Now, more than ever, vintage and archive fashion is a status symbol of taste and access. With limited prizes available and in good condition, celebrities and their stylists have entered into a kind of arms race for the most memorable pieces from John Galliano’s Dior and Alexander McQueen’s Givenchy. It seems like it is.
This year we raised the bar for archival fashion. At the 2024 Met Gala “Sleeping Beauty: Fashion’s Awakening,” Kendall Jenner walked down the Met steps wearing Alexander McQueen’s fall 1999 Givenchy haute couture look. The dress, made from nude and black tulle and hand-embroidered with more than 100,000 beads and sequins, was originally depicted on a mannequin and has never been worn by a human before. Kaia Gerber also turned to Givenchy for the 2024 Academy Gala, with incoming creative director Sarah Burton loaning pieces from McQueen’s fall 1997 haute couture collection to Givenchy. The black cap-sleeve dress is embellished with black beaded florals and fringes, giving a gothic vibe to Audrey Hepburn’s My Fair Lady dress, which is very appropriate for fashion and film. It’s a combination.
Both Bella Hadid and Zendaya demonstrated the power of archival fashion this year, both in terms of quality and quantity. Styled by Molly Dixon, Hadid modeled by Galliano Dior, Michael, Fushi, and a Zuhair Murad piece in a dusky lavender so old that even the brand can’t tell when it’s from. Meanwhile, Zendaya and Law Roach brought archival fashion to her Dune: Part 2 and Challengers press tour at Vivienne Westwood, Stéphane Rolland, and, of course, Thierry Mugler’s 1995 brought her instantly iconic gynoid suit from the fall 2019 haute couture collection.
Another shocking story was Naomi Campbell walking down the Croisette at the Cannes Film Festival wearing a black sequined dress with sheer panels and pearl straps from Chanel’s Fall 1996 Haute Couture collection – herself. It also debuted on the runway. Elle Fanning and Maddie Ziegler also wore fashion history-making pieces. Fanning wore a 1960 Pierre Balmain she brought to the Golden Globes, and Ziegler wore the younger sister of McQueen’s famous Oyster dress to the SAG Awards.
Here, from Ariana Grande hosting SNL in Mugler in 1982, to Emily Ratajkowski’s “Brat Green” Tom Ford Gucci in Venice, to Amal Clooney’s Summer Vintage Parade, we’ve got you covered for 2024. Check out the best celebrity archive fashion.
