Prabal Gurung Remakes Ingrid Bergman Gown for Elettra Wiedemann
Photo: Chad Pitman
Second time around: Elettra Weidemann and Prabal Gurung show off the remade Ingrid Bergman gown in Vogue's May issue.
It’s safe to say Elettra Weidemann has hit the genetic jackpot. The model’s mother? Isabella Rossellini. Her grandmother? Ingrid Bergman.
Of course, her famous family can not only be seen in her gorgeous face but also in her wardrobe: According to Vogue, when a trunk of Bergman’s dresses was found in her husband’s home, several went to the Wesleyan Cinema Archives but Wiedemann received two.
“I stored them, and I couldn’t even look at them,” she said in the magazine's May issue, fronted by Reese Witherspoon. “It’s interesting how clothes can connect you to a sentimentality that can be very complicated sometimes.”
The upcoming Met Costume Institute Gala presented an opportunity to get one gown out of the closet, an ivory silk chiffon dress designed by Roman couturiere Fernanda Gattinoni. But though the gown was certainly stunning as is, Wiedemann turned to her friend Prabal Gurung to give it a modern update.
“I felt it was important to pay homage to my grandmother but put my own stamp on it,” said Wiedemann.
“It was a beautiful dress with a Grecian-goddess feel,” said Gurung, “but there was too much fabric.”
The result? Gurung chopped off the length while keeping a floaty train in the back and moved the dress’s rhinestone and sequin embroidery (which used to run down the back) so that it snakes around the bodice.
“It’s still the same dress,” says Wiedemann, “but it feels a little bit sexier, more contemporary, and younger.”
We think Bergman would approve.
