Dakota Johnson arrived at the Time 100 Gala in New York City last night in a fresh-off-the-runway Valentino gown that turned one of fashion’s oldest ideas into the evening’s sharpest statement. The cream dress was Grecian in shape, cut with barely there straps and a draped front, but the real story was the ornate sequin feathers at her neck, which fastened a flowing, floor-length cape and train.
Johnson was on the red carpet with Hailey Bieber, Keke Palmer and Jennie, and she finished the look with diamond-encrusted snake-detail heels, feathered brunette bangs and hazy brown smoky eyes. The rest of her hair fell long and tousled down her back, while peachy blush and a blushing nude lip kept the glam soft against all that movement.
The gown landed in a room where capes were everywhere. Hilary Duff wore a diaphanous cream overlay, and Kate Hudson’s black leather gloves emerged from her built-in shawl, reinforcing the same sweep of fabric that has been showing up across red carpets and runways. The Time 100 Gala, now in its 20th year, gave the trend a particularly polished stage.
Johnson has leaned into Alessandro Michele’s nostalgic eye across both Gucci and Valentino, and she has been one of the clearest celebrities to keep testing how far a red carpet look can go without losing elegance. Last year, she wore a completely sheer bodice at the Zurich Film Festival, then later debuted a black-crystal-covered naked dress at the Kering Foundation’s Caring for Women dinner, a sequence that made her affection for daring silhouettes impossible to miss.
Stylist Kate Young has said Johnson looks best in super simple dresses because she is so beautiful, and her body is so beautiful, that the look does not require distraction. Last night’s Valentino proved the point in reverse: the cape did the talking, but the shape underneath was clean enough to let the whole image hold together.
