Natalia Vodianova joined Tessa Thompson on the red carpet for the 2025 Franca Fund Gala at the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha on Sunday.
I wasn’t convinced by the Russian model’s first look the night before, but seeing her in this Dolce & Gabbana Alta Moda Les Siciliennes creation gave me a clearer understanding of her M.O. for the event: go big or go home. And Natalia didn’t just go big — she went operatic.
This look is couture excess in its purest form: a duchesse satin bolero, a Chantilly lace bralette, a fully embroidered corset, and a monumental ball skirt exploding with rooster and ostrich feathers. Every texture is fighting for attention, yet it somehow lands in that sweet spot where theatricality feels so right at this event.
There’s so much happening that the tulle gloves and the Chopard necklace almost become afterthoughts — which says a lot, considering the scale of that jewellery. It’s a lot. It might even be too much. Yet I find myself oddly charmed by the commitment.
I know some of you will look at this and think she should’ve taken one element off. If that’s the case, what would you remove?
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