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‘Glass Onion’ Star Janelle Monáe (40) Spreads Her Wings in a Show-Stopping Butterfly Gown at the Academy Museum Gala

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Janelle Monáe has never treated a red carpet as just a walk to the door, and the artist’s fashion moments have become events in their own right. At the 2023 Met Gala, Monáe wore an oversized half-black, half-white tweed Thom Browne suit over a hoop skirt, a look that earned rave reviews.

That flair for spectacle has only grown. For the 2025 Met Gala celebrating Black dandyism, Monáe teamed up with Thom Browne and Oscar winner Paul Tazewell on a sharp black, red, and white pinstriped suit.

This year, butterflies started fluttering into the picture. At the 2026 Met Gala, Monáe arrived in a custom Christian Siriano gown built from real electrical cables, live moss, succulents, and circuit board fragments, dotted with moving mechanical butterflies and dragonflies.

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The look included a butterfly perched atop the artist’s head and was so elaborate it made moving difficult. That appearance came less than 2 weeks before the release of Monáe’s thriller ‘Is God Is’, based on the play of the same name.

Now Monáe has taken the motif to new heights. Arriving at the sixth annual Academy Museum Gala on October 17 in Los Angeles, the star was described by Deadline as a beautiful butterfly.

The gown came from designer Robert Wun. Rendered in shimmering cobalt blue, it featured a sleek mermaid silhouette and massive, glittering wings that extended dramatically from the bodice.

Monáe completed the look with matching long blue opera gloves and a dramatic headpiece, turning the entire ensemble into a single sculptural statement. The result looked less like a dress and more like wearable art.

Monáe wasn’t the only star inspired by butterflies. Elle Fanning wore a custom Valentino gown with a butterfly-shaped pastel bodice, while Amandla Stenberg chose a butterfly-adorned dress fresh off Zimmermann’s Spring/Summer 2027 runway.

Still, Monáe took the concept to the extreme. Woman Magazine highlighted the Robert Wun gown as the most dramatic interpretation of the trend, with its enormous shimmering wings stealing the spotlight.

The look also stood out in a year that critics described as more subdued overall. The Zoe Report noted that many guests opted for classic black gowns and suits this time, making Monáe’s boldness all the more striking.

The gala raises funds for the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures and honored Charlize Theron, Colman Domingo and John Carpenter this year. Monáe joined a guest list that included Taylor Swift, Curry Barker, Jaafar Jackson and Inde Navarrette, posing alongside several of them on the carpet.

Swift was also set to perform, adding to the evening’s star power. The event, presented by Rolex, has quickly become one of the most fashion-forward nights on the Hollywood calendar.

Born in Kansas City, Kansas, in 1985, Monáe built a music career rooted in Afrofuturism and ambitious concept albums, beginning with the 2007 EP ‘Metropolis: The Chase Suite’. Acting followed in 2016 with roles in ‘Hidden Figures’ and ‘Moonlight’, raising the artist’s mainstream profile.

That blend of storytelling and visual imagination continues to shape every red carpet moment. With this cobalt butterfly gown, Monáe once again proved that fashion can be just as much a performance as anything on stage or screen.

What do you think of Janelle Monáe’s dramatic cobalt-blue butterfly gown at the 2026 Academy Museum Gala?

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