Katie Holmes Surprises the 2024 CFDA Awards With an Even More Unexpected Carolina Herrera Gown
It's nothing like her usual street style.


Katie Holmes's dress for the 2024 CFDA Awards was almost as unexpected, and welcome, as her appearance on the Natural History Museum's white-carpeted step-and-repeat.
My years of covering Katie Holmes's gowns has taught me that her infrequent red carpet sightings will almost always come with something elegant and black. There's no permutation of an LBD she and stylist Brie Welch haven't tried. This year, she's attended an American Ballet Theatre Gala in a beaded black caftan dress by Emilio Pucci and showed out at her Our Town Broadway premiere in a silky satin number. But on Oct. 28, Holmes decided her red carpet pattern was meant to be broken in honor of New York City's reigning design talents.
She arrived on the arm of Carolina Herrera designer Wes Gordon, glowing in a punchy long-sleeve evening gown. The colors immediately caught my eye: peony pink juxtaposed to a bright red-orange—almost coordinating with the accent letter in the CFDA's logo on the wall behind her.
Katie Holmes broke her red carpet habits at the 2024 CFDA Awards.
Twisting to show the cameras another angle, Holmes revealed a few more unanticipated details. What looked like tiny triangle cut-outs from the front revealed a much wider slice of skin from the back, ending at a point just above her hips. The shoulders of her dress were secured by a dainty black bow with trailing ribbons.
On Instagram, Welch revealed the dress was a completely custom creation. "Thanks to Wes, Jenna, and Yaqi for making this dream dress in two days," she wrote.
Another angle of Katie Holmes's 2024 CFDA Awards red carpet look.
The actor accessorized with drop crystal earrings by Irene Neuwirth in the same bright shade as her dress's skirt, along with a black envelope clutch and red point-toed kitten heels by Gianvito Rossi. She swept her hair into a middle-parted, slightly messy up-do, and chose a pale-pink makeup beat to coordinate with her dress.
Katie Holmes poses with Wes Gordon on the 2024 CFDA Awards red carpet with Wes Gordon.
Katie Holmes has mostly been spotted in two types of outfits this season: her Broadway stage-door commuter essentials, including wide-leg and barrel-leg denim, and her easygoing, downtown-errand looks. Prime fall shackets and perfectly proportioned Bevza tote bags are more of her M.O. than red carpet gowns with the palette of a fresh spring bouquet. Tonight's Carolina Herrera gown was the reason I love tuning in to a Monday night red carpet: You truly never know what you're going to get.
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Halie LeSavage is the senior fashion and beauty news editor at Marie Claire, where she assigns, edits, and writes stories for both sections. Halie is an expert on runway trends, celebrity style, emerging fashion and beauty brands, and shopping (naturally). In over seven years as a professional journalist, Halie’s reporting has ranged from fashion week coverage spanning the Copenhagen, New York, Milan, and Paris markets, to profiles on industry insiders like celebrity stylist Molly Dickson, to breaking news stories on noteworthy brand collaborations and beauty product launches. (She can personally confirm that Bella Hadid’s Ôrebella perfume is worth the hype.) She has also written dozens of research-backed shopping guides to finding the best tote bags, ballet flats, and more. Most of all, Halie loves to explore what style trends—like the rise of emotional support accessories or TikTok’s 75 Hard Style Challenge—can say about culture writ large. She also justifies almost any purchase by saying it’s “for work.”
Halie has previously held writer and editor roles at Glamour, Morning Brew, and Harper’s Bazaar. She has been cited as a fashion and beauty expert in The Cut, CNN Underscored, and Reuters, among other outlets, and appears in newsletters like Selleb and Self Checkout to provide shopping recommendations. In 2022, she earned the Hearst Spotlight Award for excellence and innovation in fashion journalism. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English from Harvard College. Outside of work, Halie is passionate about books, baking, and her miniature Bernedoodle, Dolly. For a behind-the-scenes look at her reporting, you can follow Halie on Instagram and TikTok.
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