Mikey Madison arrived at Dior’s Cruise show in Los Angeles in a skirt suit that looked straight out of another era, then used the front-row moment to talk about where her career and her wardrobe are headed next. Harper’s BAZAAR spoke with her after the show about fashion, acting and the advice she has carried from her mother.
Madison is one of the most visible faces in Dior’s orbit now, and the timing matters. Jonathan Anderson staged his first Cruise collection in Los Angeles last week, with Madison seated alongside Sabrina Carpenter, Greta Lee and Miley Cyrus, just as she continues a run that has taken her from TV breakout to Oscar winner and into another major role later this year.
Her rise began in 2016, when she landed her breakout role in FX’s Better Things, a series that ran until 2022. From there, she was cast in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, then won a Best Actress Oscar and a BAFTA for Anora in 2024. Later in 2025, she will appear as whistleblower Frances Haugen in The Social Reckoning, the sequel to 2010’s The Social Network, which keeps her in the center of both awards conversation and high-profile film casting.
That is part of why Dior is paying close attention. Madison was among the first Dior ambassadors appointed by Anderson when he joined the fashion house, and she now rarely wears another label on the red carpet. At the Cruise show, she leaned fully into the house’s language of polish and drama, wearing a skirt suit she described as reminiscent of the 1940s and “very Lauren Bacall” to her. The shortness of the skirt, she said, made it feel more modern, while the iridescent glitter threads woven through the fabric added Anderson’s playfulness. She finished the look with her custom pink Tiffany pinky ring and diamond studs.
Madison said she has always loved Dior for its iconic silhouettes and glamour, and called Anderson’s collections deeply cinematic. That word matters to her. She said fashion, especially on the red carpet, is like acting because it gives her a chance to transform and step into a different character, with the outfit often deciding the direction of hair and makeup as well.
Her current approach to style also reflects a change behind the scenes. Madison said she began working with a stylist for the first time when she was about to begin the whirlwind press run for Anora, after years of wanting a heavy hand in choosing every piece she wore. She said she has found a strong partnership with stylist Andrew Makumal, and that they have had fun working with Dior pieces and dreaming up custom sketches together.
There is a clear thread through all of it: Madison’s public image is no longer just about the parts she plays. It now sits at the point where awards-season momentum, brand loyalty and a carefully built sense of old-Hollywood glamour meet, and that makes her one of Dior’s most useful ambassadors at exactly the moment Anderson is putting his own stamp on the house.
What comes next is already defined. Madison’s film profile will broaden later in 2025 with The Social Reckoning, while her fashion profile is likely to keep rising alongside Dior’s newest chapter. For now, the Los Angeles show offered a clean snapshot of both: an actor with a major career behind her and another headline role ahead, dressed like she knew the camera would be watching.
