The Night Fashion Rules Were Meant to Be Broken
The 2025 Vanity Fair Oscar Party once again proved why it remains Hollywood's most coveted invitation. While the Academy Awards ceremony celebrates cinematic achievements, the after-party is where celebrities truly express themselves through fashion—often in ways too daring for the main event's red carpet.
This year's celebration at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts saw the triumphant return of the "naked dress" trend, with celebrities embracing transparency, strategic cutouts, and barely-there fabrics that left little to the imagination. From A-list actresses to music icons crossing over into film, the party became a showcase for the human form celebrated through high fashion.
Beyond the revealing silhouettes, the evening highlighted several key fashion narratives: sustainability continued its red carpet evolution, AI-generated designs made their Oscar debut, and vintage couture pieces found new life on young Hollywood stars. In this comprehensive coverage, we explore the ten most talked-about looks that defined the 2025 Vanity Fair Oscar Party.
1. Zendaya: Redefining Transparency in Valentino
The Look
A completely transparent custom Valentino gown featuring strategically placed crystallized elements and innovative "second-skin" technology that created an optical illusion effect between fabric and flesh.
Why It Matters
Zendaya's appearance generated the night's most viral moment, with over 15 million social media mentions within hours. The dress represented a technical breakthrough in transparent fashion, using proprietary technology developed specifically for this appearance.
Styled by Law Roach (who came out of retirement specifically for this collaboration), the look balanced revelation with artistic sophistication. "We wanted to create something that honored the human form as a work of art," Roach explained to Vogue in an exclusive interview. "The engineering behind this dress took six months to perfect."
Valentino creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli worked with a team of material scientists to develop the transparent fabric, which adapts to body temperature and lighting conditions. "This isn't just a naked dress—it's a conversation about the relationship between visibility, vulnerability, and power," Zendaya told reporters. The look was complemented by minimal Bulgari jewelry and a sleek updo that kept all attention on the architectural elements of the gown.
2. Timothée Chalamet: Masculine Transparency Redefined
The Look
A transparent Haider Ackermann ensemble featuring a sheer black top with strategic opacity and tailored trousers with transparent panels, accessorized with vintage Cartier pieces.
Why It Matters
Chalamet's look challenged gendered fashion norms by bringing the naked dress concept to menswear in a way that felt both boundary-pushing and elegantly executed. The outfit featured biodegradable sequins created from algae.
As the first major male star to fully embrace the transparent trend at an Oscar event, Chalamet continued his reputation for redefining masculine red carpet fashion. "I'm interested in the conversation around vulnerability in menswear," Chalamet explained. "There's power in revealing rather than concealing."
Designer Haider Ackermann, a longtime collaborator with the actor, created the piece using environmentally responsible materials, including biodegradable sequins developed from algae. "Timothée understands that fashion should challenge conventions while respecting our planet," Ackermann noted. The look generated significant social media attention, with fashion critics praising its technical execution and cultural significance.
3. Taylor Swift: Gilded Transparency
The Look
A gold-infused transparent Versace gown featuring thousands of hand-applied metallic elements creating a gradient effect from solid gold at the bodice to completely sheer at the hem.
Why It Matters
Swift's Oscar party appearance marked her first public outing since announcing her directorial debut film. The dress symbolized her transition from music to cinema while maintaining her signature glamour aesthetic.
Attending to celebrate her Best Original Song nomination, Swift's Versace creation took over 1,200 hours to complete. "We wanted to create something that felt like liquid gold transforming into light," explained Donatella Versace. The effect was achieved through a proprietary technique that embedded gold particles directly into transparent fabric.
Swift paired the look with her signature red lip and gold Louboutin heels. "This night represents a new chapter for me creatively," Swift shared. "I wanted something that felt transformative." The dress featured subtle references to her music catalog, with tiny song lyrics embedded within the golden elements—a detail spotted by eagle-eyed fans who created a viral treasure hunt identifying each reference.
4. Rihanna: Architectural Revelation
The Look
A sculptural Guo Pei creation featuring dramatic solid elements contrasted with completely transparent sections, creating a play between concealment and revelation that changed with every movement.
Why It Matters
Rihanna's appearance celebrated her supporting actress nomination while showcasing her fearless approach to fashion. The architectural piece represented over two years of development between the star and Chinese couturier Guo Pei.
Returning to the designer who created her legendary 2015 Met Gala look, Rihanna once again made fashion history in this boundary-pushing creation. "I wanted something that felt like wearable art," Rihanna explained. "Something that celebrates the female form while challenging how we think about revealing and concealing the body."
The dress featured hand-carved elements made from a lightweight sustainable composite material developed specifically for this collaboration. "Each solid piece was designed to frame negative space—the body becomes part of the artistic composition," explained Guo Pei. Rihanna complemented the look with her own Fenty Beauty products and jewelry from her upcoming fine jewelry collection, effectively turning her appearance into a multi-brand moment.
5. Emma Watson: Sustainable Transparency
The Look
A transparent Stella McCartney gown made entirely from regenerative materials, featuring a gradient of opacity created through innovative plant-based textiles and biodegradable sequins.
Why It Matters
Watson's look proved that sustainable fashion and revealing red carpet moments aren't mutually exclusive. The dress represented a breakthrough in eco-conscious transparent materials.
As a longtime advocate for sustainable fashion, Watson collaborated with Stella McCartney to create a naked dress that aligned with her environmental values. "The challenge was creating transparency without using synthetic materials," Watson explained. "Every element of this dress will biodegrade completely within five years."
The innovative material was developed from regeneratively farmed seaweed and plant cellulose, creating a fabric that reveals the body while maintaining structural integrity. "This dress proves that the future of fashion can be both sexy and sustainable," noted McCartney. Watson complemented the look with vintage jewelry and biodegradable glitter accents in her hair, creating a cohesive sustainable styling story.
6. Michael B. Jordan: Transparent Tailoring
The Look
A transparent tailored Louis Vuitton suit featuring gradient opacity and strategic solid elements, paired with the brand's signature hardware details and custom transparent dress shoes.
Why It Matters
Jordan's look represented the evolution of the naked trend in menswear, bringing technical innovation to traditional tailoring while maintaining masculine codes through structure and silhouette.
As the newly appointed creative director for his own fashion line, Jordan used the Oscar party to showcase his fashion vision. "I wanted to challenge myself to embrace vulnerability while maintaining strength," Jordan shared. "This look is about redefining what power dressing means for men in 2025."
Louis Vuitton's menswear team created the suit using a proprietary transparent material that maintains the structure and drape of traditional suiting fabrics. "The technical achievement here is creating transparency that doesn't sacrifice the architectural elements essential to menswear," explained the brand's design director. Jordan paired the look with minimal jewelry and grooming, allowing the innovative construction to take center stage.
7. Anya Taylor-Joy: Digital Transparency
The Look
An AI-designed transparent Iris van Herpen creation featuring responsive elements that subtly shifted in transparency based on ambient lighting and body temperature, creating a constantly evolving visual experience.
Why It Matters
Taylor-Joy's dress represented the first major red carpet moment for AI-human collaborative design, with the algorithm generating patterns based on the actress's body scan and van Herpen refining the execution.
Celebrating her Best Actress win, Taylor-Joy embraced fashion's technological frontier in this groundbreaking creation. "The dress is almost alive," she explained. "It responds to my body and the environment around me, creating a unique experience that evolves throughout the night."
Designer Iris van Herpen collaborated with an AI system that analyzed thousands of body movements to create a garment that optimized both revelation and movement. "The algorithm identified the perfect balance between transparency and structure," van Herpen noted. "Then I brought the human element of craftsmanship to execute the vision." The dress featured embedded microsensors that adjusted opacity based on environmental factors, creating a subtly shifting appearance throughout the evening.
8. Bad Bunny: Deconstructed Transparency
The Look
A deconstructed Balenciaga ensemble featuring layers of transparent materials in varying opacities, creating a collage effect that revealed and concealed different parts of the body through movement and perspective.
Why It Matters
Bad Bunny's Oscar party debut celebrated his crossover into film while maintaining the fashion-forward approach that has made him a style icon. The look challenged conventional approaches to transparency through its asymmetrical construction.
Attending to celebrate his acting debut in an Oscar-nominated film, Bad Bunny collaborated with Balenciaga creative director Demna Gvasalia on this boundary-pushing look. "We wanted to create something that felt disruptive but still elegant," the musician explained. "Something that changes depending on how you look at it."
The ensemble featured multiple layers of transparent materials in varying textures and finishes, creating a complex visual experience that revealed different aspects of the body depending on lighting and angle. "This is about challenging the binary between revealed and concealed," noted Gvasalia. Bad Bunny complemented the look with diamond ear cuffs and transparent boots, creating a cohesive styling story that balanced avant-garde elements with red carpet appropriateness.
9. Viola Davis: Elegant Transparency
The Look
A sophisticated Schiaparelli couture gown featuring strategic transparency with surrealist-inspired solid elements, creating an optical illusion effect that celebrated the body while maintaining an air of mystery.
Why It Matters
Davis's interpretation of the naked dress trend demonstrated how transparency can be adapted for different ages and style preferences while remaining impactful and boundary-pushing.
As a fashion icon known for sophisticated choices, Davis brought mature elegance to the transparency trend. "I wanted to show that revealing fashion isn't just for the young," Davis explained. "There's power in embracing your body at every age."
Schiaparelli creative director Daniel Roseberry created the gown using a combination of transparent materials and surrealist-inspired solid elements that created trompe l'oeil effects. "We designed this to celebrate Viola's strength and confidence," Roseberry noted. "Transparency can be intellectual as well as sensual."
Davis paired the look with architectural jewelry from Boucheron and a sleek updo that emphasized her neck and shoulders. The gown featured hand-embroidered elements that took over 800 hours to complete, with transparent sections strategically placed to create an elegant reveal that felt both modern and timeless. Fashion critics praised the look for demonstrating how the naked dress trend can be adapted for different body types and style preferences.
10. Cardi B: Maximalist Transparency
The Look
A dramatic Mugler creation featuring nearly complete transparency with strategic crystallized elements, exaggerated proportions, and architectural components that created a futuristic silhouette.
Why It Matters
Cardi B's interpretation of the naked dress pushed the trend to its maximalist extreme, demonstrating how transparency can be theatrical and avant-garde while still maintaining a connection to high fashion.
Attending to celebrate her original song contribution to a nominated film, Cardi B collaborated with Mugler creative director Casey Cadwallader on this boundary-pushing look. "I wanted something that would break the internet," the artist explained. "Something that celebrates the female form while creating a fashion moment people will remember."
The ensemble featured almost complete transparency with strategic crystallized elements that created a constellation effect across the body. "We approached this as wearable architecture," noted Cadwallader. "The challenge was creating something extremely revealing that still maintained the structural integrity needed for a red carpet appearance." Cardi complemented the look with an elaborate updo featuring embedded light elements that coordinated with the dress's crystallized components, creating a cohesive visual story that dominated social media coverage of the event.
The Defining Style Trends of the 2025 Vanity Fair Oscar Party
Looking across the evening's most notable looks, several key trends emerged that defined this year's celebration:
The Naked Dress Evolution
While transparency dominated the evening, each celebrity brought a unique interpretation to the trend. From Zendaya's technical innovation to Viola Davis's elegant approach, the naked dress proved its versatility across ages, genders, and style preferences.
Menswear Revolution
With Timothée Chalamet, Michael B. Jordan, and Bad Bunny embracing transparency, the evening marked a significant evolution in men's red carpet fashion. These boundary-pushing looks challenged traditional notions of masculine dress while maintaining tailored elements that referenced classic menswear codes.
Sustainable Revelation
As demonstrated by Emma Watson and Timothée Chalamet, environmental consciousness and revealing fashion are no longer mutually exclusive. Innovative materials created from regenerative sources proved that sustainability can be sexy, challenging the notion that eco-fashion must be conservative.
Digital Fashion Integration
From Anya Taylor-Joy's AI-designed gown to interactive elements embedded in several looks, technology played a central role in the evening's fashion narrative. These innovations point toward a future where fashion becomes increasingly responsive, personalized, and dynamic.
The Future of Red Carpet Fashion: Beyond Boundaries
The 2025 Vanity Fair Oscar Party will likely be remembered as the night when transparency fully transitioned from shocking to sophisticated. What began as a provocative trend has evolved into a nuanced form of expression that can communicate power, vulnerability, artistic vision, and technical innovation.
Perhaps most significantly, this year's celebration demonstrated how revealing fashion has transcended traditional limitations of age, gender, and body type. From established icons like Viola Davis to boundary-pushing newcomers like Bad Bunny, the naked dress proved its remarkable adaptability as a vehicle for personal expression.
As we look toward future red carpet events, the innovations showcased at this year's Vanity Fair Oscar Party—from sustainable transparent materials to AI-designed responsive garments—suggest that fashion's relationship with the body will continue to evolve in increasingly sophisticated and thoughtful ways. The naked dress may have reached its zenith in 2025, but its influence on how we think about revelation, concealment, and the body in fashion will resonate for years to come.
Frequently Asked Questions
The 2025 Vanity Fair Oscar Party showcased several major trends, with "naked dresses" dominating the evening. Other notable trends included sustainable couture, metallic fabrics, dramatic cutouts, and a return to Old Hollywood glamour with modern twists. Many celebrities also embraced AI-generated custom designs and interactive fashion elements that responded to environmental conditions.
Zendaya created the night's most viral moment in her custom transparent Valentino gown featuring strategically placed crystallized elements and an innovative "second-skin" technology that created an optical illusion effect. The dress, styled by Law Roach who came out of retirement specifically for this collaboration, generated over 15 million social media mentions within hours of her appearance and represented a technical breakthrough in transparent fashion design.
Sustainable fashion made a strong showing at the 2025 Vanity Fair Oscar Party, with stars like Timothée Chalamet wearing biodegradable sequins and Emma Watson showcasing a gown made entirely from regenerative materials. Many celebrities highlighted their environmental commitments through vintage couture pieces, upcycled designs, and partnerships with eco-conscious designers. The evening demonstrated that sustainability and high-glamour red carpet moments are increasingly compatible.
