Celine Dion loves a sparkly gown. Since her career began in 1981, the Canadian singer has performed in countless shimmering, floor-length dresses befitting her diva status. Chanel, Dior, Versace, Armani Prive, Givenchy, Elie Saab and Zuhair Murad are among the major names she has turned to for stage looks.
So when Dion, 58, made a triumphant return to the stage in Paris last weekend, it was fitting that some of fashion’s biggest houses were enlisted to dress her.
Marking her first full show in six years, the performance was particularly significant following her diagnosis with stiff-person syndrome, a rare, progressive neurological and autoimmune disorder. Dion has spoken openly about her determination to return to singing, despite the condition affecting the muscles she relies on to perform.
The concert is the first of a scheduled 26-show Paris residency, with 16 performances running until October 17, followed by another 10 between May 8 and 29, 2027, at the Plenitude Arena, formerly Paris La Defense Arena.
With a keen sense of the theatrical, Dion arrived for this show wearing three megawatt looks.
The first came courtesy of Sarah Burton at Givenchy: a dusty-pink cape of shredded organza worn over a tiered, shimmering gown embroidered in gunmetal pewter, and created especially for the performance.
Her second look was custom Dior by Jonathan Anderson, comprising a strapless, full-skirted gown constructed from pleated fans of fabric. Dion paired it with Boucheron’s The Address high-jewellery necklace from the 2026 Histoire de Style collection, and a Fuzzy, the Leopard Cat ring.
The third was custom Alaia: a moulded leather bustier paired with a mermaid skirt that flared into a floor-length train.
It was the latest chapter in Dion’s long history of bold fashion choices.
Fashion evolution
As far back as 1999, Dion caused a stir at the Academy Awards by wearing a white John Galliano for Dior tuxedo backwards. In 2003, newly sporting cropped hair, she opened her Las Vegas residency, A New Day, in a black jumpsuit topped with a sparkling cape. The residency ran until 2007 and restarted in 2011.
At the 2015 Billboard Music Awards, she opted for a one-shouldered Mugler dress in green leather.
Her fashion evolution accelerated in 2016 when she began working with “image architect” – fashion stylist to you and me – Law Roach. While shimmering gowns remained a stage signature, Roach expanded her offstage wardrobe with Off-White, Chloe, Gucci and Celine, introducing floor-grazing leather coats, graphic T-shirts and oversized Balmain jeans.
In 2019, an appearance on The Tonight Show saw her wear a taupe Schiaparelli midi-dress with vast pleated sleeves. The following year, she was spotted in New York channelling Sex and the City character Carrie Bradshaw in an oversized cream sweater layered over an Oscar de la Renta chrysanthemum-print gown.
In 2024, at the Grammy Awards, Dion wore a burnt-orange coat over a blush-pink Valentino spring 2024 haute couture gown to present Taylor Swift with an award. Later that year, for her performance at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, she wore a custom Dior haute couture gown by then-creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri.
Connection to Middle East couture
In November 2024, Dion performed at 1001 Seasons of Elie Saab in Riyadh, celebrating the Lebanese couturier’s 45-year career. Dion wore two Saab looks: a nude, crystal-strewn floor-length gown with a cape, and an asymmetric column dress covered in soft florals.
Her affinity for Middle Eastern designers stretches further back. For the 2017 Grammys, Dion wore an emerald gown with a thigh-high slit by Lebanese designer Zuhair Murad, and for the opening night of her 2019 world tour, she wore an asymmetric red dress by Kuwaiti designer Yousef El Jasmi.
Given Dion’s history of turning the stage into a fashion spectacle, her Paris residency is likely to provide plenty more memorable looks. In a city so intertwined with fashion, it seems only fitting for one of pop’s most enduring divas to rule the sartorial roost.
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