Angelina Jolie drew gasps from the media pit when she appeared on the red carpet at the New York premiere of her critically acclaimed film Maria on September 29. For the occasion, the actor, 49, wore an ivory pleated and draped gown by French couturier Madame Grès, dating back to 1956. It was sourced from Amal Clooney’s go-to vintage dealer, Mon Vintage. (The humanitarian lawyer earned her fashion stripes by searching for those John Galliano-era Dior slip gowns that made that desk-to-date-night transformation all the more legendary.)
“Angelina is truly the ultimate Mon Vintage muse,” founder and Vestiaire Collective alum Marie Blanchet told Vogue. “She’s a true Hollywood star in the 1940s and 50s sense—she picked the gown from our Paris showroom herself, making it all feel very personal.”
“Only she, who embodies timeless elegance, was worthy of reviving this emblematic masterpiece that is this Madame Grès Work of Art,” Blanchet further wrote on her Instagram.
Embracing the allure of vintage wares is fast becoming a trend. Recently, at the MTV Video Music Awards, Sabrina Carpenter wore a pearlescent floor-length gown by Bob Mackie, the same dress worn by Madonna to the 1991 Academy Awards. Elsewhere, Halsey revived a piece from Versace which Elizabeth Hurley famously donned at the grand opening of the Versace boutique in New York City in 1996. And speaking of vintage and Jolie, Sydney Sweeney wore the same plunging white gown by Marc Bouwer that Jolie wore to the Oscars back in 2004, to this year’s Vanity Fair Oscars party.
“Vintage is the best years; it is those moments in fashion that were important; the definitive shows, the definitive pieces; a change of line, a change of cut; a pop-culture [sensation],” Blanchet said in an interview in 2022.
In Maria, Jolie portrays the legendary Maria Callas, the iconic opera singer whose tumultuous life and career are explored against the backdrop of her passionate love affair with Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis. The film delves into Callas’ rise to fame, her struggles with personal insecurities, and the complexities of her relationships, particularly the heartbreak she faced when Onassis left her for Jacqueline Kennedy. The film received an eight-minute standing ovation at the Venice International Film Festival earlier this month.
Maria will be available to stream on Netflix on December 11.
