Mad about Margot — the Tenenbaum effect

With her cigarette, poker-straight bob, fur coat and kohl-rimmed aura of disaffection, it’s no surprise Margot Tenenbaum has emerged as one of fashion’s most enduring muses. Wes Anderson’s heroine, played with elegant melancholy by Gwyneth Paltrow in the 2001 film The Royal Tenenbaums, was one of the most frequently referenced figures in the AW15 collections. Lacoste took the Tenenbaum tracksuit and tennis dress as its central themes (Margot wears a blue striped dress by the house in the movie, after all), while Michael Kors, MaxMara and Gucci all channelled vital elements of her insouciant Wasp look — slip dresses, loafers and the fur coat.

She’s influencing art, too. Spoke Art, a San Francisco gallery, has been working with artists for the past six years to create canvases inspired by Anderson, and its new show “Bad Dads” is about to pop-up at the Joseph Gross gallery in New York. It’s the first time the gallery has ventured on to Tenenbaum home turf and organisers are planning just how to accommodate the 51,000 RSVPs who they have already confirmed. “All of Wes’s characters have an air of uncomplicated charm and style,” says Jessica Ross, Spoke Art’s assistant director, of Margot’s essential cool. “Her deadpan personality and romanticised introspection is reinforced by her simple, yet striking attire. I mean, really, who can pull off a full-length fur and a tennis dress at the same time?”

Previously, the Anderson shows have been staged at Halloween, and visitors have dressed in character for the event. Has Ross ever done a Margot? “I channel a lot of Wes’s characters into my style,” she admits. “But if I had to choose, I’d probably go with Rushmore’s Max Fischer: his collegiate look and pseudo-nerdy personality is right up my alley.”

‘Bad Dads’, Joseph Gross Gallery, New York, August 7-9

Photograph: Catwalking