CALLAS SHEET

Maria Callas's singular voice made her a legend on the stage. In a new film starring Angelina Jolieand on the runwaysthe romance continues.

- Liam Hess

Who was the real Maria Callas? Given the Americanborn Greek opera singer’s tumultuous career and her dark, dazzling glamour, it’s a question that many have attempted to unpick. The latest name you can add to that list: Angelina Jolie, the star of Maria, a new biopic that peels back the layers to reveal the woman behind the “La Divina” myth. And not least through its ravishing costumes, which span everything from her most iconic stage outfits to her bedroom dressing gowns. “I see fashion as a form of art, even unrelated to my work as a filmmaker,” the director Pablo Larraín tells me over the phone from Chile, where he’s just returned after promoting Maria at the fall film festivals. (Maria opened in theaters in November before streaming on Netflix.) “And in a film about Maria Callas—someone who was a fashion icon—it was important to do a proper job.”

Larraín has an impressive track record when it comes to getting under the skin—and decoding the sartorial mores—of the 20th century’s most iconic women. ( Just take 2016’s Jackie or 2021’s Spencer.) To bring Callas’s aesthetic to life, Larraín turned to the Italian costume designer Massimo Cantini Parrini, who happens to possess one of Europe’s most impressive archives of historical clothing. “Lucky for me, Maria Callas was one of the most photographed women in the world,” says Cantini Parrini.