A Thread about what mermaids wear
For her role in The Little Mermaid, Sienna King discusses going from model to mermaid on screen and on the red carpet.
When I first met Sienna King, I knew she had star quality. So I wasn’t surprised to learn that she’d been cast in Disney’s new live action remake of The Little Mermaid, playing the role of Tamika, one of Ariel’s sisters. Here we discuss the role that style and costume played in her transformation.
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First off, how would you describe your style?
I’d say comfortable, concise and complete. My clothes are like a second skin, like protection.
Are there particular pieces which you gravitate towards?
I love graphic tees. I’m wearing one today with one of those mesh stripper t-shirts underneath. I love that element of my style - it’s very much sexy pieces with comfortable things on top.
Can you remember the outfit you wore for your audition?
So I can’t remember my very first outfit, but the first time I met the other cast and crew, I was wearing this APC denim skirt I got on Portobello road with some sheer black tights, silver Asics trainers and an adidas crew-neck hoodie. It was a mish-mash - super girly with these silver dad shoes.
Do you remember your first meeting with the costume designers?
It was a month after I had my final audition. I went to Pinewood Studios and met Colleen [Atwood, costume designer on the film]. When they were measuring me I looked into the corner of the room and saw all the illustrations of the costumes for the sisters, with the fishes that our tails were inspired by. My tail is inspired by the mandarinfish - it’s so cool.
We had a couple of months of training before shooting began. Because everything was special FX, we basically wore leggings and a leotard. My leggings were navy blue and had some texture and bits of gold painted onto them. That’s how all of our costumes were - leggings with our tail colour and inspiration. Then I had an orange leotard on top, and there were spots on it to track for the SFX. But when it came to our hair and makeup, that was all done properly. So I actually had my crown pieces in my hair, and my necklace as well. But those were the only parts where I could see the real-life version of my character, as the rest of my body was SFX, so I had to wait until I saw the movie.
So you didn’t even know what the final version was going to look like?
No, although we had an idea from the moodboards.
How did you feel when you first saw the film?
I was in LA when I first watched it, and I was most shocked by how beautiful it was. We had an idea from the pictures but we could not really anticipate how beautiful it was going to be. To finally see it in its full glory was incredible, and I couldn't stop smiling. I was literally like a Cheshire cat in my seat!
I want to talk about the looks for the press tour. How did you plan those?
I started moodboarding in January, looking for inspiration for how I wanted to feel. I wanted some form of tailoring for one look. Then I wanted one to be more fun, not so suited and booted. I knew I wanted to emulate Tamika in some way. I feel like the blue in my costume is regal and royal, but then you've got these gold elements swirling all over it, which I thought were quite flirty and fluid and fun. So that’s kind of where I started from, and then I thought about my character’s hair, and that was so important. Being a Black woman and having Afro hair, it’s such a beautiful statement and I really wanted to make that a big part of how I was going to dress.
The first person I thought of to wear for the red carpet was, of course, Maximilian [Davis recently appointed creative director of Ferragamo]. It just felt right because we’ve worked together for so long and he’s such a great friend. There was a period where I was filming and also working as his fit model. There were some times when I wasn’t available and he was like, “Where are you? What are you doing?” I was like, “I’m doing this thing, I can't really talk about it, but you’ll see. And when I’m ready, can I wear something that you’ve made?” I was really happy to have that full circle moment, and to wear something that represented the community that I’m part of. Especially being a British model, I think that’s also where my style has come from. Being around creative, open-minded and progressive people.
The look I wore - I was actually going to wear that in London. I had another look to wear, but then we tried on the black look and I was like, “I think this is the look for LA.” It was in the Dolby theatre, so I was like you know what, I need a super chic, sophisticated, flirty outfit. And because it had the draping at the back, it made it feel almost like a fin.
Did you work with a stylist?
Yes, his name is Mark Mutyambizi. We met years ago because he used to go to CSM and I used to go there and hang out with my friends. For the London premiere, we were moodboarding trying to figure out, “OK, what are we going to do next?” Because the LA look was so iconic and a lot of people loved it. What was so cool about the Feben dress we eventually chose is that when I put it on, my friend said it looked like seafoam. And it really did!
Were there any other looks that didn’t make the cut?
Yeah, there were two. But I’ll leave that there!
Last question, which character would you like to dress up as next?
If I could dress up as jazz player from the Harlem Renaissance, that would be quite cool. 1920s New York; yeah, that’s a bit of me. Or all three of the girls from Charlie’s Angels.
The Little Mermaid is in theatres now.
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Wearing a vintage Junya Watanabe skirt and DMX t-shirt for my “Fitting Room” video - link below!
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I did a “Fitting Room” styling video for Selfridges, in which I talk through my favourite pieces from their secondhand RESELFRIDGES curation.
Listened to DJ Louise Chen’s episode of Phoebe Lovatt’s Deep Read podcast. Such an insightful conversation between two very smart women.
Isamaya Ffrench is a lol! Love this video of her madcap morning routine. Hint: it involves showering in beer.
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Oozing young talent all around- great piece! 🙌🏻🙌🏻