Dress Like Disney’s Maleficent And Aurora With The New Olivia von Halle Collection

It can be difficult to marry some of Disney's most famous films with a modern sensibility. We are, after all, living in a post-#MeToo world – one which seems at odds with some of the ideas played out in the older Disney films. This may be why, then, that the company has started to reinvent the narratives of well-known stories. Stories like Sleeping Beauty, which in 2014 was reimagined as Maleficent, exploring the story of the antagonist and drawing much more three-dimensional female characters. Tomorrow, the sequel – Maleficent: Mistress of Evil – is released and to accompany it, there's a brand new fashion collection, too.

Olivia von Halle – the woman responsible for some of the world's most beautiful pyjamas, including a robe seen inKilling Eveon Villanelle that promptly sold out – has designed a 15-piece collection in collaboration with Disney. The capsule range is inspired by the characters of Maleficent, who is played by Angelina Jolie, and Aurora, who is played by Elle Fanning – and incorporates everything from long gowns to new twists on the signature OvH pyjamas.

'We’d been talking to Disney about working together for a while and when they mentioned that the sequel to Maleficent was coming out we jumped at the opportunity to be involved,' says von Halle. 'I’ve always loved Disney’s villains, especially the women, and I absolutely adored Angelina’s character in the first Maleficent movie. The strength and complexity of her character really inspired me and made for the perfect starting point for a capsule collection.'

In order to create the collection, von Halle went to the set of the film to meet with Jolie and discuss the nuances of her character. 'I spent some time with Angelina... and saw the costumes which are absolutely exquisite; so beautifully made and with a level of detail that is quite staggering. We had a lovely talk about the complexities of Maleficent and Aurora's characters which was truly inspiring. I wanted to make the clothes that these characters would wear if they were women in 2019, so we picked elements from each character and put my own spin on them to build the collection. We used silk organza, metallic yarns, real pearl buttons and embroidered floral motifs to channel the ethereal nature of Aurora, while weightier fabrics such as silk velvet, textured silk devoré and statement feathers play on Maleficent’s old school glamour, with a modern fierceness.'

From the dramatic, feather-trimmed gown to the reversible silk-satin eye mask, each piece in the collection feels like something really special, that you'll end up keeping forever. For von Halle, the aforementioned feathers are her favourite, particularly as she wore the dress to the film's premiere in London. It's interesting that she has decided to create clothes based on heroines in the truest sense of the word; where once, the heroine of a Disney film was in fact just the main female character waiting to be rescued by a man, they're now portrayed as the agents of their own destiny in many ways.

Von Halle agrees. 'To me, being a heroine today is about using your voice to stand up and shout for what you believe in. The world is changing so rapidly, and I am endlessly inspired by all the women and girls today who speak out and come together in solidarity to work towards a better future for us all.'

SHOP: Olivia von Halle x Maleficent