Los Angeles, June 2005 – When Angelina Jolie stepped onto the red carpet at the Mr. & Mrs. Smith premiere, she didn’t just make headlines for the film—or her rumored off-screen romance with co-star Brad Pitt. Her striking black leather Versace gown, with its plunging neckline and thigh-high slit, became an instant fashion landmark, cementing her status as Hollywood’s ultimate bombshell.
Two decades later, the look remains one of Jolie’s most referenced style moments. The dress—a sculpted, strappy design with a sheer panel and open back—perfectly balanced edge and elegance, marking a shift from her earlier gothic and tomboyish red-carpet choices. Paired with voluminous waves and minimal jewelry, the ensemble showcased her evolving aesthetic: fierce yet refined. Pitt, meanwhile, kept it casual in jeans and a bomber jacket, his bleached hair a stark contrast to Jolie’s Old Hollywood glamour.
A Legacy of Leather
Long before “method dressing” became a trend, Jolie’s wardrobe often mirrored her on-screen personas. In Mr. & Mrs. Smith, her character Jane Smith favored sleek, lethal black ensembles—making the Versace gown feel like an extension of her role. It wasn’t her first leather statement: In 2001, she turned heads in low-slung belts and pants at the Tomb Raider premiere, and in 2000, she made tabloid waves with then-husband Billy Bob Thornton at Gone in Sixty Seconds.
Versace became a recurring collaborator, dressing Jolie in showstopping looks like her 2011 Golden Globes emerald gown, the metallic Eternals premiere dress (2021), and her infamous leg-baring velvet Oscars number (2012).
The Modern Influence
Jolie’s 2005 gown set a template still followed today. At the 2024 Grammys, Miley Cyrus channeled its slit-and-strap detailing, while Florence Pugh’s Thunderbolts press tour echoed Jolie’s form-fitting midi silhouettes. Even recent Versace muses like Dua Lipa (2024 Brit Awards) and Ayo Edebiri (Emmy Awards in Louis Vuitton leather) owe a debt to the look.
Designers have since amplified the BDSM undertones—think Olivia Rodrigo and Kim Kardashian in Ludovic de Saint Sernin’s studded designs—but Jolie’s original remains unmatched. As fashion cycles back to Y2K edge, her Versace moment endures as the gold standard of red-carpet daring.
Two decades on, the dress proves: true style doesn’t fade—it evolves.
Relation topics：
