Cynthia Erivo Looks Like a Wicked Sorceress at the 2024 CFDA Awards

Cynthia Erivo wearing a hooded gown on the cfda awards red carpet

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 28 October 2024

Cynthia Erivo has been method dressing for the role of Elphaba in the highly anticipated Wicked movie for weeks. That said, her best look yet was actually designed for her hosting gig at the 2024 CFDA Awards. On Monday, Oct. 28, the British actor graced the event's white carpet in a custom black velvet mermaid gown with a dramatic sorcerer's hood. Dreamt up by Gap creative director Zac Posen, the dress was a pitch-perfect blend of Elphaba's soft goth aesthetics and Erivo's own sense of style, which tends to favor voluminous, sculptural silhouettes.

A photo of Cynthia Erivo in a black hooded gown designed by Zac Posen — Host Cynthia Erivo poses with designer Zac Posen at the 2024 CFDA Awards.

Erivo and stylist Jason Bolden accessorized the gown with burgundy eyeliner in a nod to the wine-red color trend, plus a yellow gold collar necklace featuring a jade green claw and a curled serpentine tail. The choker, which was designed for Tiffany & Co. by Elsa Peretti, retails for a whopping $21,000.

A photo of Cynthia Erivo wearing a yellow gold and jade green claw collar necklace — Cynthia Erivo wears an Elsa Peretti-designed claw necklace from Tiffany & Co.

Tiffany & Co. Elsa Peretti Claw Necklace in Yellow Gold with Green Jade, Large

Her best accessories, though, were her long green, red, and black stiletto nails covered in flames, serpents, and gems. Created by nail artist Rose Hackle, Erivo originally debuted the set at the Academy Museum Gala on Oct. 19. Since then, it appears a couple of crosses were added to her ring fingers for dramatic effect. Although it's hard to say for sure without confirmation from Hackle herself, I'd wager several of these nail shades came from the Wicked x OPI nail collection. Erivo became a global ambassador for the brand about a month before the collection's drop, so it's safe to say most of the polishes you'll see her wearing for the foreseeable future are OPI.

A photo of Cynthia Erivo sporting elaborate flame and cross-covered nails — Cynthia Erivo sports elaborate flame and cross-covered nails painted by Rose Hackle.

Although she's not American, it was still an apt choice to have the Tony, Emmy, and Grammy award-winning singer host the 2024 CFDA Awards.

“As a born and bred Londoner, I can safely say that the U.K. has its own sense of style, but when I moved to New York almost 10 years ago, I was welcomed into the open arms of the New York fashion industry,” Erivo explained in a press release ahead of the event. “I was blown away by its ingenuity and its flair, and I felt right at home. Style in America has clearly influenced me in the years that would follow my arrival and style in New York has held me in the warmest of embraces."

Indeed, whether it's a fantastical hooded number or the high note in "Defying Gravity," there seems to be nothing Erivo can't pull off.

Hanna Lustig is a staff writer at Marie Claire, where she gets to gab every day about the topics she holds most dear: fashion, beauty, and celebrity. Hanna’s editorial journey began with formative internships at Elle and InStyle, where she was lucky enough to work for some of the smartest women in media while she was still in college at the University of Tennessee. Hanna then accepted a digital culture reporting fellowship at Insider, where she helped carve out a new beat dedicated to covering influencers. Those experiences later served her well as a staff writer at Glamour, where she developed a knack for spinning quick turnaround celebrity news and trend reporting into juicy feature stories. Some of her greatest hits include an earnest ode to the no-pants trend, this meticulously reported feature exploring the rise of endoscopic facelifts, this snappy take on the Chanel-designed fantasy of Sofia Richie’s wedding, this tribute to WAGs past and present, and this timeline of Katie Holmes’s life and career as told through her denim collection.

Diane Keaton once hung up on Hanna during an interview, but thankfully that mishap did not derail what has otherwise been a deeply fulfilling career writing for and about women. As one of Marie Claire's resident experts on style and culture, her current coverage ranges from exploring TikTok's contrast makeup theory and the return of the boat shoe trend to interviews with costume designers for hit shows like Nobody Wants This and The Penguin. When she’s not at work, Hanna can probably be found listening to pop music, talking to her dog, and gossiping with her best friends. For more of Hanna’s perfect opinions on pop culture, you can follow her on Instagram and X.

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