Pre-loader

Cape de Coeur enters the world of cinema - Anne Hathaway costumed in The Celestine

A full circle moment for our Founder & Creative Director, Bettina Mueller Reichl

As a young designer in Austria, Bettina worked as an intern in the costume department of the Vienna Opera at the Salzburg Festival. She witnessed opera performers she admired on stage, integrating costumes she worked on into their performance. This expanded her sense of what a garment could be, and informed the way she sees - and constructs - character in clothing. Every piece in the Cape de Coeur universe embodies a persona, and it was the character of The Celestine that helped to tell the story of Patricia in her pivotal scene in She Came to Me, played by Anne Hathaway.

Writer/director Rebecca Miller created complex women characters conveyed through brilliant performance, dialogue, and costuming led by Marina Draghici. The story follows opera composer Steven Lauddem (Peter Dinklage) who is challenged by a creative block. His wife - and former therapist - Patricia (Anne Hathaway) encourages him to get out of his head by experiencing the world around him. A chance encounter with Katrina (Marisa Tomei) leads to a source of inspiration, not only for his art, but his life itself.

   VIEW TRAILER   

In conversation with Bettina Mueller Reichl

What was the process of collaboration with Rebecca Miller and Marina Draghici?

I met them at Rebecca Miller’s New York office. They had a clear vision of what kind of costume they were looking for in this specific church scene, it was amazing how our design resonated with their idea instantly. They selected a few capes to fit on Anne and ultimately chose The Celestine.

After seeing the film, how do you think The Celestine reflects the character of Patricia?

After seeing the entire plot unfold I believe this has been the logical choice. To me the Celestine always embodied a joyful innocence and celestial purity, it fits perfectly the character Patricia in her pivotal church scene.

Your design journey is layered, from working on opera costumes as a young creative, to leading design direction at global fashion and sportswear brands, and now founding an independent luxury label. What does it mean to you to see your design once again in a theatrical production?

It has been a huge honour and very exciting to work with the team of She Came to Me. I put character into our garments, each cape I design embodies a distinct persona, and to see that creatives like Rebecca and Marina recognize that is very fulfilling. As a first step I had a fit session where they both tried on the different silhouettes and seeing them enjoying our capes was such a joyful moment. I always admired Rebecca’s mother, famous Austrian Photographer Inge Morath and sitting in her daughter's office and presenting my creative work to these two amazing artists, Rebecca and Marina, has been unforgettable to me.

This is a standard cookie notice which you can easily adapt or disable as you like in the admin. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website.

Pre-loader