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Jenna Ortega wore a one-of-one corset dress by emerging designer Elias Matso to the New York screening of Klara and the Sun on October 19. Matso told Marie Claire the steel-and-crystal look took about 300 hours to make and required repeated repairs and final alterations. The source report does not specify the screening’s year.
Jenna Ortega wore a one-of-one corset dress by designer Elias Matso to a New York screening of Klara and the Sun on October 19, bringing a labor-intensive, steel-and-crystal design from Matso’s Polimoda thesis collection onto the actor’s film press tour. In an interview with Marie Claire, Matso said the look took about 300 hours to make and needed repeated repairs and last-minute alterations before Ortega wore it.
Matso said he began making the dress in late November 2025, building it around the idea of exposing the construction of a corset rather than concealing it. He described his approach to Marie Claire as taking “the guts of a corset and turning it into the embellishment of the dress.” The design was part of his “Melt with Me” collection, created for his final year at Italy’s Polimoda fashion school.
The look combines a beige bodysuit shell with steel boning and thousands of small metal pieces. Matso said he cut spiral and flat steel boning into tiny sections, painted some of them and crimped them with boning caps. Friends, freelancers and family members helped with the work, he said. The finished dress was topped with 6,500 blue, pink and clear crystals supplied by Czech brand Preciosa.
Matso told Marie Claire that moving and shipping the heavy dress made it vulnerable to damage, and he had to repair it repeatedly. He said he brought needle-nose pliers and super glue backstage to fix metal and crystal details when Ortega wore it. The designer also said he completed alterations after meeting Ortega at a fitting the day before the screening. Ortega told People on the red carpet that the dress was handmade from steel rods and described Matso as “so special and so cool.”
A Thesis Look Reaches the Red Carpet
The dress offers a clear example of how a student collection can move from a fashion-school project to a high-profile film appearance. Ortega’s red-carpet choice put Matso’s work before an audience beyond Polimoda, while the construction details show the amount of hands-on labor behind a garment that might otherwise be read chiefly as a finished image.
Its materials also connect the outfit to the film’s subject. Klara and the Sun follows an artificial friend, and Matso said he saw a parallel between the movie’s questions about technology and the dress’s combination of handcrafted construction and digital-era visibility. That is the designer’s interpretation, not a stated message from the film or Ortega. Still, the contrast between individually crimped steel pieces and a look circulating through online fashion coverage gives the design a specific connection to the occasion.
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From Polimoda Collection to Screening
Matso developed the dress for “Melt with Me,” his final collection at Polimoda. He told Marie Claire that the work drew on Canadian painter Mark Ranger, particularly the colors and movement he saw in painted metal. The fringe skirt, he said, was a tribute to designer Bob Mackie and the dramatic effect of his clothes.
According to Matso, he connected with Ortega’s longtime stylist, Enrique Melendez, in May 2026. Melendez showed Ortega the design, and the actor agreed to wear it, Matso said. The pair met in person for the first time at a fitting the day before the red-carpet appearance. Matso said he made adjustments overnight. His account places the styling process alongside the dress’s longer construction period, which involved work in six cities and repeated maintenance as the garment was transported.
““I chopped it into thousands of pieces and painted some of them.””
— Elias Matso, speaking to Marie Claire
The Screening Date and Dress Details
The source identifies the screening date as October 19 but does not provide the year. It also does not state how long Ortega wore the dress, whether it has been displayed or worn again, or what happened to it after the appearance. The 300-hour figure and details about construction, repairs and fitting come from Matso’s account to Marie Claire; the source does not independently document the work hours. No further statement from Ortega or her stylist about the selection process is included.
Matso’s Work After the Red Carpet
The source reports no announced next appearance for the dress or follow-up event tied to it. Matso has previously designed clothes for performers including Lizzo, Tyla, Sarah Paulson and Shay Mitchell, according to Marie Claire, but the report does not confirm which clients or projects are next. For now, the documented development is the dress’s completion and Ortega’s appearance in it; any future exhibition, reuse or collection plans remain unreported.
Key Questions
Who designed Jenna Ortega’s corset dress?
Elias Matso designed the one-of-one look as part of his “Melt with Me” thesis collection for Polimoda.
How long did the dress take to make?
Matso told Marie Claire that construction took about 300 hours, with help from freelancers, friends and family members.
What materials were used?
The design used steel boning and small crimped metal pieces over a beige bodysuit shell, with 6,500 blue, pink and clear crystals supplied by Preciosa.
Where did Ortega wear the dress?
Ortega wore it to a New York screening of Klara and the Sun on October 19. The source report does not specify the year.
Was the dress made specifically for Ortega?
The dress originated in Matso’s thesis collection. He told Marie Claire that Ortega’s stylist showed her the design and that he made final alterations after her fitting the day before the screening.
Source: rss
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