Look of the Week: Charlize Theron’s provocative rain-slicker ‘Odyssey’ tour outfit explained
By Jacqui Palumbo, CNN
(CNN) — For a stop on the final week of “The Odyssey” press tour, actor Charlize Theron wore a head-to-toe Tom Ford look that read more like a nod to “American Psycho” than the Homeric Epic.
For the past month, the women of Christopher Nolan’s adaptation have used the red carpet and other press events to interpret the mood and mythology of the film in different, yet cohesive, ways. Some of the highlights have included Anne Hathaway’s sparkling Prada empire-waist gown, Lupita Nyong’o’s crystal-embedded Christian Cowan column dress, and Zendaya’s showstopping Matières Fécales wings.
But at a press event in Seoul on Tuesday, the last city on the tour, Theron opted for something freakier. She wore a blue and white-striped dress shirt and transparent rain-slicker knee-length skirt, cinched over a lacy black slip dress and tights with a leather belt. Topping it off, a pair of black leather gloves pushed the shirt cuffs midway up her arm.
The overall effect was part BDSM, part serial killer, conjuring Patrick Bateman in his raincoat — or perhaps John Waters’ campy “Serial Mom” if the stab-happy homemaking matriarch got a corporate job.
The most remarkable piece of the Tom Ford look, designed by creative director Haider Ackermann, is the water-ready clear skirt (a glass-effect technical fabric, according to the brand). On Theron, styled by Leslie Fremar, it could be a creative nod to her character, the nymph Calypso, who saves a shipwrecked Odysseus on her island only to trap him there for seven years. (Though in the film, the nature of their relationship takes a softer turn). The actor’s outfit was adapted from Ackermann’s Fall-Winter 2026 ready-to-wear collection, which ruminated on the language of desire and seduction, and the magnetism of opposites. In a series of photos Theron posted to Instagram of the outfit, she wrote: “Calypso finally leaves the island… and lands in Seoul.”
Ackermann has readily redefined the Tom Ford trademark sense of sensual power-dressing since he took the post in late 2024 and we’ve seen a lot of his new vision out in the wild: Miley Cyrus in gloves and a cropped tuxedo, Pedro Pascal in a romantic polka-dot scarf and undershirt-revealing white suit jacket, and Teyana Taylor in a truly barely-there halter dress that nearly defied the laws of physics.
For his show in March, he toyed with opacity through heavily layered, sometimes discordant combinations while still retaining the brand’s commitment to making its customers look hot. The mens- and womenswear collection featured pinstripe suiting; high-gloss leather; strappy, hip-baring pants; and multiple takes on the rain-slicker, from long coats to head coverings, to the skirt Theron wore in Seoul.
The look fits with Theron’s more daring leanings, especially on this press tour. She’s gone for unexpected pairings and silhouettes, including a blazer with satin short shorts, voluminous detached sleeves, and a chainmail-like armor made breezy through fringe. She’s shied away from more traditional Grecian-inspired gowns. After all, she’s already done them: at the 2017 Academy Awards in metallic gold, and the 2024 Academy Awards in a twisted play on draping, both by Dior. So why not a transparent rainproof skirt, a pair of gloves that mean business, and a pair of pumps? Theron is writing her own mythology.
The-CNN-Wire
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