IN CONVERSATION WITH MASSIMO CANTINI PARRINI

interview by MAREK BARTEK

Designing for someone as iconic as Maria Callas requires more than historical accuracy — it demands empathy, intuition, and a deep understanding of who she was both on and off stage. For Pablo Larraín’s latest film, the task of dressing both memory and myth fell to a costume designer Massimo Cantini Parrini. In a conversation hosted by Cartier, we spoke with Parrini about the creative process behind dressing a legend, collaborating with Angelina Jolie, and finding meaning in the smallest details.

The job of costume designer is as intense as it gets, and for this movie you have created over 60 costumes, including recreating some of Callas' most celebrated performances. Could you elaborate on the research and the creative process behind recreating the famous garments that everyone kind of knows?

It was a very compelling and demanding job, I have to say. I managed to recover many photographs and videos of that period of Maria Callas' career and life and therefore I was able to recreate the costume designs by mimicking the same cuts, silhouettes, shapes and styles of that period. I studied some videos frame by frame, and thanks to this approach I could, for example, replicate the exact same embroideries of her ‘Tosca’ opera costume. What was important here, however, was to create the right proportions. Maria Callas was more curvy than Angelina Jolie, who is very slender. But I have to say that I am very happy with how similar Angelina looked to Maria when performing on stage for the opera.

The challenging part was to find the right fabrics, because we no longer have the same quality of fabrics that were available back then. It took me a long, long time to find them but I was lucky enough to find a shop in Rome, which had plenty of the fabrics from that specific era. I bought a whole bunch of them, and that's where I started from.

There were also many prints on the garments worn by Maria Callas that had to be recreated. But then again, I was lucky because in Italy we have a very strong textile industry and a lot of heritage craftsmen, and I ended up working with someone who could recreate the same prints for me.

all images via instagram @davincicode7
feature image: Massimo Cantini Parrini via imdb.com

While there are a lot of images from her performances, there is also a period in her life without much evidence, mostly towards the end of her life. What was important for you to capture in those costumes where you maybe did not have a lot of points of reference to create something, and how did you approach that process compared to the well-documented looks?

As far as the costumes of the 70s go, you are right, there are few photographs that show Maria Callas in that period of her life. Actually, there are just two pictures of Maria Callas in the last month of her life, and only a handful that refer to some previous months before she passed away. I drew most of my inspiration from those last photographs of her and combined it with some Saint Laurent-inspired styles, because she loved the designer. I also decided to do most of her wardrobe in black, because that’s the colour highlighting how unhappy she was. I wanted the viewer to really understand this sadness she was feeling. Despite that, this part of costume design was quite playful and fun for me, because in a way it allowed me to be the last designer of Maria Callas’ last period of her life.

Beautifully said, and it brings to mind actually a question about one very specific garment. In the film we see a lot of the dressing gown that Maria wears at home, and it really portrays her in a priestess kind of way. What can you tell me about this dressing gown because it really seems to have almost a metaphoric meaning?

It’s actually a funny story because I had collected many dressing gowns based on the styles of those Maria Callas loved, to find the right one. But then I took a leap and decided to make one myself without telling either Pablo Larraín nor Angelina Jolie.  When I presented the gowns, there was a whole bunch of them hanging on a rack, and Angelina Jolie really flung herself at the one I made straight away and said she really felt as if it were my own dressing gown. She loved it, and so did Pablo Larraín, which was really an incredible feeling for me because I didn't know what they would think about it.

When designing this dressing gown, I envisioned it as a form of protection — an armour, if you will — for when she was at home because that’s where she felt safe. She was protected by the walls of her house, and she also wore brighter colours when home; that is why I chose the ivory for the dressing gown — the opposite of the black wardrobe she would wear outside of her home.

And to tell you about how it was actually made, it was crafted by hand by a 90-year-old lady I found in Rome. She knitted it by hand, and again, I didn't know whether Pablo and Angelina were going to like it, so for it to be so adored has been surreal. It's actually the garment I’ve been getting most questions about on how I had made it and why I had made it that way, so it makes me super happy.

images credit: Angelina Jolie in “Maria.” via instagram @massimocantiniparrini

Besides designing, I know that you have an extensive archive, and you also own one or two things that belonged to Maria Callas. And then, Cartier also provided you with some original jewellery that Maria Callas wore herself, besides the one that was recreated. What did it feel like for you as a costume designer using the original authentic pieces that Maria Callas actually wore?

Let me preface this by saying that very rarely do I use pieces that come from my collection. These are very delicate garments, which could belong in a museum, and therefore I never try to use them. In this case, however, we used two pieces — one that I had found strolling through a market, and another one I had received as a gift.

I was partially more at ease with it because they were not difficult garments to wear, one being an orange cape trimmed with fur. It was a very exciting moment for me to see that piece in the movie, and even more so for Angelina Jolie to wear something that actually had belonged to Maria Callas.

It gives a lot of energy to the actor wearing these original, authentic pieces. And then Cartier was kind enough to lend us some of the original jewellery of Maria Callas. It was very emotional for Angelina to wear the Cartier brooch, and everyone was just so mesmerised looking at it. It has this flower that opens and closes.

When you work with authentic pieces, both for a costume designer and an actor or actress, it is extremely powerful. The drive, emotions, and excitement that it gives you are exceptional.

images credit: original Cartier brooch via X @MagaliDMathias

You’ve mentioned Angelina Jolie multiple times when it came to some important decisions. What was it like working with her, and what was her influence on your final product?

Let me say straight away, it was a collaboration from day one. Working with Angelina was really great; she’s a true professional and was involved from the very beginning. She was extremely respectful of the legacy of Maria Callas, especially when it came to the costumes that really referred to the well-documented real-life events and the experiences she’s lived through.

It was truly a continuous process. I arrived in Los Angeles with cases full of garments, dresses, fabrics, and prints that I showed Angelina, and we never stopped cutting and sewing throughout the whole shoot of the movie. There was this constant dialogue, which started on day one and finished with the last scene we shot. I have to say this whole experience made me feel satisfied and really fulfilled because not only was I doing my job, but I also managed to set up a team of professionals who worked very well together.