Jason X Diane

Diane Kruger, the perennially best-dressed actress, teams up with Jason Wu, her partner in style, for her first foray into fashion design

- Eric Wilson

If the key to a successful union is finding common ground, then Jason Wu and Diane Kruger are ready to make their relationship as designer and muse official.

“We’re both brutally honest,” says Wu, who has dressed Kruger for many redcarpet events, including her latest appearance at the Cannes Film Festival for her best-actress-winning (and Oscar-buzz-generating) performance in the German thriller In the Fade. “That’s why I’ve always gotten along with the Germans—she’s very straightforward.”

The duo are so often of one mind that their new collaboration, a 1940s-inspired capsule for Wu’s more accessible collection, Grey Jason Wu, seemed all but inevitable. Conceived while the friends were vacationing together in Mexico, the six vintage-bombshell pieces were items Kruger really wanted in her own wardrobe, like a slim-fitting jumpsuit dressy enough for the red carpet, and a doubleply tank top to pair with palazzo pants.

With the collection arriving in stores this month, Wu and Kruger took time to reminisce about some of their favorite looks, as well as their shared love of music festivals, home décor, and cats.

DIANE KRUGER: We first met in 2009. I was looking for a dress for Cannes, and I always watched the up and-coming designers. I asked if I could try on a dress, and he showed up at a photo shoot I was doing to fit it himself. To be honest, I didn’t know right away that he was actually the designer, because he looked about 12 years old.

JASON WU: I think she’s flattering me. I looked 18.

DK: No, for real, he looked so young. And I had read that he had just dressed the First Lady.

JW: When I work on a project, I kind of go all the way. I even carried a dress to one of her movie premières this year. I couldn’t just stick this thing in a FedEx box.