While this year’s Venice Film Festival line-up feels stacked to the brim as it is, few movies have attracted the same feverish anticipation as Denis Villeneuve’s spectacular new adaptation of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi classic Dune. It’s not just the film itself that is garnering buzz, however, but also those looking to see what its stars, Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya—both known for being among the most stylish dressers in Hollywood—would take to the red carpet wearing for its premiere tonight.
Thankfully, Chalamet more than delivered, arriving at the grand setting of the Palazzo del Cinema on the Venice Lido in a killer Haider Ackermann look featuring a razor-sharp power shouldered top and trousers covered in black crystals. Yet equally striking as the sleek outfit were the Cartier rings and bracelet he chose to wear, as well as a vintage brooch he attached to his sleeve for an offbeat final touch. It followed the Cartier brooches he wore pinned to his Haider Ackermann hoodie during the press conference earlier today. Both vintage pieces—one a sword-like pin from 1913 and the other an Art Deco-inspired white gold and diamond beetle from 1999—the designs bore an uncanny resemblance to the aesthetic world of Dune itself. It served as the perfect entrée to today’s announcement that Chalamet will be the legendary French jewellery maison’s latest Friend of the House.
Chalamet’s journey to becoming one of the film world’s most undeniably stylish dressers is all the more thrilling because it has been wholly defined on his own terms. (The fashion-loving actor famously works without a stylist.) From his beloved Haider Ackermann tailoring to the streetwear inflected details of his red carpet looks by Virgil Abloh at Louis Vuitton, to his eye for up-and-coming labels like S.R. Studio. LA. CA., his ability to showcase his eclectic style with the utmost ease has made him a standout star.
Yet just as noteworthy is Chalamet’s magpie-like eye for a dazzling jewellery moment. (Who can forget the tiny Eiffel Tower keychain he wore as the world’s dinkiest accessory to the Little Women premiere in 2019?) It turns out, however, that Chalamet was already a fully paid-up Cartier fan, having worn their pieces on the red carpet on multiple occasions in the past, entirely of his own accord. According to Cartier, Chalamet was even specifically keen to work with the brand’s jewellery instead of the typical decision for male actors to showcase their watches.
Whether wearing the brand’s Love and Trinity rings to the 2019 BAFTA Awards, or a silver Clash de Cartier bracelet to the premiere of The French Dispatch at Cannes earlier this year—paired with a complementary shiny silver Tom Ford suit, of course—Chalamet has more than proven his ability to wear the full spectrum of jewellery styles from classic to cutting-edge with panache. Then, there was his outfit for the 2020 Oscars, a bold Prada boiler suit that saw a vintage Cartier brooch from 1955 painstakingly crafted from rubies and diamonds.
Tonight, Chalamet’s jewellery told a new and more futuristic story, in keeping with his latest flick. Does the look mark the next step in the ever-growing market for men’s jewellery? Only time will tell. But for now, Chalamet’s new partnership with Cartier offers the prospect of plenty more glittering delights to come.
