Madonna has defined fashion’s relationship with pop stardom for decades. And in her new short film for her anticipated album CONFESSIONS II, she continues to set the standard, dressed head-to-toe in Dolce & Gabbana archive pieces and surrounded by a cast of fashion-world icons.
Unveiled at the Tribeca Festival over the weekend, the short film blurs the line between music video, fashion fantasy, and science-fiction fever dream. It opens with the pop legend in a lace-trimmed slip dress, a design that recalls the Italian label’s hallmark lingerie-as-outerwear styles, as helmeted women carrying cameras break into her room to record her. As the song progresses, the alienesque creatures start shooting lasers from their crotches (yes, really), and Madonna sings against a dance-heavy beat while wearing a crystal-embellished corset and matching miniskirt topped with a fuzzy shrug.
Madonna then finds herself inside a crowded nightclub, where she seemingly morphs into Julia Garner. The actress, who has long been rumored to play the singer in a biopic, wore a red lip, coiffed blond hair, and a Jean Paul Gaultier-style cone bra.
For her club look, Madonna chose a holy-grail vintage rhinestone-embellished bra top from Dolce & Gabbana’s fall/winter 1991 show. Sabrina Carpenter, who made an appearance to perform her and Madonna’s song Bring Your Love, wore a similarly all-black look.
Then, the singer heads into the club bathroom for another archival fashion moment. She wore a corseted minidress bonded with a PVC overlay and an exposed black bra, directly inspired by the Italian brand’s spring/summer 1998 show. The turquoise hue, of course, references the vinyl D&G raincoat Madonna wore on her Ray of Light album cover.
The video isn’t strictly a fashion affair. The bathroom scene—where Madonna engages in dancing, among other activities—assembles a star-studded crew including a martini-slinging Odessa A’zion, Shygirl, Arca, Benedict Cumberbatch, Debi Mazar, Honey Dijon, Gwendoline Christie, and Lourdes Leon. Even Kate Moss, in all her indie sleaze glory, makes an appearance to sing the line “this is how we start the party” with Madonna.
For Madonna, the project was as much about filmmaking as it was about music and, by extension, fashion.
“I like the idea of film, because I’m a ‘film-phile,’ a cinephile, and film has inspired a good part of my life,” Madonna said at the film’s debut on Friday. “Somehow [the word] video seems cheap. It was good when it was just MTV and me.”
