If you follow enough fashion-focused Twitter accounts you have probably seen Turkish-British designer Dilara Fındıkoğlu’s “Joan’s Knives” dress at least a thousand times since it debuted during London Fashion Week back in February, but no one had worn it on a red carpet until actress Hari Nef showed up in at Barbie’s London premiere. If this is your first time seeing it, you no doubt understand the internet’s fixation. Though, as much as high fashion Twitter begged to see someone (anyone!) wear it on a carpet, Nef proved it was worth the wait. Red carpet fashion moments as potent and poetic as this don’t come around very often.
The dress is inspired by the story of Joan of Arc, who Fındıkoğlu explained on Instagram was put on trial for several alleged crimes, including dressing like a man. “In my story she is back from her ashes, wearing what she desires, an Armour made by Dilara with victorian knives,” she explained on Instagram. It was the closing look in a collection inspired by women taking back control of their own bodies inspired by the Mahsa Amini protests in Iran, the designer’s hatred of the controversial Marilyn Monroe biopic Blonde, the music of the seminal all-female punk band The Slits, and the general sense that the world is chipping away at women’s rights to their own personhood. Appropriately, the collection was titled “Not a Man’s Territory.”
“If she wears sexy stuff, she is a prostitute, but if she wears boyish clothing, then she is burnt,” the designer, who has quietly built up her buzzy brand since launching it shortly after her graduation from London’s Central Saint Martins in 2015, told Ssense of her Joan of Arc inspiration particularly. “So she’s taken back her body. She’s coming back for revenge.”
Nef happens to have an active (and often very funny) presence on Twitter, but her choice of dress undoubtedly holds special political significance for her beyond viral obsession. After roles in And Just Like That…, The Idol, and Assassination Nation, she’s currently one of Hollywood’s most in-demand openly transgender actresses. She explained to Out magazine that she got the Barbie role without some of the executive producers realizing she was trans, and that her character wasn’t written to be “Trans Barbie” (“Barbies are Barbies, they’re not human women. They’re dolls. They don’t have genitalia.”). Yet, as maddeningly predictable as it is, her casting as a doll in Greta Gerwig’s film has caught the ire of many transphobes. Transgender bodies in general are currently being treated as political footballs, particularly in America and the United Kingdom, with their very existence being framed as up for debate.
Nef’s message is clear: her body is hers. Her existence isn’t a question. Oh, and she looks absolutely killer too, thank you very much.
If you’ve already seen the runway images of the dress a thousand times online, you’re likely to see the red carpet images of Nef wearing it two thousand times more. The moment deserves it.