Natalie Portman Attends First Dior Couture Show

By Anne Cohen January 27, 2015

Getty Images

It may come as a surprise that Natalie Portman, face of Miss Dior, has never actually attended a Dior show.

And yet, sitting in the front row at yesterday’s Haute Couture show held at the Musee Rodin in Paris, she reportedly gushed: “I’ve never been to a couture show,” she said. “This is my first time. I’m super, super excited.”

Cute.

But as The New York Times points out, Portman’s attendance is actually somewhat significant. In 2011, when John Galliano – then Dior’s creative director – made his infamous anti-Semitic rant in a Paris cafe, the actress was one of the first to condemn him.

“In light of this video, and as an individual who is proud to be Jewish, I will not be associated with Mr. Galliano in any way,” the face of the fashion house’s Miss Cherie Dior wrote at the time. “I hope at the very least, these terrible comments remind us to reflect and act upon combating these still-existing prejudices that are the opposite of all that is beautiful.”

Galliano’s replacement, Raf Simons, has apparently been working hard to redeem the brand. Natalie is still under contract.

The Oscar-winner celebrated her big day dressed head to toe in black Dior (natch), but her best accessory was hubby and new director of the Paris Opera Ballet, Benjamin Millepied.

Anne Cohen was the Forward’s deputy digital media editor. When she’s not looking for the secret Jewish history of Voodoo in New Orleans, or making lists about Ruth Bader Ginsburg, she writes for The Assimilator. She graduated from the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism with an M.S. magazine concentration in 2012.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO