Michelle Williams is a quiet presence on the red carpet. Not for her the churn of the trend circuit. Naked dresses? She’s never heard of them. Her answer to cut-outs? Column dresses, which prove that sometimes the best fashion is hiding in plain sight.
Good news, then, for fans of Williams’s romantic school of style: the American actor will be back on the step-and-repeat for awards season 2023, thanks to her leading role in Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical The Fabelmans. Just don’t expect the four-time Oscar nominated star to make a statement – she prefers to save those for her acceptance speeches, when she touches on the gender pay gap and reproductive rights, instead of the obligatory list of thank yous.
Things to expect from Williams’s next turns in front of the paps: Louis Vuitton (her longtime friendship with Nicolas Ghesquière means a conceptual LV look is never far away), lace (romance equals ruffles and ribbons for this feminine dresser), unexpected jolts of colour (a penchant for pale pink doesn’t negate the occasional sunshine moment) and minidresses (’60s silhouettes look all the sweeter with her bleached gamine crop and newer bob).
While Williams won’t break the mould come the Academy Awards, she will extol the virtues of enduring style. Her dreamy, often nostalgic aesthetic – although note her taste for fierce heels – has scarcely changed since she rose to fame as a Dawson’s Creek darling and one half of a Hollywood power couple with Heath Ledger. Save for major brand endorsements – Michelle is a Chanel girl through and through too – she still delights in the same details – a sweet bow here or a shocking red lip there. She’s a safe presence, but never wholly predictable, using her platform to stand up for matters more serious than best-dressed lists – although her partnership with stylist Kate Young ensures she’s usually name-checked in them.
Cast your mind back to the Golden Globes 2018 and Williams was one of eight actors who took activists as their dates. Instead of embracing the usual froth and fantasia, Williams and #MeToo movement founder Tarana Burke were swathed in black in support of the Time’s Up campaign – one of several gestures that called the purpose of the red carpet and “who are you wearing?” into question. For Williams, politics will always take precedence over pretty dresses when there is an opportunity to make change. (“I wouldn’t have been able to do this without employing a woman’s right to choose,” she said upon accepting her Golden Globe in 2022.)
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As the world’s top stylists predict awards season 2023 will roll out with its usual explosion of colour-pop tulle and sheer showmanship, Williams, a magpie for subtle sparkle, will be one to watch for her meaningful takes on Hollywood style that holds a mirror up to the times we live in. If that doesn’t deserve a statuette, we don’t know what does.
