Zoe Saldaña Brought Ease to Couture Week at the Dior Show

Haute Couture shows are typically when designers and their guests pull out all the stops: more tulle, more embroidery, more drama. Dior is certainly no exception, but this season the clothes whispered rather than shouted. Maria Grazia Chiuri’s latest runway was inspired by the work of Ukrainian artist Olesia Trofymenko and the Tree of Life. Feminine, elegant, and understated before you looked closely at the details, the collection offered a bit of reprieve among the melee. Channeling that spirit in the front row was Zoe Saldaña, who took in the crisp white dresses and intricate lacework in an equally romantic ensemble. “I truly can’t pick one favorite look from the show; they were all incredible,” she says. “I was in awe of each garment’s precise silhouette and all the unique textures on display.”

Saldaña wore look 66 from Dior’s cruise 2023 collection. The cruise show delighted guests with 40 dancers and flamenco stars in Seville last month, and fittingly Saldaña’s outfit merged themes from that Spanish-inspired collection with the couture show. She wore an open weave off-white midi skirt, a wide black belt with a gold buckle, and a black and cream vest with delicate lace trim over a light camisole. The look was finished with a pearl choker necklace, bangles, and drop earrings. “My look just felt so effortless. I wanted to be appropriate for the season so I opted for a lighter look for the daytime show,” she says. “The strong ode to the Spanish Flamenco was something that I immediately gravitated towards when initially choosing this look with Dior.” She let her hair and makeup artists, Nai’vasha and Hung Vanngo, express themselves, and the result was a slicked back braid and peachy makeup. Again: effortless. Her guest for the day was her nephew, Eli, who brought the edge in biker shorts and moto boots. 

At the show, Saldaña had the chance to see her friend and Avatar: The Way of Water co-star Sigourney Weaver. “We can’t wait for the press tour to begin,” Saldaña says. (Based on their mutual good taste, we can’t either.) And because even an A-lister gets a thrill out of spotting a celeb, Saldaña was excited to see the musician Celeste. “I’m such an admirer of all her work.”

After leaving Paris, Saldaña has plenty of work to do. She’ll start shooting her new series Lioness with co-star Nicole Kidman, gear up for the premiere of the Avatar sequel in December, the David O. Russell film Amsterdam in November, and the new Netflix limited series From Scratch, based on the novel of the same name. But first, she’ll enjoy some downtime with family.

Below, see how Saldaña got ready for Dior’s couture show.