Kate and Rooney Mara brought a coordinated approach to sister dressing to the red carpet in Venice on Thursday, September 3, choosing complementary black-and-white looks for the premiere of Bucking Fastard at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival. Rooney wore a custom Louis Vuitton column dress, while Kate opted for a sequined Armani Privé gown.
The sisters were in Venice to premiere Werner Herzog's Bucking Fastard, which marks their first film together. Reuters reported that the movie premiered in competition at the festival, with the Mara sisters playing Jean and Joan Holbrooke, fictional sisters whose unusually close bond means they speak in unison and share dreams.
For the premiere, however, the sisters' connection was expressed through fashion rather than matching outfits. Their dresses came from different designers and featured contrasting silhouettes and details, while the black-and-white palette provided a visual link between the two looks.
Rooney Mara's Textural Louis Vuitton Dress
Rooney's custom Louis Vuitton dress combined a classic column silhouette with a sculptural finish. As W Magazine reported, the dress featured a bulbous bubble hem filled with intricate ruching, creating the defining detail of the otherwise streamlined gown.
The unusual hem brought texture and volume to the lower portion of the dress without changing its elongated column shape. Rooney kept the styling comparatively understated, wearing her hair in a low ponytail for the premiere.
Her Louis Vuitton gown followed a different look she wore earlier in the day for the film's photocall. For that appearance, she chose a white Stella McCartney look from the spring 2026 collection, featuring a flowing halterneck and an asymmetrical high-low skirt, according to W Magazine.
The change from the crisp white daytime ensemble to the sculptural Louis Vuitton gown gave Rooney two distinctly different looks for the same festival appearance.
Kate Mara Goes for Sequins and Pearls
Kate took a more embellished route for the evening, wearing a black-and-white Armani Privé gown covered in sequins. The dress featured a geometric neckline and an oversized pearl detail, giving the otherwise monochromatic design its most prominent decorative elements.
Her styling also remained distinct from Rooney's. While Rooney wore her hair in a low ponytail, Kate chose three small braids, adding another point of difference between the sisters' premiere appearances.
Earlier at the Bucking Fastard photocall, Kate wore a McQueen minidress with lace embroidery, sheer layers, a shimmering bodice and a cutout turtleneck. The two looks demonstrated the sisters' separate approaches to dressing for the Venice press appearances while maintaining the broader black-and-white palette seen throughout the day.
W Magazine characterized the sisters' Venice appearances as an exercise in coordinated dressing, with their individual fashion choices connected through styling details rather than identical clothing.
The Sisters Arrive in Venice for Bucking Fastard
The fashion moment accompanied a significant professional collaboration for the Mara sisters. Bucking Fastard is the first film in which Rooney and Kate have appeared together, with Herzog casting them as sisters whose movements and speech are closely synchronized.
Reuters reported that the film is inspired by the story of British twins Freda and Greta Chaplin and follows the fictional Holbrooke sisters. Orlando Bloom also stars in the film as the man both sisters love.
The sisters' coordinated appearance at the Venice premiere therefore coincided with their first shared feature-film role. On the red carpet, though, they maintained separate fashion identities: Rooney's Louis Vuitton look centered on its sculptural bubble hem and intricate ruching, while Kate's Armani Privé gown emphasized sequins, geometric lines and an oversized pearl.
Together, the two looks offered a polished example of coordinated sister dressing without relying on identical styling—a balance that was evident throughout the sisters' appearances for Bucking Fastard at the Venice Film Festival.
