‘One Battle After Another’ Star Teyana Taylor Just Turned the VMAs Blue Carpet Into Her Own Gothic Couture Runway
Few stars treat an arrivals line quite like a stage the way Teyana Taylor does, and her latest outing proved it once again. Teyana Taylor’s VMAs look had fashion watchers buzzing before the show even started, extending a remarkable run of red carpet moments. The MTV Video Music Awards have long been the ceremony where artists go big, and the VMAs are historically the awards show where stars experiment with their looks, with Lady Gaga’s infamous meat dress as the ultimate example.
Taylor came into the night riding one of the most celebrated fashion stretches of anyone in entertainment. At SAG’s Actor Awards earlier this year, she wore a custom Thom Browne gown with neutral swirled designs that looked like body paint, and at the Oscars she stepped out in a black and silver figure-hugging gown with a sheer mesh panel at the waist and fringe running down the full-length skirt. That night marked a milestone, too, as she was nominated for her first Oscar.
So when she arrived at the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards at the Peacock Theater in California on Sunday, Sept. 27, expectations were sky-high, and she delivered. A clip shared by Variety captured the moment she hit the carpet.
The look came straight from the runway. She wore a transparent black coat-gown by Zuhair Murad with a feather collar, cuffs, and hem, plus a dramatic plunging neckline, all from the designer’s fall 2026 couture collection. For context, Murad showed that couture collection in July during Paris Couture Week.
The finishing touches were just as deliberate. Her dark eye makeup matched the outfit, while her hair was styled in distressed space bun braids, giving the whole ensemble an edgy, undone contrast to the couture craftsmanship.
Teyana Taylor stuns at the MTV Video Music Awards https://t.co/9NHvWdUBUL
— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) September 27, 2026
What’s fun about this look is how differently outlets described it, which says a lot about its layered construction. People framed it as gothic glamour with a striking silhouette, while Elle’s coverage compared it to a plunging beaded lace dress covered in feathers that evoked a vintage robe, calling it high-fashion vintage lingerie.
Nobody does a #VMAs carpet moment quite like Teyana Taylor 🖤👏
— Spotify (@Spotify) September 27, 2026
📷: Getty pic.twitter.com/A04atsk9Rs
Taylor wasn’t there only for the photographers. She earned a Best Collaboration nomination for “Hard Part” with Lucky Daye and was also a presenter alongside stars including Alex Warren, Charli xcx, Tyla and Troye Sivan. The track appears on her album Escape Room.
The trophy ultimately went elsewhere, as Madonna and Sabrina Carpenter won Best Collaboration for “Bring Your Love”. Madonna had a huge evening overall, taking home 7 prizes, including Artist of the Year and Best Dance, in a show hosted by Snoop Dogg.
Teyana Taylor attends the MTV Video Music Awards. pic.twitter.com/kkodDcptxN
— 21 (@21metgala) September 27, 2026
Even without the Moon Person, Taylor arguably left with a different kind of win. The Oscar-nominated ‘One Battle After Another’ actress has turned nearly every public appearance this year into a fashion headline, and this couture moment slots right in alongside her Oscars and Actor Awards looks. As one outlet put it, the look all but guarantees she’ll be counted among the best-dressed stars of the night.
In a year of bold choices, pairing couture feathers with deliberately messy braids shows an artist who knows exactly how to balance polish and personality. Whatever she wears next, the bar is now set impossibly high.
What do you think of Teyana Taylor’s dramatic Zuhair Murad look at the MTV VMAs?
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