David Finch and Rooney Mara have a history of producing dark, edgy work – we loved their take on Lisbeth Salander in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo – so it should come as no surprise that their Calvin Klein ad is just as gritty. You can watch Mara in action in the black-and-white campaign video above.

Downtown is Calvin Klein’s newest fragrance aimed at an edgier youth market – this isn’t your average girly perfume, which is probably why they tapped Mara to front the campaign. Sure, her huge doe eyes might scream ‘damsel in distress’, but her film roles – from the murderous wife in Steven Soderbergh’s Side Effects to, er, the murderous hacker in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo – are anything but. And whoever chose Yeah Yeah Yeah’s ‘Runaway’ for the soundtrack deserves major props, too.

As for the scent itself, cK describe it as a floral, woody fragrance with top notes of Italian cedrat, bergamot, Tunisian neroli, green pear and watery plum. It comes out this month.

The post David Finch directs Rooney Mara in Calvin Klein’s Downtown fragrance ad appeared first on Wonderland.

BEST

1. CARA DELEVINGNE

It’s a nice Burberry dress, but you know what’s truly qualifies as punk in this media-obsessed age? Turning up and facing the paparazzi despite having been photographed a few days earlier with a baggie of “mysterious white powder” falling out of your bag. Anyone else would have issued an apology and spinelessly locked themselves in rehab to wait out the media storm. Cara Delevingne, we salute you.

Punk as fuck rating: More punk than Nancy Spungen throwing a chair out of a window at the Chelsea Hotel

2. KIM KARDASHIAN

Let’s say you’re Kim K, pregnant with your first child. For the past few months, people have been ripping it out of you for being too fat – even accusing you of gaining weight to land a diet endorsement deal. What do you do? Hide in Kanye’s mansion and cry into a tub of Ben & Jerry’s? Nope. You wear a bizarre gloved dress from Givenchy to one of the most high-profile social events of the year and you hold your head high. Punk has always been about ignoring the haters, so in this sense, Kim has truly succeeded. (Still not a fan of those gloves, though.)

Punk as fuck rating: More punk than the Sex Pistols squaring up to a disgusted Bill Grundy during a TV interview (and winning)

3. DONATELLA VERSACE

How could we forget Donatella? After all, this is the designer who admitted “my face is not like this naturally“; the businesswoman who was addicted to coke while running the Versace empire; the icon who inspired her own Saturday Night Live impression. You’d be hard pressed to find anyone who defied the naysayers like Donatella did – and all the while looking like the bestest, most gloriously tacky Miami Vice version of a fashion designer ever. Looking ridic while being slyly successful – it’s the punk way.

Punk as fuck rating: More punk than Debbie Harry bleaching her hair in a sink at CBGB’s

4. MILEY CYRUS

Miley: navigating the awkward post-Disney stage of her career by not giving a fuck what anyone thinks. Also one of the best outfits of the night purely because she actually has punk hair, as opposed to that weird sidebraid that people like Miranda Kerr used to give the impression of a shaved head. Come on ladies, show some commitment.

Punk as fuck rating: More punk than early NOFX, pre-Reading Festival headliner days

WORST

1. BEYONCE

Don’t get us wrong, we love Beyoncé. Beyoncé can look fierce. She can look glam. But bless her, Beyonce couldn’t be less punk than if she’d turned up in an H&M kaftan singing an acapella version of Cater 2 U. She’s worn shellac nails that are probably harder than she is. Also, why has every American somehow interpreted red carpet gloves as being ‘punk’?

Punk as fuck rating: About as punk as your little sister’s Black Flag t-shirt from Urban Outfitters

2. MADONNA

There’s paying a sly, subtle homage to a costume theme, and then there’s Madonna.

Punk as fuck rating: About as punk as the matinee performance of Green Day’s stage musical

3. ROONEY MARA

We adore the Givenchy dress, but we always feel as if Rooney Mara has been beamed in from an alternate dimension where Gattaca really happened and all the men only wear Dior Homme AW13. You get the feeling that if a single hair on her head was moved, she’d probably stab someone with a zipper.

Punk as fuck rating: About as punk as Nancy Regan in a Laura Ashley cardigan trying to ban Prince

4. NICOLE RITCHIE

A special Fraggle Rock interpretation of The Snow Queen.

Punk as fuck rating: About as punk as a lounge cover of Guns of Brixton

Words: Zing Tsjeng (Follow Zing on Twitter @misszing)

The post Best and Worst Dressed At The Met Gala appeared first on Wonderland.

The autumn/winter ’12 shows are well under way, hinting at a darker, gothic sensibility for next season. Milan did it full of intoxicating glamour but with a newfound stripped-back elegance (à la Jil Sander). With Rooney Mara fringes at Marni, a play on boxy tailoring at Bottega Veneta, and beaming jewels just about everywhere, it showed it’s not a capital to be overlooked. We rounded up some of our favourites…

On Miuccia Prada’s mind for next winter is ladylike power and aristocracy, but virtual (inspired by her PhD in political science?). Rolling out the lavish carpet seen at the menswear show – this time in purple, she sent out avatar-like regal princesses.

Layers of three-quarter-length skirts and tailcoats were wrapped over tapered trousers elongating the silhouette, complimented by the dip-dyed, never-ending hair. They came embellished with glitzy decoration in the form of giant scattered diamonds – only they weren’t real jewels, but plastic 3-D ornaments. Prada for the people? Not entirely. Their shapes were taken from the rich graphic prints that followed, recalling early 70s pop art and interior design. Toying with taste, the seasonal Prada shoe came in two-tone clunky heels and low platforms. Structure, ornament and print, it was the cultivated a,b,c of Prada.

“Beautiful” is not the adjective to describe collections, but Raf Simons’ last one for Jil Sander was just that. Guided by the emotion of Simons stepping down to make way for the house’s namesake designer, it brought the usually composed Milano to tears. On the catwalk were bouquets of flowers encased in glass boxes, celebrating and commiserating his seven years at the helm. From these stemmed the powdery sweet palette of the collection – blush pinks, dusty creams and pale lavenders – on cocoon coats in soft wool and cashmere. Sonic Youth’s version of “Superstar” on the soundtrack seemed fitting, poignant even, as the collection hit all the chords of Simons’ masterful refinement. One that also hinted at new pastures, or should we say New Look-ridden ones?

While last season saw Milan lose D&Gs exuberance, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana have put in twice the work on their main line. And it shows. This season saw them explore opulence inspired by ornately carved frames, with gold embroidery recalling gilding seen on Indian sarees. Though not ones to cover up their voluptuous woman, the duo placed the principal motif on strict black wool tuxedo dresses and velvet rompers. Baroque-rich capes followed as outerwear, layered over trademark white lace and floral dresses. Full of grandeur and theater, the collection screamed bourgeois, but one that pushed their own envelope.

Words: Modesta Dziautaite

The post Milan Fashion Week – AW12 appeared first on Wonderland.

What was it that attracted you to this project?

Those two characters, Lisbeth and Mikael. I think that Larrson did a really spectacular job of dramatising the incredibly inhumane things that [Lisbeth] overcomes and I think that Blomkvist appreciates that and can see that. And I like thrillers where the audience is in a slightly resistant place. Their sense of disbelief is much harder because often you put them in a situation that they don’t want to be in and don’t want to experience.

The rape scene of Lisbeth is particularly difficult to digest – why do you think it is important to show that in such graphic detail?

Well, rape is really horrific. I needed people to be horrified and offended by the act itself – so when people say to me “God! The rape in this movie is really upsetting” my attitude is “fuck yeah! It’s supposed to be.” There is a lot of stuff that happens in her back-story that is not part of the first book that informs who she is. So it has to be something that the audience experiences so that you realise that there is so much about her that Mikael doesn’t know and so much that she has experienced first hand so that when she does drops her armour, it’s a real time emotional thing where she allows him into her life and you have experienced what her life has been before that.

For some, listening to Enya has always been a form of torture – do you feel the same way and is this why the song is played during a torture scene?

[Laughs] It was a little sardonic. We were rehearsing the scene and I was explaining that I saw [the torturer] as an audiophile. I like the idea that it was in the late 70s or early 80s that he equipped his dungeon and everything had kind of stayed that way. And when we started talking about the music that should play, it was Daniel Craig who ran to his iPod and scrolled through it and said “This!” and played Orinoco Flow by Enya. We all laughed ourselves silly and thought “we have to do it!”

We heard that Daniel had to get out of shape to play Mikael Blomkvist – but he still looks ripped!

Well, his idea of out of shape is my idea of 10 years of sit-ups. He literally looks the same as he did in Layer Cake – so it’s ridiculous this notion that he got out of shape for this movie, but I did ask him. I said “[Mikael is] not a guy who runs. You smoke 3 packs of cigarettes a day.” It’s what Steig Larrson was talking about – this is a guy that is much more in his head than in his body. He can engage in the things that have happened with Lisbeth but purely intellectually. I always saw the journey as the story of a guy that says “I know the evil that men can do” and she will look at him square in the eye and say “buddy, you have no idea” and by the end of the movie he is a changed man because he has seen it in a completely different way.

Will you direct the sequel?

Oh god. I don’t know that. Not this week!

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is in cinemas December 26th 2011

Words: Seamus Duff

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