By james art Mikey Madison’s performance in the tragicomedy about working girls Anoraas the titular 23-year-old prostitute from Brooklyn’s Brighton Beach neighborhood, is one that can define careers. Back in May, AnoraThe Cannes Film Festival premiere won the coveted Palme d’Or award for best feature film. Across the fall festival circuit—from New York to Toronto, from Zurich to London—Madison’s bubblegum-smacking, pole-dancing, big-hearted performance was hailed as a revelation. The The BBC the review’s headline says the actress is now “leading the Oscar race.” The times put more bluntly: “Mikey Madison deserves an Oscar.”
There are still weeks until the nominations are announced and months until the 2025 awards season kicks off. But in the meantime, Madison is hitting red carpet after red carpet to promote the film—a marathon press cycle that requires a wardrobe that fits the moment. It’s a schedule that begs the question: If you’re campaigning for what could be the prize of a lifetime, what do you wear?
As such, Madison was photographed in a range of looks by Louis Vuitton, Fendi and Proenza Schouler – impressive credits for a relatively new talent – brought in by stylist Jamie Mizrahi, whose clientele includes Adele and Jennifer Lawrence. She hadn’t seen Anora when her agent first connected her to Madison to shape her star turn — but once she did, she was just as blown away as reviewers. Even more impressive, she notes, is Madison’s down-to-earth nature through it all.
“I think what’s really cool about Mikey is that she really stays true to who she is,” Mizrahi tells me via FaceTime from a hotel lobby the morning after another of Madison’s red carpets. She had stopped by the SCAD Film Festival and picked up the “Breakthrough Award” wearing a Celine mini dress with a ruffled off-the-shoulder neckline. “I don’t think she sees or hears the noise.”
Jamie Mizrahi styles Mikey Madison in a Celine mini dress for an Oct. 29 stop at the SCAD Film Festival.
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AnoraThe Los Angeles premiere came in a minimalist dress from Proenza Schouler.
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Although Anora is what Madison has become to land on so many red carpets, she and Mizrahi aren’t who they have in mind when looking at a rack of dresses. The two knew it was never going to be a pretense, where Madison, dressed in the manner of “Annie,” her on-screen character, in Hervé Leger bandage dresses and comfortable shoes. “I feel like from day one she’s been pretty consistent with her point of view and nothing has swayed her,” says Mizrahi. “She doesn’t necessarily try to dress like her character.”
Instead, Mizrahi has adopted the same approach she says she uses with all her clients. “I think it’s about feeling really authentic and dressing in what makes you feel good and comfortable and shows the best version of you. Not trying to play a role in real life, right? [It’s] I’m just making sure that the client, and especially Mikey at this point, is being themselves.”
Madison wore a Schiaparelli dress to another Anora premiered that Kendall Jenner made her runway debut for the label.
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I think she’s just being true to who she is, which I think is really exemplary and great to be able to do when you’re starting out.
Mikey Madison attended the fourth annual Academy Museum Gala in a sequin-covered Louis Vuitton gown.
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Mizrahi thinks about Madison Anora press tour outfits as history; every garment is a head. They each have individual details and come from different designers, but when the duo step back, they can see a cohesive line.
This red carpet history is defined by elegant shapes and classic colors, pieces that present Madison less as an inventor of the moment and more as a timeless talent. And while some journalists have called Madison’s rise a Cinderella story, she doesn’t wear princess dresses on the carpet. “I find Mikey kind of gravitates toward a more neutral, timeless palette — black, white, cream, red — really kind of sticks to that old Hollywood [vein]”says Mizrahi. “Simple silhouettes, nothing too complicated.”
The stylist must take some practical considerations from look to look. “She has a really beautiful figure and wears clothes really well, but she’s also petite,” explains Mizrahi. “So I make sure things don’t wear her and she wears the clothes instead, right?
Madison wore a strapless tulle gown to the Zurich Film Festival, courtesy of Rodarte.
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In October, Mikey Madison appeared at the Toronto International Film Festival in a draped Fendi dress.
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Their month-long journey together resulted in one moment after another that set fashion group chats on fire. Madison wore a strapless Rodarte dress in Zurich with a voluminous layered skirt. At the Toronto International Film Festival and the Los Angeles premiere of Anora, she tried variations of white on the red carpet: one a high-neck draped Fendi dress, the other a drop-waist Proenza Schouler. She shone her brightest at the fourth annual Academy Museum Gala in a Louis Vuitton gown covered in silver sequins.
There’s a bit of playfulness in something like a Schiaparelli gown with acrylic nails or a neon green floral Chanel number, but mostly the Old Hollywood energy aligns Madison with stars who entered the festival season tied to a similarly buzzy film and came out with all trophies. It’s all the result of weeks of careful fashion coordination on Mizrahi’s part: after each carpet, the pair talk about what they liked, what they didn’t like, and who they’ll try to wear next.
“As opposed to having a rack of clothes with tons of options, it’s really more edited and specific,” says Mizrahi. “I think this pre-awards season has been great because we’ve been able to learn and experiment and kind of try things out.”
Mikey Madison’s Prada look for the London Film Festival featured glitter and black ribbon.
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Madison wore a floral Chanel dress to the Deauville Film Festival in France.
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Whether Mikey Madison and Anora sweep every category next spring, Mizrahi says her approach to the awards circuit carpet will remain the same. “I think she’s just true to who she is, which I think is really exemplary and a great thing to be able to do when you’re starting out — just really know who you are and what you’re good at.”