The missed detail of Celine Dion and Lady Gaga’s opening ceremony performances: Dior
Musically gifted icons Celine Dion and Lady Gaga put on a spectacular show to remember to launch the Paris Games, yet there is one fine Dior detail that had the stars dazzling.
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Celine Dion and Lady Gaga could both claim gold for their singing, but their fashions delivered one clear winner at the opening ceremony: Dior.
It’s the magic in the meticulous detail that couldn’t be seen on TV or by the crowds lining the drenched banks of the River Seine that is even more incredible.
For the dazzling finale, Dion stood on the second floor of the Eiffel Tower in a spectacular haute couture Dior gown that took more than a thousand hours to create.
Haute couture looks are the most exclusive and highly crafted fashion pieces in the world, one off creations made entirely to measure one person’s body measurements by a team of craftspeople, known as Les Petites Mains (which translates to “the little hands”), who have been trained for decades.
The cost of these one-off pieces can go into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The intricacy of Dion’s white silk-georgette gown is what made it such a glittering spectacle to match the monumental occasion.
It featured a hypnotic palette of sequins (more specifically, pierced sparkles), magnified by more than 500m of fringing studded with thousands of silver beads that danced in the light as she performed Edith Piaf’s Hymne à l’Amour.
It was Dion’s first live performance since revealing she had stiff-person syndrome in 2022 and her second Olympic appearance having performed at the opening ceremony for Atlanta in 1996.
The look was specially conceived by artistic director Maria Grazia Chiuru who became the first woman to lead the famed house of Christian Dior in 2016. The other star female performers of the evening also wore creations for the iconic French maison.
Lady Gaga opened the ceremony wearing a Dior haute couture black feather jacket over a bustier with a black and pink skirt embroidered with features and sequins.
But the connection with went much deeper. The singer-songwriter performed a rendition of Mon Truc en Plumes by Zizi Jeanmaire, a hit conceived in 1961 by Roland Petit, a choreographer for whom the original Christian Dior had designed ballet costumes.
Later, she was surrounded by 17 musicians and 10 dancers (also in Dior) inspired by Audrey Hepburn in the 1954 classic film Sabrina.
Elsewhere, French-Malian singer-songwriter Aya Nakamura wore an ensemble that evoked a phoenix. It consisted of a corset and shorts with an asymmetrical dress stitched with golden features meticulously hand embroidered one-by-one.
French singer-songwriter Juliette, who performed a mesmerising rendition of Imagine accompanied by a piano on fire, was dressed in a look between Dior and embroiderer Clara Daguin. Her top and pants were in black patent-coated canvas and featured spinning top beads that lit up to the rhythm of the song.
The opening ceremony also gave the chance for young French designers to shine.
The Debilly Footbridge became a gigantic banquet scene with the table turning into a runway where young celebrities wore emerging French designers like streetwear favourite Ouest World and the hyper colourful Kevin Germanier.
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Originally published as The missed detail of Celine Dion and Lady Gaga’s opening ceremony performances: Dior
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