Mckenna Grace took hold of her skirt with both hands at Berlin’s Zoo Palast on November 2. As she raised her arms for photographers, the pleats opened into a fan of red and orange. The custom Cong Tri gown gave Grace her own version of the flames Jennifer Lawrence wore as Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.
Grace, 20, was in Berlin for a screening of The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping. She joined Joseph Zada, Whitney Peak and Molly McCann on the carpet. Zada plays the young Haymitch Abernathy, and Grace plays Maysilee Donner, a fellow District 12 tribute. The film opens in U.S. theaters November 20.
The new film follows Haymitch into the 50th Hunger Games, 24 years before Katniss volunteers for her sister. Grace and her stylist, Molly Dickson, borrowed their Berlin look from a later trip to the Capitol, when Katniss and Peeta Mellark ride side by side in the tribute parade for the 75th Games.
The hairstyle came from the chariot scene, too. Grace wore her blonde hair in curls and braids that followed the shape of Katniss’ dark updo.
How Cong Tri’s Gown Echoed the Fire on Katniss and Peeta’s Chariot
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In photographs published by Red Carpet Fashion Awards, black, red and orange sequins shimmer across the fitted bodice. Cong Tri cut a keyhole into the halter neckline and carried the darkest tones into the skirt at the hips. The brightest reds ran along the hem.
For Catching Fire, costume designer Trish Summerville had to dress two actors for the same effect. She told Vanity Fair in 2013 that she lined laser-cut leather with gold fabric for Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson, who played Peeta. Light caught the gold through the openings in the leather. When the visual effects team added fire, it appeared to glow through those same cuts.
Grace Wore Katniss’ Bridal Look in Paris and the Arena in London
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At a Panem costume exhibition at the Musée Rodin in Paris on October 6, Grace wore a vintage Monique Lhuillier gown. Its beaded bodice and tiered white skirt recalled the wedding gown Katniss wears for her televised interview with Caesar Flickerman.
For the October 28 London fan screening, Grace and Dickson chose ALmée Couture’s Spring Symphony gown. A swirling blue sky across the bodice gave way to purple mountains and a meadow worked in beads, crystals and raised flowers. The piece had already appeared at New York Fashion Week before Grace wore it as a nod to the arena in Sunrise on the Reaping.
Grace told PEOPLE that she also worked in smaller references, including Maysilee’s braid and the butterflies Haymitch encounters in the arena. She sometimes texted Dickson with ideas as late as 3 a.m. She called them her “fan girl ramblings.”