En route to the 81st annual Venice International Film Festival, Molly Gordon overwhelmed a flight attendant. Not intentionally, but while intoxicated and taking in a classic rom-com, as one does.
Gordon tells me this just hours after attending the premiere for El Affaire Miu Miu, the latest addition to the brand’s “Women’s Tales” short-film anthology series. “I want you to mention in the piece that I was crying and wine-drunk while watching When Harry Met Sally, and I didn’t realize that my bag was in the middle of the aisle,” the actor, writer, and director says. The flight attendant did not want what Gordon was having, and instead screeched “PLEASE, MISS!” while gesturing breathlessly at the bag in question. “So, cut from that to … the premiere.”
Although many will recognize Gordon as Carmy’s love interest Claire from The Bear, the performer is clearly very much in her director era, having enjoyed her feature directorial debut with the comedy mockumentary Theater Camp last year. When she tells me to begin this story with her in-flight fiasco, I do not question it, because I know she is right.
The one thing Gordon admits to not necessarily directing is what she wears to events like the Venice festival. Instead, she puts all her trust in her stylist, Jared Ellner—which is likely made easier by the fact that the two have history. “Jared is actually my childhood best friend’s boyfriend,” Gordon says.
Her all-black Miu Miu look for her first-ever time at the Italian film fest was his idea. “The look really came together when Jared found this amazing dress,” Gordon says of the midi dress she wore, from the Fall/Winter 2024 collection. “I have a more hourglass figure, and it fits that shape nicely. I felt super comfortable in it. It was nice that he found this really special, Audrey Hepburn–esque dress.”
To accessorize, Gordon wore long leather Miu Miu opera gloves, a black top-handle bag, sunglasses and the brand’s popular buckle-embellished pumps. When I ask about the gloves specifically, Gordon laughs. Having your childhood best friend’s boyfriend style you may be how you get a look that really feels like you, but it is also how you end up wearing long leather opera gloves in 90-degree heat. “I think … maybe … I wouldn’t have chosen the gloves if I knew that it was 90 degrees,” she says. “But honestly, you get off the plane and you just have to commit. That is being an artist.”
She explains that the reason she really wanted to wear gloves in the first place “is that some of my favorite Italian movie stars, and even Marilyn Monroe, and a lot of people with these more hourglass figures … they have iconic looks with gloves! Wearing them, you take on a totally different character. And getting to be at the Venice Film Festival, I felt like … let’s amp up the volume a little bit.” Gordon says Ellner is always pushing her to have “a little bit more fun,” so she went with it and it worked.
Perhaps more impressive than battling the heat while having your arms wrapped in black leather is managing to channel Audrey or Marilyn or Monica Bellucci after crossing the Atlantic just hours earlier.
Gordon—who is now filming her next project, indie comedy Oh, Hi! in upstate New York—walked off the plane straight into glam. “I did send a photo in a group chat of Jared and I at nine this morning, where we look like someone shat on our face … so to pull off what we were able to pull off … I feel very blessed!” she admits with a laugh. “Shout-out to coffee and glam and the shower that I took in three minutes, and Jared and Barb and Shayna as the reason that I look presentable, because I shot a night shoot the night before, and they beat my face and got me dressed and it looked good!”
Looking good also comes easier for Gordon when she is wearing Miu Miu. “I’ve always had a fixation on this brand since I can remember knowing what a fashion brand even was,” she says. “I just feel like they’re very girly, and I love the kind of uniform that Miu Miu has. Especially now that I’m directing as well, it’s important to have those statement pieces, like a skirt and a top and a timeless black bag—things that are classic. But Miu Miu is also really sexy and cheeky and fun, and that’s a part of myself that I really like to explore as well.”
Gordon has worn the brand a handful of times already throughout her career. “When I wore them [in February] at the SAG Awards, that dress also made me feel really comfortable and locked-in—in a nice way. Miu Miu knows how to make a dress with a corset. They just know how to do it!” she says. She tells me she hopes to continue to wear Miu Miu for many special moments to come. “As long as I can give back a glove that doesn’t have too much sweat on it … hopefully, they’ll allow me to wear one of their dresses again.”
Of course the brand will, because Gordon and Miu Miu go together like Harry and Sally—although they are less likely to make you cry on an airplane.
