Celine Dion's Absolute Best Fashion Moments Ever

Canadian legend Celine Dion is undeniably one of music's top defining vocalists — and looks so good doing it. She's belted out iconic ballads for almost four decades — transmuting lyrics with her powerful pipes, distinctive tone, and poignant performances. Her music is inextricably knitted into the fabric of pop culture. 

Dion comes from humble roots, growing up in Charlemagne, Quebec, as the youngest of 14 children. The impoverished family had to get creative with Dion's first bed — a drawer fashioned with pillows. Despite the odds, she rose above it all, becoming a member of the "vocal trinity" with pop divas Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey, partly thanks to epochal soundtrack hits "Beauty and the Beast" and Titanic's "My Heart Will Go On," which helped to define the '90s. 

Although Dion wasn't always known as a fashion icon, she's always been fearless in her style, leading her to become a couture queen.

Celine Dion's now-infamous backward Galliano tuxedo she wore to the 1999 Oscars was polarizing, standing out amongst the glittering dresses on the red carpet. But the daring fashion twist is now known as one of her most iconic looks. Dion's decision to wear the blazer backward created a backless moment. Dion in 2017 told People that the controversial look would be received better in 2017 than in 1999. "When I wore that look, yes, it was at the Oscars, and when I wore that, everyone was wearing dresses, not pants. I was the only one with pants in a backward suit from Galliano and if I would do this today, it would work." 

Even though she considered the look a flop, it opened the door to different ideas of glamour and remained one of her favorites. "People thought, Is that a joke? What is she trying to say? I wasn't trying to say anything. I'm just having a great time," she later said in 2019 (via Vanity Fair). 

Dion presented an updated version of her backward tux at the Giorgio Armani Prive Haute couture show that same year, wearing Armani wide-leg trousers and a white shirt that created its own knee-length tail and a large black bow tie around the collar. Dion has often gone viral for her unfiltered and enthusiastic love of fashion. One such moment was at the show, where she was filmed agape after a gown passed on the runway (via Twitter).

In 2016, Celine Dion's style transformed couture-diva to "The avant-garde style maverick" (via Harper's Bazaar) with help from stylist Law Roach. Their partnership began after she saw Zendaya's stylish outfits on Instagram. After finding out who the style architect was, she immediately called. "My first words were: Céline who?" Roach told Vanity Fair. "I don't think I had dreamed that big of a dream. That this legend, this woman who we've all grown up to her music, that's been around for 30 years, was calling me to work with me." Dion invited him to move to Paris for a month as her stylist starting the next day!

Their artistic relationship bloomed from there with a vibrant flourish. However, it was a difficult time for Dion, only six months after her husband's and brother's deaths, who tragically died of cancer two days apart. Roach told Vanity Fair that she credits him and fashion week with "helping her through her grieving process." 

Dion lifted her spirits, turning the Parisian cobblestones into a catwalk, causing a commotion (via The Cut). One standout look is this stunning, pink, floor-length tiered Gucci dress, which she paired with vintage-style Gucci sunglasses and black Fendi stilettos (via Instagram). Throughout the week, the duo embraced more street-wear labels, including Vetements, helping solidify her spot as an on-trend icon. Law told In Style that the Vetements "Titanic" hoodie she wore was "the catalyst that brought all of the attention that's happening now."

In 2018, Celine Dion took a break from Vegas to tour, with costuming that played more boldly with fashion. In the above regal gold suit by Schiaparelli Couture, Dion embodied Liberace with a modern twist. The high-waisted pants and structured blazer combo were made of gold foil fabric and embellished with flashy adornments and embossed prints on top of a white tuxedo shirt with two bold sheer lace panels (via Vogue). Dion has long had a thing for gold suits, wearing one back in the '90s as she sang "Falling into You" (via Instagram).

"Céline has no fear," Roach said to Vanity Fair. "And when you have that type of energy, you have this attitude that we can do whatever we want and we don't care who likes it or dislikes it. Fashion is supposed to be polarizing. It has to be overwhelming." Even though Roach has been credited with the Canadian singers' revamped style, he was taken aback by how fashion-savvy she already was and is, he explained. 

Dion also wore Schiaparelli Haute couture on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" (via Schiaparelli). The beige look included a gathered-sleeve top in double organza, which she paired with a nude pleated wool skirt and black pumps. The gathered sleeves that tumbled off her shoulders gave a dramatic, sexy look. In the interview, Fallon said, "We're in a Celine-aissance," after she took Paris Fashion Week by storm (Via YouTube).

Celine Dion continued to impress during 2019's Fashion Week, making her mark on the French capital. She attended all the top shows in stunning outfits, which took bold and playful risks. When she attended the Valentino show, she wore this elegant, modern, feathered turtleneck dress (by Valentino) which she combined with silver heels and a shimmering metallic purse. She told Vanity Fair that at the event, "Valentino blew my mind."

It's obvious how much Dion loves fashion. You can witness her joy as she's often caught clapping and cheering in the subdued fashion crowd. At Giambattista Valli's show in 2017, an Instagram video showed her jumping up and down in excitement. At Valentino creative head, Pierpaolo Piccioli's show, Dion went viral again in another video, wiping away tears as models floated by in colorful organza while surrounded by flowers and opulence. Dion is often moved to tears of joy, but these seemed to be tinged more with melancholy. The impactful show also brought reporter Samira Nasr to tears, writing on Instagram that it "celebrated diversity. We forget how powerful it is to see your likeness reflected back to you and celebrated."

For Dion, another element of the moment could have been the fact that the show played Roberta Flack's "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face," which is the song that she and her late husband had their first wedding dance to in '94. The date coincided around the anniversary of his death (via Page Six). 

2019's Fashion Week produced some of Dion's best looks. She wore the executive couture look by Ronald Van Der Kemp to his fashion show. The shimmering, sharp, metallic-gray suit, with pointed sculptural padded shoulders, made her look like the boss she is. The look was more subdued than her others but just as luxurious, especially with the gold accents of her jewelry and high stilettos. She told Vanity Fair that her current fashion obsession is "RVDK. Every piece they do is one of a kind." 

Stylist Sydney Lopez told People, "I don't think Céline is limited to any type of look ... she is able to capture so many styles and own them."

"It's such an amazing way of making people look and feel their best. It helps me to sing, it helps me to feel strong, to be happier, to function in life in a better way — I wear [couture] and it gets me to where I want to go," Dion added (via Yahoo!). In 2019, Dion was dubbed "the couture queen" as well as "the designer darling," per People. But as we know, she wasn't born with a couture spoon in her mouth. "I have 13 siblings, and I was the last," she told Vanity Fair. "Clothing. My mom didn't have money to buy it, so she made the clothes. She was very sensitive to the cut of the moment, if the pants were wide or narrow. She was paying attention."