The Week’s Best Dressed Stars Went Modern, Minimal, and Heavy Metal 

With Art Basel drawing crowds in Miami, London buzzing thanks to Britain’s Fashion Awards,  and New York’s film community out and about for the Gotham Awards ceremony, last week was heavy on events and fashion. Celebrities took things to the max with neon dresses, nude jumpsuits, and enough sculptural embellishment to fill a museum exhibit. 

At the Fashion Awards, Gabrielle Union embodied the mood by lighting up Royal Albert Hall in an acid green number from Pierpaolo Piccioli’s fall 2021 ‘Des Ateliers’ couture collection for Valentino. Already a high drama look, Union amplified her voluminous ball gown and taffeta cape with towering hair and plenty of diamonds. 

At the Gotham Awards, Kristen Stewart offered her take on color, picking up her latest acting prize in an August Getty Atelier French silk velvet “velours de Lyon” column gown. Crimson with built-in corsetry and a plush texture, the look was a change of pace for Stewart, who famously wore Chanel onscreen to portray Princess Diana and has filled the majority of her press tour for Spencer with pieces from the brand. After portraying a ’90s icon, Stewart kept things modern in Getty’s design. Everything from her platinum top-knot to the thick winged liner felt sleek. 

Even the week’s little black dresses received a boost thanks to the addition of sculptural, heavy metal hardware. Subtle add ons—the gilded brass eye that adorned Dakota Johnson’s silk crepe Schiaparelli halter at the Gotham Awards—were as compelling as dramatic ones—the golden spine of Zendaya’s Doctor Octopus-inspired vintage Roberto Cavalli look at the Ballon D Or Awards alongside boyfriend (and Spiderman: No Way Home co-star) Tom Holland. Still, metallic adornments proved eye catching, no matter the form they came in. The flash of the champagne-colored crystals peeking out from beneath Sandra Bullock’s Stella McCartney blazer at the Los Angeles premiere of The Unforgivable also offered a welcome edge.