Gabrielle Union Teaches a Lesson In Naked Dressing

A true naked dress is meant to look, well, naked. Just ask Gabrielle Union, who attended the screening of her new film Riff Raff last night in New York City wearing a gauzy nude illusion number.

Union slipped into a flesh-tone spaghetti strap gown from Fendi’s spring 2025 collection for the event at Regal Essex Crossing theater. (The Italian brand’s fall 2025 show, unveiled yesterday in Milan, also had some similarly see-through looks that Union might like to wear in the future). The actor’s dress hugged her curves before bursting into an elegant maxi skirt with blush pink trim.

Union’s Fendi dress, paired with futuristic glasses and a sculptural handbag, debuted on the Milan runway in September 2024. Union, naturally, put her own spin on the look for last night’s screening in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, where she joined costars Bill Murray and Pete Davidson at the step and repeat. She opted for limited accessories (and undergarments) in the form of rose gold heels and glittering diamond jewelry from Tiffany & Co.

Like many celebrities nowadays, nude illusion looks such as Union’s latest are on constant rotation in her wardrobe. At the Schiaparelli couture show in Paris last month, the actor made a statement in a black dress with intricately placed panels that were mixed with see-through fabric. Barely there dresses are also a staple of Union’s date night style, too.

Still, the naked dress has featured in Union’s red carpet repertoire since the early aughts, when she’d attend premieres in sheer blouses worn with teensy bras. It’s no wonder the actor has managed to refine the art of the naked dress to such a degree—she’s been pulling off naked dressing before it was “in.”