Salma Hayek and Penélope Cruz Show Off Their Decades-Long Friendship in Coordinating Designer Corset Dresses

Forget friendship bracelets—they have red carpet gowns.

Salma Hayek and Penelope Cruz on the WSJ Innovators Awards red carpet
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Salma Hayek and Penélope Cruz have been besties for more than two decades now. Although they're both married—to luxury fashion billionaire Francois-Henri Pinault and actor Javier Bardem, respectively—Hayek told Vogue Arabia earlier this year that she considers Cruz her lifelong "partner." And they certainly made quite the pair at WSJ. Magazine’s 14th Annual Innovator Awards on Tuesday, Oct. 29. Held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, the Bandidas co-stars spent most of the night chatting and posing arm-in-arm. They even walked the red carpet together before Cruz presented an award to Hayek later in the evening.

Hayek wore a strapless bustier gown crafted from red crepe twill and black leather Knife Pumps, both from Balenciaga. The dress, which capitalized on last year's cherry red color trend, featured a boxy bustle to create an exaggerated hip silhouette. The 58-year-old bombshell accessorized her look with a gargantuan diamond cocktail ring, a black leather clutch, a sleek blowout, and a naked manicure. Her makeup stuck to peachy nude hues on the lips and eyes.

Cruz opted for a shimmering silver cowl-neck gown with a thigh-high slit from Dolce & Gabbana. She paired the draped dress with a matching silver clutch, silver climber earrings, and silver platform sandals. Her brunette waves featured caramel highlights that carried over into her smoldering brown eye makeup. Like Hayek, Cruz's nails also tapped into the naked manicure trend.

A photo of Salma Hayek and Penélope Cruz holding hands on the red carpet at WSJ. Magazine’s 14th Annual Innovator Awards

Salma Hayek and Penélope Cruz hold hands on the red carpet at WSJ. Magazine’s 14th Annual Innovator Awards.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

When Cruz conducted the interview for Hayek's May 2024 Vogue Arabia cover, the duo tenderly discussed their friendship origin story.

“The Spanish press asked me who I would like to work with, and I said, Penélope Cruz,” Hayek told the outlet. “We started talking and you were supposed to come to Los Angeles to do auditions and meet agents. We were starting out in our careers, and I said ‘Why don’t you just stay in my house? I can come and pick you up at the airport.’ I went to pick you up and I remember the first time I saw you, we smiled. And it’s been more than 20 years of a solid friendship. We clicked instantaneously. It felt like we had known each other for a lifetime.”

The two would later collaborate on the 2006 film Bandidas as well as the 2011 animated movie Puss in Boots.

A photo of Salma Hayek and Penélope Cruz posing in a cherry red Balenciaga grown and a shimmery silver Dolce & Gabbana dress, respectively.

Salma Hayek and Penélope Cruz pose in a cherry red Balenciaga grown and a shimmery silver Dolce & Gabbana dress, respectively.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

I know I'm not only one begging these two to do another movie together. They already done a bank-robbing partners-in-crime style flick, but their coordinating designer corset dress have me dreaming of a Gentleman Prefer Blondes or First Wives Club-inspired turn. Hollywood, take note.

Hanna Lustig
Staff Writer

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.