Michelle Yeoh Wears Balenciaga-Designed Looks in New ‘Star Trek: Section 31’
After first meeting on the set of “Star Trek: Discovery,” Michelle Yeoh and costume designer Gersha Phillips have reunited on a new “Star Trek” project — and this time, they brought Balenciaga into the mix.
“Star Trek: Section 31” is a new original movie that premiered on Paramount+ on Friday, starring Oscar winner — and face of Balenciaga — Yeoh.
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“When we finally were going to do ‘Section 31,’ there were some key people I really, really needed, not just wanted, but needed, to give a little bit of continuity, and more important, their creativity, to make [her character] Philippa Georgiou be relatable,” Yeoh says.
By the time the project was beginning, Yeoh had become the face of Balenciaga, and knew that Phillips was a fan of Demna’s work at the brand. Phillips attended the show in Paris, after which Yeoh pitched the idea to Balenciaga.
“Balenciaga is very futuristic in many ways, and we thought ‘nothing ventured, nothing gained. So let’s go in,’” Yeoh says. “Nowadays you have a lot of amazing movies that work very closely with great designers. There’s a few of them that we know. And so we thought, let’s do it.”
“Section 31” was unique to Phillips, who has worked on several “Star Trek” projects, because of the lack of uniforms.
“Which was fantastic,” she says. “Especially because of the story, we are just meeting everybody and I think this world just doesn’t have uniforms. They’re much more of a ragtag, individualistic group of people that have been pulled together. So that was really cool. It was interesting to take those ideas and create these characters for this time and for the future.”
Phillips researched past Balenciaga collections and the brand’s archives before sending some sketches over. She traveled to Paris several times during the process, and can recall the magic of seeing Yeoh try the pieces on for the first time.
“Michelle’s fabulous in fittings. She starts to do all her stuff and kicks her legs and does all the things that we know she’s going to do in the movie,” Phillips says. “Her first look, when we first meet her, this outfit had to do so many things, and Michelle wanted it to have these weapons in it. For instance, the choker she wears comes off as a weapon.”
“Her costume is not something just for walking across her beautiful nightclub and to be wowed, but it is practical. It turns into a weapon,” Yeoh says of the look. “She literally is a lethal walking weapon.”
Another look was based off a black velvet gown that had previously been worn on a red carpet. For the film, a version was made encrusted with large rhinestones, complete with a dramatic train.
“The way it’s built, it’s made with this cage that sits very tight, almost like a corset, on the ribs and the waistline, and that’s basically what holds it up on the body part. It doesn’t even have anything here on the shoulders to really hold it on the shoulders,” Phillips says.
“When Balenciaga sent it, Gersha and I were going, ‘Uh oh.’ Three of us had to lift it out,” Yeoh recalls.
“We had so much fun with the costumes,” she adds.
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