Naomi Ackie’s “Liquid Metal” Take On The Sheer Dress Trend Is A Winner

The stars were out for the New York City premiere of I Wanna Dance With Somebody, the upcoming Whitney Houston biopic starring Naomi Ackie. As if she hadn’t stunned everyone enough in the trailer as the legendary singer, Ackie wore a dazzling dress to the red carpet on Dec. 15, inspired by one of Houston’s performances in a certain ‘90s classic.

When making the biopic, Ackie and the film’s wardrobe designer Charlese Antoinette Jones wanted to bring Houston “as a fashion icon” to the forefront of people’s minds. That’s exactly what the actor and her stylist Nicky Yates did on the red carpet by enlisting the help of designer Daniel Roseberry from the haute couture Italian fashion house Schiaparelli. “I don’t think I’ll get many opportunities to wear something so beautiful, you know,” Ackie told British Vogue. “You can’t go to Tesco wearing this!”

Taken from Roseberry’s Autumn 2022 collection for the fashion house, the silver dress is crafted from strands of Swarovski crystals and silver glass bugle beads, per British Vogue, which took nearly 5,000 hours to embroider by hand, with a statement metal corset consisting of floral shapes and rhinestones. Ackie said the “liquid metal” look pays homage to the “Queen of the Night” performance from one of Houston’s most iconic movies, The Bodyguard. “It’s that balance of femininity and a kind of toughness too, especially with the flowers crafted from metal. It just felt very womanly ,but also like being protected — a kind of armour,” the actor explained.