Who Wears Dries Van Noten? The Sourced List, and Who the Clothes Are For

Posted by

Gemma Deeks

September 21, 2026

On September 21, 2026

Brands we love, Fashion

Who Wears Dries Van Noten? The Sourced List, and Who the Clothes Are For

Posted by

Gemma Deeks

September 21, 2026 On September 21, 2026

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Who wears Dries Van Noten? The honest answer is fewer red carpets than the houses that pay for them, and a longer list of women who buy it. Dries Van Noten told The Hollywood Reporter that the house dresses a lot of celebrities and pays none of them, and named the kind of dresser it attracts. This page lists the wearers that can be sourced, with the source for each, and stops there; where a claim could not be checked it is left out. Then it says who the clothes are for, which is the more useful question.

Key facts

Michelle Obama wore Dries Van Noten to the Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony on 22 November 2016 (W Magazine, 24 November 2016)
Cate Blanchett, Julianne Moore and Maggie Gyllenhaal are named by The Hollywood Reporter as “idiosyncratic dressers” who wear the label; Gyllenhaal wore the blue brushstroke gown to the 2010 Oscars
The house does not pay for celebrity dressing, by its founder’s own account
Dries Van Noten himself: CFDA International Designer of the Year 2008, Officier des Arts et des Lettres 2015, Baron 2017
The customer: the 382 pieces at Coveti run UK 6 to 16 in clothing and EU 35 to 42 in shoes, cut regular and loose

The sourced list

Michelle Obama, as First Lady, wore a Dries Van Noten dress to the Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony at the White House in November 2016, reported by W Magazine among others; the Obama Presidential Library’s artefact record also lists a Dries Van Noten tassel necklace and an embellished vest from her wardrobe. The Hollywood Reporter, in a piece on the house’s documentary, named Julianne Moore, Cate Blanchett and Maggie Gyllenhaal as the idiosyncratic dressers who wear the label and recorded Gyllenhaal’s blue brushstroke gown at the 2010 Oscars. Beyond these, the wearers most often searched for alongside the house’s name, Carey Mulligan among them, are not claimed here because the primary source could not be checked on the date above.

What the wearers have in common

None of them is dressed by a stylist into a corset. The Hollywood Reporter quoted one client on exactly that: the house’s clothes let a woman look like herself rather than “climbing into a corset and wearing someone else’s look”. That is the customer. A woman who wants print and colour and would rather it came from a painting than a logo; who wants to be comfortable, which is why the house cuts wide and elasticated; and who buys pieces to keep.

Dressing like the wearers, from the current range

The Michelle Obama route is a printed dress with a clean shoe: the Silk shirt dress with the Leather loafers in Tan. The Blanchett route is tailoring with one decorated piece: the Tailored wool pants in Black under the Embroidered crepe blazer in Navy. The Gyllenhaal route is the evening dress that is a painting: the Long draped satin dress. The Julianne Moore route is colour on colour: the Long jacquard skirt in Rust with the Cropped cashmere cardigan in Dark Brown.

Men

The house shows menswear twice a year and men buy the sneakers, the tops/shirt/" class="cvx-al cvx-al--category">shirts and the ties in the women’s stores too. Coveti carries the women’s collections; the Suede sneakers in Black, the Thin oval sunglasses in Beige and the silk and wool ties are the unisex pieces in the current range.

“We dress a lot of celebrities, but we don’t pay them or send the clothes there,” Dries Van Noten told The Hollywood Reporter, which named Julianne Moore, Cate Blanchett and Maggie Gyllenhaal among the “idiosyncratic dressers” who wear the label.

Frequently asked questions

Which celebrities wear Dries Van Noten?

Michelle Obama (Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony, 2016), and Cate Blanchett, Julianne Moore and Maggie Gyllenhaal, per The Hollywood Reporter. The house does not pay for celebrity dressing.

Did Michelle Obama wear Dries Van Noten?

Yes, to the Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony in November 2016, reported by W Magazine; the Obama Presidential Library also holds a Dries Van Noten necklace and vest from her wardrobe.

Does Dries Van Noten dress celebrities for the red carpet?

It dresses those who ask, and its founder has said the house does not pay them and does not send clothes unsolicited.

Who is the Dries Van Noten customer?

A woman who wants print and colour without a logo, comfort in the cut, and pieces to keep; the range runs UK 6 to 16.

Do men wear Dries Van Noten?

Yes; the house shows menswear, and the sneakers, sunglasses and ties in the women’s range at Coveti are unisex.

More Dries Van Noten guides

Every Dries Van Noten page by Coveti’s fashion editor Gemma Deeks: Who is Dries Van Noten?, How to wear the prints, vs Marni vs Etro, The AW26 edit, Is it a luxury brand?, Brands like Dries Van Noten, History timeline, Julian Klausner, Price guide, Where to buy, Sale, Review, Real vs fake, Materials and care, Glossary, Size guide, Shoe size guide, New arrivals 2026, Archive and vintage, Coats, Jackets and blazers, Dresses, Skirts, Trousers, Jeans and denim, Shirts and blouses, Knitwear, Embroidered pieces, Black, Shoes, Sneakers, Boots, Loafers, Heels and mules, Bags, Embroidered bags, Jewellery, Earrings, Necklaces and bracelets, Scarves and collars, Belts, Sunglasses.

Sources and method

Checked on 20 September 2026 by Gemma Deeks, fashion editor at Coveti. Product facts, the compositions, lengths, fits, model measurements, heel heights and countries of manufacture, are the brand’s own product-page text; counts, prices and price ranges are Coveti’s live catalogue on that date and move with stock; the house history and the wearers come from the brand’s own pages and the press articles listed below, each read on the date above. Where a claim could not be checked against one of these it was left out, and where the fitting room is giving its own advice the page says so.