Tonight at the 2024 Academy Museum Gala in Los Angeles, Kaia Gerber found a way to walk the line between fashion and film.
The model and actor graced the red carpet in a dress from Alexander McQueen’s fall 1997 haute couture collection for Givenchy—his second couture offering for the house during his time as creative director. Dubbed “Eclect Dissect,” McQueen told Numéro in 2002 that, “my idea was this mad scientist who cut all these women up and mixed them all back together.” Featured among the Spanish, Japanese, and Scottish influences is a dress that references Audrey Hepburn’s white embassy ball dress in My Fair Lady. McQueen also created a version in black, which Gerber pulled from the archives for the Academy Gala.
“The Academy Gala is a perfect opportunity to pay homage to Old Hollywood,” Gerber tells Vogue. “I have always been inspired by Audrey Hepburn, and I love that this was Lee McQueen’s darker, gothic version of the very classic My Fair Lady dress.”
Originally worn on the runway by Jodie Kidd (more than four years before Gerber was born!), the black silk chiffon dress is outfitted with cap sleeves and an empire waist. Its sheer, gauzy over-layer is embellished with black beaded floral motifs on the body and fringes that hung from the sleeves. She accessorized her prize vintage with shoes and a bag from Givenchy, and channeled her inner Hepburn with a choker and earrings from RW Fine Jewelry and a ring from De Beers.
While Gerber’s dress may have come from McQueen’s tenure, she’s also intentional about paying homage to his right hand, Sarah Burton—the forthcoming creative director of Givenchy herself. “I’ve had a very long and collaborative relationship with Sarah Burton. When I heard she was going to be the new creative director of Givenchy I thought working with her on this would be a wonderful way to celebrate Lee and Sarah’s time at Givenchy in the late ’90s,” she says.
The My Fair Lady dress has proven a recurring point of inspiration at Givenchy. For the 2021 Met Gala, “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion,” then-creative director Matthew M. Williams fashioned a sheer interpretation of the iconic dress for Kendall Jenner.
In her vintage Alexander McQueen dress, we have no doubt that Kaia Gerber will be the bell of the ball. Cue “I Could Have Danced All Night”!
