If you’ve been paying attention to Tessa Thompson’s Creed II press tour wardrobe, you may have noticed a pattern. The actress has been making the rounds on talk shows and at premieres, looking chic in pieces from Valentino, Prada, and Christopher John Rogers. But with each outfit change, one element remains consistent: color. In vivid shades of green, Thompson has pulled off one of the trickiest shades imaginable and turned chartreuse into a winning red carpet statement. The bold choice isn’t mere coincidence, according to stylists Wayman Bannerman and Micah McDonald, who worked with Thompson to plan each appearance in advance. “[We] researched some of the adjectives Tessa was using to describe Bianca, then stumbled across the meaning of the color green a number of times,” shared Bannerman. A symbol of renewal, the color represents “growth, freshness, harmony, and truth” and those words were on Thompson’s mind when thinking of her character Bianca, a singer-songwriter with degenerative hearing loss who also happens to be Adonis Creed’s longtime girlfriend.
More than a reference, the color held personal significance for Thompson. “Green happens to be one of Tessa’s favorite[s] coupled with yellow which exemplifies calm and focused energy,” said Bannerman, who considered them an ideal starting point. “Those attributes made it a clear and exciting choice to pursue that theme.” Once the palette was set, the pair used each appearance to showcase its versatility: a custom Prada mini-dress with tulle sleeves and sequin paillettes at the film’s New York premiere last week was the anti-LBD, while abstract Calvin Klein florals for a trip to Good Morning America provided a jolt of excitement. Likewise, an archival Christopher John Rogers bustier paired with a satin gigot sleeve dress on Jimmy Kimmel Live brought luxurious flair to the program.
Thompson took her love of the color to social media, uploading pics of Kelis and Nina Simone in similar shades, before unveiling the pièce de résistance, a verdant Valentino gown at this week’s London premiere that took the concept to its couture endpoint. In search of a piece that could be “extravagant, bold, and effortlessly cool,” they went with Pierpaolo Piccioli’s billowing design because of its opulent sensibility. “The structure an unconventional silhouette, maintained by a petticoat, ensured the voluminous effect we needed to carry out this vision of baroque royalty,” said McDonald, who compared the gown’s sumptuous beauty to the murals at the Palace of Versailles. The decadence of the look made for an impressive photo op, and a stunning finale to Thompson’s green streak.