Now more than ever, vintage and archival fashion have become a status symbol of taste and access. With only so many prize pieces available—and in good condition—celebrities and their stylists seem to be in an arms race of sorts, clamoring for the most impressive pieces from John Galliano’s Dior or Alexander McQueen’s Givenchy.
This year raised the bar for archival fashion. At the 2024 Met Gala, Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion, Kendall Jenner walked the Met steps in a fall 1999 Givenchy haute couture look from Alexander McQueen. The dress, made of nude and black tulle and hand-embroidered with over 100,000 beads and sequins, was originally shown on a mannequin, and had never been worn by a human being before. For the 2024 Academy Gala, Kaia Gerber also turned to Givenchy, where incoming creative director Sarah Burton lent her a piece from McQueen’s fall 1997 haute couture collection for the house. The black cap-sleeve dress, embellished with black beaded florals and fringe, offered a gothic riff on Audrey Hepburn’s My Fair Lady dress—a very appropriate mixture of fashion and film.
Both Bella Hadid and Zendaya flexed their archival fashion muscles this year—in terms of both quality and quantity. Hadid, styled by Molly Dickson, modeled Galliano Dior, Michael and Hushi, and a dusky lavender Zuhair Murad piece so old that not even the brand knew when it was from. Zendaya and Law Roach, meanwhile, brought archival fashion to both her Dune: Part Two and Challengers press tours in Vivienne Westwood, Stéphane Rolland, and—of course—her instantly iconic gynoid suit from Thierry Mugler’s fall 1995 couture collection.
Another jaw-dropping pull went to Naomi Campbell, who walked the Croisette at the Cannes Film Festival in a black sequined dress with sheer panels and pearl straps from Chanel’s fall 1996 couture collection—that she herself debuted on the runway. Elle Fanning and Maddie Ziegler also wore pieces of fashion history: Fanning in a 1960 Pierre Balmain, which she brought to the Golden Globes, and Ziegler in the little sister to McQueen’s famous Oyster dress at the SAG Awards.
Here, see the best celebrity archival fashion of 2024, from Ariana Grande hosting SNL in 1982 Mugler to Emily Ratajkowski’s “brat green” Tom Ford Gucci in Venice and Amal Clooney’s summer vintage parade.
