Malala Yousafzai Turns Heads in Sequinned Ralph Lauren at the Oscars

Her stunning custom dress features an integrated train and matching hijab.

Malala Yousafzai attends the 95th Annual Academy Awards on March 12, 2023 in Hollywood, California.
(Image credit: Mike Coppola/Getty Images)

Tonight on the 2023 Oscars red carpet, women's rights advocate Malala Yousafzai stunned in a custom Ralph Lauren gown. The dress, which features an integrated train and matching hijab, is comprised completely of silver sequins, perfectly balancing recent fashion week trends with a timeless color and silhouette. And she cinched the look with an emerald flower ring from Santi Jewels, made up of four seventeenth century emeralds surrounding a portrait-cut diamond.  

Yousafzai is celebrating the nomination of Stranger at the Gate, of which she was an executive producer, for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film. Although she is no stranger to film, having already starred in the 2015 documentary I Am Malala, it is her first time attending Hollywood's biggest night—but likely far from her last. Indeed, Yousafzai launched her own production company, Extracurricular Productions, just last year, and is planning on releasing a slate of content in line with her empowering work in politics and social justice. 

Malala Yousafzai attends the 95th Annual Academy Awards on March 12, 2023 in Hollywood, California.

(Image credit: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images)

"I'm really excited to work with women and young people to reflect the world as they see it," she told ABC. "So, I would be bringing comedy, documentaries, TV shows, movies—everything. And it has the power to connect people from around the world, and I want to focus on young people."

We have absolutely no doubt that Yousafzai, already a role model to humans everywhere, will continue to inspire people with her perspective and her commitment to feminism, equality, and social justice more broadly.

And yet another huge takeaway from her appearance on the champagne carpet tonight? The star is most excited to watch Rihanna's landmark performance and to spot Elvis star Austin Butler—wowing us all with how simultaneously fashionable, astute, and relatable she can be.

Malala Yousafzai attends the 95th Annual Academy Awards on March 12, 2023 in Hollywood, California.

(Image credit: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images)

Malala Yousafzai attends the 95th Annual Academy Awards on March 12, 2023 in Hollywood, California.

(Image credit: Arturo Holmes/Getty Images)
Gabrielle Ulubay
Beauty Writer

Gabrielle Ulubay is a Beauty Writer at Marie Claire. She has also written about sexual wellness, politics, culture, and fashion at Marie Claire and at publications including The New York Times, HuffPost Personal, Bustle, Alma, Muskrat Magazine, O'Bheal, and elsewhere. Her personal essay in The New York Times' Modern Love column kickstarted her professional writing career in 2018, and that piece has since been printed in the 2019 revised edition of the Modern Love book. Having studied history, international relations, and film, she has made films on politics and gender equity in addition to writing about cinema for Film Ireland, University College Cork, and on her personal blog, gabrielleulubay.medium.com. Before working with Marie Claire, Gabrielle worked in local government, higher education, and sales, and has resided in four countries and counting. She has worked extensively in the e-commerce and sales spaces since 2020, and spent two years at Drizly, where she developed an expertise in finding the best, highest quality goods and experiences money can buy.

Deeply political, she believes that skincare, haircare, and sexual wellness are central tenets to one's overall health and fights for them to be taken seriously, especially for people of color. She also loves studying makeup as a means of artistic expression, drawing on her experience as an artist in her analysis of beauty trends. She's based in New York City, where she can be found watching movies or running her art business when she isn't writing. Find her on Twitter at @GabrielleUlubay or on Instagram at @gabrielle.ulubay, or follow her art at @suburban.graffiti.art