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Winona Ryder has broken her silence on Kendall Jenner’s claim to have reawakened a vintage Givenchy gown designed by Alexander McQueen for the 2024 Met Gala. At the time, both the French luxuriate and the supermodel-turned-super-mogul herself claimed the dress had been in a slumber for 25 years, having debuted on a mannequin and remained in the archive ever since.
The 818 Tequila proudly declared that she was the “first human” to have ever worn the intricate sheer garment premiered in the Maison’s Fall/Winter 1999 Haute Couture collection—a claim that was quickly debunked by savvy netizen sartorialists who uncovered a buried editorial of Ryder wearing the gown on the cover of Flaunt Magazine.
Now, months after the fanfare and subsequent discourse deciding who to pin the blame on, Ryder has nonchalantly acknowledged the parley months after the furore died down. “I heard about that,” the 90s screen queen remarked with her signature cool indifference. “I do remember that photo shoot,” she began.
“It was with my dear friend [and makeup artist] Kevyn Aucoin. And I did wear it. I have pictures. The photographer gave me some prints. I’m in a tartan in one of them, and I’m in that dress.” The photographer in question, Warwick Saint, has shared several outtakes from shoot, which was shot on location at New York’s iconic Milk Studios, on Instagram. You can view the entire spread, here.
He confirmed that Ryder did indeed wear the original, debunking claims that the Heathers and Edward Scissorhands breakout star was loaned a duplicate. At the time of the shoot, Ryder was at a career-high having just filmed the Academy Award-nominated psychological drama, Girl, Interrupted. Givenchy only publicly commented to clarify that Ryder had worn a replica, which the actress has since refuted.
Nevertheless, the piece is indeed a work of art worth dissecting. With 500 hours required to embroider the dress and sheer horizontal panel and another 100,000 beads and sequins used to complete the gown, it’s apparent Jenner’s pull succeeded in rousing an unsung creation.
