How Margot Robbie Prepared for the ‘Suicide Squad’ Red Carpet

At Wednesday evening’s London premiere of her new film, Suicide Squad, Margot Robbie stepped out in an ivory Gucci column gown embroidered with Alessandro Michele’s immediately recognizable flora and fauna details — a tiger emblazoned across the front, dragonflies and poppies dotting the floor-skimming hem. Accessorized with bright cocktail rings blossoming from her fingers, it was elegant with a playful edge — a theme across Robbie’s wardrobe for the entire Suicide Squad press tour, styled by Kate Young, a celebrity stylist whose clients also include Selena Gomez, Natalie Portman, and Sienna Miller.

Earlier this week, for example, Robbie stepped out in an Alexander McQueen Fall 2016 gown with a gold unicorn splashed across the front, wrapping around to the back.

“Can you believe nobody had worn it?” said Young, speaking over the phone from Woodstock, New York. From the moment she and Robbie saw it, they had it in mind for a Suicide Squad event. Though the movie itself didn’t necessarily influence the choice of premiere dress, its wild aesthetic — the film follows a troupe of psychopathic antiheroes-turned-superheroes, after all — has infused the red carpet so far. (Robbie’s co-star Jared Leto wore a Gucci overcoat at the New York premiere with tiger embroidery much like the one on Robbie’s own gown in London. Lucky they chose different cities.)

“There was some talk with the premiere dress about doing crazy hair and makeup,” Young continued. “I was like, I really don’t want this to be a theme party or a Halloween costume.”

She and Robbie started working together just prior to the 2016 Oscars, and Young also styled her through the press tour for Legend of Tarzan.

They’ve had three major fittings over the past six weeks, selecting from go-to designers like the aforementioned Gucci and Alexander McQueen, Proenza Schouler, Rosetta Getty, and others like Elie Saab and Isabel Marant for both films. Young tends to select looks that work together, so that there’s a cohesive message across a tour, but the sheer quantity of events for a DC Comics tentpole like Suicide Squad still presented an additional challenge. Fortunately for Young, Robbie “has a lot of energy and time for fashion,” she said.

For all the wardrobe irreverence (at least as far as red carpet norms go), Robbie’s styling squad kept beauty to the basics. A fresh face, a casual center part, and the occasional dark lip have defined Robbie’s hair and makeup choices so far, letting her wardrobe do the talking. After conquering New York and London, she’s on to the next stop: Tokyo.