Katie Holmes Surprises the 2024 CFDA Awards With an Even More Unexpected Carolina Herrera Gown

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.

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.

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 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.