When Dakota Johnson touched down at the 2025 Red Sea International Film Festival on December 4, mere hours after debuting a white winter coat at The Hollywood Reporter's Annual Women In Entertainment Gala, fans suspected her four-month naked dress hiatus would end. Award season, after all, is the opportune time to take risks. Instead, longtime stylist Kate Young outfitted her in a surprisingly opaque, custom Alessandra Rich hip cut-out gown.
Johnson doesn't star in the film Giant, the premiere she attended on Thursday. Even so, her strapless gown's slashes stole the show. The bodice began with a plunging, V-shaped neckline, drawing the eye to the waist's cutouts. Blink and you'll miss the bow atop her navel. The droopy ribbon connected the top and floor-grazing skirt, before cutouts spread horizontally across her waist. Another angle revealed the opening continued onto Johnson's back.
Dakota Johnson proved her sartorial prowess isn't just a naked dress showdown.
Give it up for the back of Dakota's Alessandra Rich gown.
Johnson's usual naked dresses hardly require any accessories. (See her necklace-less royal blue ballgown from Gucci.) Her Alessandra Rich select, on the other hand, acted as a blank canvas to project cascading diamonds.
The pièce de résistance was a bold collar-like necklace, decorated with pear-shaped diamonds from clasp to tip. More than five rows of nearly-identical stones descended beyond two seamless strands atop her décolletage. Then, Johnson upped the carat count with matching diamond drop earrings, also in silver hardware. With Chopard as the film festival's official partner, Young and Johnson had access to the Swiss label's vault. They chose the collector's item because, well, look at it.
Zoom in to appreciate Dakota's gown and sparklers in all their glory.
Johnson's festival gown marks her second foray into designer cutouts. Last month, she starred in Valentino creative director Alessandro Michele's Valentino Cruise 2026 campaign, wearing a crimson red mini dress and white lace tights. The $9,900 mini, for one, featured two tiered cutouts atop her chiffon-centric bodice. Knots between each slash created diagonal sashes alongside an off-the-shoulder sweetheart neckline. The celebrity-beloved Valentino Panthea bag appeared close-by.
In November, Dakota became a Valentino campaign star in a cut-out little red dress.
Naked dresses aren't for everyone, but strategically-placed cutouts could be the layman's alternative. Test the Johnson-backed trick this holiday season with the shoppable finds below.
Shop Cutout Dresses Inspired by Dakota Johnson
You don't need an in with Michele to copy Johnson's anti-naked number.
This $350 little black dress feels right up Johnson's alley.
Play with peekaboo waist cutouts at your next black tie wedding, too.
For under $1,000, you too can secure a LBD as sleek as Johnson's.
Subtle gold accents atop the neckline somehow make a striking silhouette feel effortless.
