CNN
—
On Sunday night, after the biggest awards night of the year had wrapped up, celebrities made a quick change and headed to the official after-party annually hosted by Vanity Fair — where more unconventional fashion choices are able to shine. Some stars, such as Sydney Sweeney, came dripping in crystals, while others, including Emma Chamberlain, were laced up in leather. There were also looks in vintage lace over 30 years old, oodles of polka dot ruffles and feathers hot off the Milanese runway. But one surprising textile was head and shoulders above the rest.
Julia Fox, the enfant terrible of red carpet fashion, stood out wearing a naked dress, designed by Dilara Findikoglu, adorned only by carefully placed locks of dark curly hair. As Fox stared ahead into the sea of paparazzi cameras, she looked mythical like a freshly emerged mermaid with long black-brown tresses coiled around her body, attempting to cover her modesty.
The dress debuted just two weeks ago during London Fashion Week, where it was shown alongside Findikoglu’s tattooed leather gowns, seashell encrusted corsets and pubic –bone-exposing pants. The collection, titled “Venus from Chaos,” was inspired by Findikoglu’s vision of a post-apocalyptic liberated female society, where “the gravity of patriarchal oppression is countered by the power of conviction and lightness of imagination,” she had written in her show notes.
Fox’s look, named by Findikoglu as “Rebirth of Venus,” was a nod to Italian painter Sandro Botticelli’s seminal work “The Birth of Venus” (c. 1480). While Findikoglu isn’t the first designer to take cues from the 15th century artwork, her reference may be the most literal.
In 1993, Dolce & Gabbana spliced up the image into puzzle pieces and printed an abstract version on blazers, midi dresses and bustier tops. In his final collection in 2010, Alexander McQueen also titled a gown after the Botticelli painting — although the grey silk organza dress was digitally printed with two saintly figures, not Botticelli’s woman. In 2022, Jean Paul Gaultier screen-printed the painting onto several items of clothing, though the Uffizi Gallery in Florence — where the original work is exhibited — sued the label for breaching Italy’s Cultural Heritage Code by producing the clothes without a commercial agreement. (Jean Paul Gaultier has not commented publicly on the notice.)
Free the nipple?
While the concept of sheer, barely-there dresses date back at least to the mid-20th century, the prevailing style reflects not only modern-day tastes but also attitudes towards nudity and women’s bodies.
At the 2025 Brit Awards, which recognizes British and international music talent, Charli XCX also wore a sheer Dilara Findikoglu number. In her acceptance speech for the Artist of the Year award, she acknowledged receiving complaints from the show’s broadcaster, ITV, due to the visibility of her nipples at the event. “I feel like we’re in the era of Free the Nipple though, right?” she asked the cheering crowd, referencing the feminist campaign which calls for gender equality by advocating for the normalization and acceptance of female toplessness in public spaces.
Though not all celebrities are ready to take the plunge. While nude dresses continue to appear on the red carpet, so have flesh-colored undergarments. Last week, Millie Bobby Brown wore a see-through vintage 1998 Giorgio Armani gown to the Madrid premiere of her new film “Electric State.” It was the same dress once worn by Gwyneth Paltrow at the opening of “Shakespeare in Love,” but unlike Paltrow, Brown chose to wear nipple pasties. At the Vanity Fair afterparty, Ciara and Teyana Taylor followed suit, wearing sheer bodices that revealed smooth, nipple-less torsos.
Going nude can incite controversy. When Florence Pugh wore a pink tulle Valentino gown at the label’s runway show in 2022, she faced backlash online for revealing her chest. “My nipples were on display through a piece of fabric,” she told Elle magazine. “It really wound people up. It’s the freedom that people are scared of; the fact I’m comfortable and happy.”
If Bianca Censori’s head-turning exposé at the Grammys last month raised questions around the artistic value of naked dresses, Fox’s gown is a rebuttal. And while some will regard the latter outfit choice as equally controversial, what separates Fox’s look from others is that it is not simply shocking but also stylistic — woven with strands of art history.