Wes Anderson is wearing the crispest all-white outfit I’d ever seen. It’s a stark white button-down and matching white slacks, with his signature long hair slicked back behind his ears, making him seem even ganglier than his naturally thin frame. He’s been drinking milk — evident only in an apology and a small stain on the table in front of me (“sorry for the spill”). That is the scene I get when I walk into the room of the Mandarin Oriental hotel in New York City. It feels so on brand it could be a setup. Still, it’s impossible not to be internally delighted that Wes Anderson really does dress and act like a Wes Anderson character in real life.
Anderson is keenly aware that people boil down his films to his signature style, one characterized by bright pastels, meticulous arrangements, and symmetrical compositions. He’s embraced it over the course of his 29-year career, leaning into the dollhouse aesthetic that has come to define his films like The Grand Budapest Hotel and Asteroid City. But he admits that the recognition that his style has earned, and the copycats that he’s inspired, can sometimes put him “on the defensive.”
