Anya Taylor-Joy Does Modern Take on Dior’s Famed Venus Dress

There are a few hallmarks that define every Dior ambassador: classic beauty—Jisoo, Charlize Theron, and Rachel Zegler come to mind, among others—a starring role in a Dior Beauty campaign, and a lifetime supply of Lady Dior handbags (presumably). But over the past year, a new trend among the many faces of the house has emerged—the opportunity to wear a modern take on the famed Dior Junon and Venus dresses. On Sunday night, Anya Taylor-Joy was the latest to show off a signature scaled dress from the luxury house at the 96th annual Academy Awards.

Taylor-Joy, who is presenting tonight, arrived to the red carpet in a Dior Haute Couture gown featuring a strapless bodice decorated with silver beading and appliques, and a skirt created from similarly-decorated fish-like scales. The technique is a direct reference to two of Christian Dior’s most famous designs, the Junon and Venus dresses, which he created as part of his autumn/winter 1949/50 collection.

This is not the first time Maria Grazia Chiuri has been inspired by the Junon and Venus. Last May, Natalie Portman—another house ambassador—wore a version on the Junon to the premiere of May December at the Cannes Film Festival. Portman’s dress, however, was more of a direct recreation, while it seems that Grazia Chiuri took a bit more creative liberty for Taylor-Joy’s design, which was specifically inspired by the Venus. The original Junon dress is white with blue beading, while the Venus is light pink. This time, Maria Grazia veered slightly off the path of the originals by introducing a gray and silver color scheme, while also adjusting the silhouette from a dramatic ballgown to a slightly more streamlined skirt. Perhaps after both the original and Portman’s recent recreation, the designer added more of her own spin so as not to elicit as many comparisons. That being said, there’s still no question as to the archival piece Grazia Chiuri had on her mind when designing Taylor-Joy’s dress.

Taylor-Joy smartly let this beauty of a gown do most of the work on the Oscars red carpet, opting to wear her long, blonde locks in a simple, straight style and accessorize with Tiffany & Co. jewelry and a Jaeger-LeCoultre watch. Specifically, the actress wore a necklace from Tiffany & Co.’s Blue Book 2023 collection, titled “Out of the Blue,” a campaign for which Taylor-Joy also happens to have starred as the face. The actress spoke about her diamond necklace to Laverne Cox on the red carpet. “I like that she’s spikey and I like that she moves,” she said. “She makes me feel very much alive.”