Elle Fanning made a striking appearance at the CFDA Fashion Awards at the American Museum of Natural History on Monday, 2 November. The actress wore a dusty rose silk slip dress by Coach, layered beneath a floor-length black leather trench coat from the same label. She initially arrived with the coat open before removing it for a group photograph, revealing the full look.
The dress was custom, designed by creative director Stuart Vevers, and the trench came from Coach's Fall 2025 collection. The slip has a plunging scoop neck, spaghetti straps and a train, and she carried a Tabby bag with pink confetti appliqué alongside a rose gold Panthère de Cartier sautoir.
Opinion was divided at once, and not along expected lines. 'I know I might be in the minority but I adore this,' read the reply that drew more support than any other on one of the busier Reddit style forums.
The Slip Dress Her Sister Helped Popularise
Lace slip dresses were named the defining dress trend of 2026 in January. Among the celebrities credited with popularising the style were Zoë Kravitz, who wore Saint Laurent at the Golden Globes, and Dakota Fanning, who chose an ivory Rodarte gown for an awards-season party that month.
Elle's appearance revisited the slip-dress silhouette, although the January trend report specifically focused on lace versions. There is no suggestion the sisters coordinated.
The Robe Coat Trend She Isn't Part Of
Robe-style coats have been drawing attention this season, too. The designer Conner Ives brought renewed attention to the embroidered silk robe, which has since turned up on Kravitz, Hailey Bieber and Sienna Miller. A trend report published the day before the awards credited the shape with the potential to romanticise everything.
Fanning's trench is a different garment, but the effect was the same: a delicate dress swamped in floor-length outerwear. One reader thought that was the whole point. 'I love it, but it NEEDS the coat,' they wrote.
Olsen, Stevie Nicks or a Bathrobe
Readers reached for several decades to describe one outfit. 'Reminds me of Queen Stevie,' one wrote. Another offered 'Kinda 2010's boho a bit. Love it.' A third landed on 'She's dressed like an Olsen twin,' which drew the reply, 'Some of us love the Olsen twins.'
The admirers kept returning to the same words: effortless, relaxed, 'fresh & unbothered'. The dissenters described the same silhouette and arrived somewhere else. 'This is a RARE miss for me. The coat and dress are shapeless and don't work together,' one wrote. The sharpest version: 'How I think I look in a nightgown and bathrobe.'
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The Bag Readers Could See Through
One strand of criticism had nothing to do with the clothes. Fanning is a returning global ambassador for Coach, not a one-off loan, and several readers felt the arrangement was showing. 'She is trying really hard to put that bag front and center in most of these shots,' one wrote, while another argued the house 'struggles to get their items to organically fit with a look'.
Fanning was not the only ambassador there. PinkPantheress wore gold metallic separates and Lola Tung wore a black leather column dress, and readers had opinions about those, too. Only Fanning put something delicate under something heavy and left people arguing over which half to blame.
