priscilla in 2023](https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod/images/priscilla-66d70d7e66811.jpg?resize=980:* ""Priscilla" Red Carpet - The 80th Venice International Film Festival")
“It felt like a moment that I dreamed of as a young girl when I used to imagine what that could have been like. That dress really tied into the feeling of that moment, premiering the film that I really cared about in a very glamorous setting, with all these glamorous people around. It felt like stepping out as a character. That dress allowed me to be confident in myself and take that moment in.”
Whose style have you always admired, and why?
“I always turn to the classics like Elizabeth Taylor and Audrey Hepburn. There’s always something so classy about them. Clothes never wore them; the clothes always felt like a reflection of who they are.
“When you think about an Elizabeth Taylor outfit or Audrey Hepburn outfit, you know exactly what that is. They used their clothing to write their own narrative in the public eye.”
Fashion has a reputation for being frivolous, but why does what we wear better?
“Learning about fashion as a tool of self-expression through working on films and creating characters, is something I have since applied to my personal life. It can change day-to-day, but fashion is how I start my morning – it’s how it starts all of our mornings. It really feels like a mental check-in to how I’m feeling and what I want to accomplish that day.”