Dakota Johnson's Most Enviable Cool-Girl Outfits

Dakota Johnson's ascent took off in 2015 with her turn as Anastasia Steele in "Fifty Shades of Grey" — the glossy, improbable franchise that introduced audiences to an actress of magnetic presence and a wardrobe to match. But, as she tells it, her fashion sense started long before her fame. In fact, it started in her mother's closet.

"Fashion has always been a kind of personal thing for me," she told Vogue. "I refused to let anyone dress me when I was a kid and I put together some of the most outrageous looks." One in particular sticks in her mind: "The chicest outfit I think I've ever worn," she once joked to Elle UK, was a pinstripe monochromatic suit she wore in 1998 at just nine years old, to the premiere of Sphere in LA.

"I was always going into my mom's closet, trying on her gowns from premieres and things," she added to Vogue, "and then I was just kind of always into clothes." Since then, her taste has evolved — though her spirit of playful rebellion remains. If there's a throughline in Johnson's wardrobe, it's instinct. "I guess the thing that makes me choose a dress for a carpet," she shared, "I have to feel good in it." And therein lies her secret. She centers her own experience, and we just have the pleasure of watching.

While many stars landed on the 2025 roundup of the worst-dressed stars at Cannes, Dakota Johnson reminded everyone exactly how it's done. Wearing a gauzy, pale pink Gucci gown composed almost entirely of beads and fringe, she embodied the kind of magic that Cannes deserves. A strapless, gently boned bodice offered structural support before giving way to a waterfall of shimmering silk threads.

Her stylist, Kate Young, told Vogue, "I think the reason Cannes red carpet looks good is because it's natural light at the beach," and Johnson's look seemed to understand that instinctively. The dress caught every glint of sun off the coast, its fringe fluttering like sea foam. The dress's movement gave it its sense of play, too, almost like a modern-day flapper spun through a candyfloss-clad dream sequence. Paired with her signature bottleneck bangs and oversized feather earrings, her dazzling presence could not be denied.

Clearly, there's just something about Dakota Johnson, Gucci, and pale pink — a trio that never seems to miss. For the 2021 LACMA Art+Film Gala in Los Angeles, she returned to the Italian fashion house in a refreshed take on Old Hollywood styling. Here, she wore a two-piece, which featured a heavily embellished bodice with a pair of exaggerated satin trousers in a soft, blush tone. It takes a certain kind of cool-girl constitution to wear pants to a black-tie event, but, naturally, she nailed it.

For the "Madame Web" premiere in Los Angeles, Johnson leaned all the way into the theme, embracing the celebrity method dressing hype. Nodding to the film's arachnid motif, she wore yet another Gucci gown that followed the delicate structure of a spider's web. A sheer nude slip was laid beneath a netted overlay of crystal embellishment, wrapped around her like silk thread.

This type of dress does not, under any circumstances, allow for error. The proportions must be exact. You can't wear a web like that unless you know precisely how to move inside it. Of course, she pulled it off, and did so majestically.

Not every cool-girl look needs to be a red carpet spectacle — a point she made effortlessly whilst filming "Materialists" against the textured backdrop of New York City. She produced the film under her own company (an enterprise that draws much of its creative inspiration from Dakota Johnson's book club, TeaTime).

Her on-set outfit perfectly illustrated one of the effortless ways to style an oversized shirt for the ultimate cozy and cool vibes. She wore a crisp, boxy white button-down, slightly rumpled at the cuffs, which was nonchalantly tucked into loose, high-waisted, light-wash jeans — honoring the hottest denim trends of 2025. She accessorized with a yellow taxi and a film crew, which played well into her particular brand of insouciant charm.

Actually, "Materialists" offered no shortage of visual pleasures, not least of which were the clothes (we have costume designer Katina Danabassis to thank for that). Whilst filming the feature — which stars Pedro Pascal and Chris Evans, as well — Dakota Johnson stepped out in a take on one of TikTok's favorite fashion trends: the office siren.

An oversized pinstripe blazer was draped offhandedly over a silk blouse, half-tucked into a matching miniskirt. Sheer black tights and knee-high leather boots added a noirish edge, striking that rare balance between editorial cool and real-world wearability. It was a model case of business-casual attire that'll keep you looking trendy on and off the clock.

We adored this all-black moment from Dakota Johnson in June 2025, captured en route to a "Materialists" screening at the DGA Theater in New York.

The outfit in question was a high-shine, liquid satin halter-neck dress in the darkest register of black. Wrapped around her neck, the sultry number left her shoulders bare and her back gently exposed. The inky material fluttered behind her with the breeze, lending buoyancy to an otherwise sculptural silhouette. It was a stunning, self-possessed, and exacting look — a paragon of celebrity LBDs that proves the iconic outfit's versatility.

It seems the Little Black Dress remains a winning formula for Dakota Johnson. Spotted on the streets of New York City, again in the summer of 2025, she threw caution (and, as it transpires, lining) to the wind in a gossamer black number that left very little to the imagination, but she rocked it nonetheless.

This was a gauzy, transparent mesh dress, punctuated by a crisscross pattern across her chest. Long sleeves and a high neckline suggested modesty, while visible lingerie underneath its figure-hugging form reassured us that suggestion was all it was. Much has been written about the so-called naked dress and its place in the current celebrity fashion lexicon (following the trend's ban at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival). But Johnson makes a persuasive case for it here.