When Ethel Cain stepped onto the Coachella stage during Weekend 1 in a pair of distressed, beaded pinstriped overalls, sharp-eyed fans quickly identified them. “Am I going crazy or is Ethel Cain wearing custom Dior for her Coachella set?” one fan posted on X.

Indeed, Hayden Anhedönia—the singer behind the Ethel Cain persona—enlisted her friend Jonathan Anderson to create bespoke overalls for her first weekend performance. While a departure from the Edwardian styles Anhedönia often favors as Ethel Cain, the more rugged look nods to her latest album, Willoughby Tucker, I Will Always Love You. “The overalls are simply Ethel and Willoughby, no extra bells and whistles, save the lovely beaded pin-striping,” Anhedönia tells Vogue.

For Weekend 2, however, Anhedönia wanted to embrace another side of Ethel Cain. “I’ve always tried to inhabit two characters on stage and in life, at least for this chapter: one is the haunted woman in the house on the hill, lurking in her drapes and scaring the local children; the other is the tomboy who runs with the boys and can hardly keep her shoes on,” she explains. “Marrying that vision with a house like Dior is how you get couture overalls.”

Anderson adds, “For Coachella, we approached it as an exchange: a dialogue between her codes, her narrative, and those of the house, creating something slightly rawer—almost a Dior take on grunge—in harmony with the music while letting her voice take center stage.”

The second weekend’s look was a stark contrast to the overalls. Dior created a black mock-neck gown for Anhedönia with a gathered waist, flowing sleeves, and delicate organza petals. “The dress feels like it fits right into the original quintessential Ethel Cain funeral attire—less narrative and more purely conceptual,” she says. She completed the look with a black cyclamen headpiece, her take on the colorful posies that adorned Anderson’s debut couture collection.

“My favorite detail is the black silk cyclamen blossoms on the headpiece,” she notes. “I was so delighted to see a black version made especially to go with my dress. I already loved the dress from the sketch alone, but the blossoms truly sealed the deal for me.”

While Anhedönia admits, “I don’t venture into the fashion world too often,” she felt a particular connection with Anderson, whose couture show she attended in January. “Jonathan and I met the way I meet all my favorite people—simply through the love of our crafts,” she says. “I told him my usual thoughts about the two sides of Ethel Cain, and he understood immediately. He’s one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met, and I’m glad I’ll always have this collaboration to look back on.”

Frequently Asked Questions
FAQs Diors Haunted Dress for Ethel Cain at Coachella

Beginner General Questions

1 What is this haunted Dior dress everyone is talking about
It was a custommade gothicinspired gown created by Dior for the singer Ethel Cain to wear during her Coachella 2024 performance The dress featured a dramatic silhouette intricate lace and a bloodstained hem designed to look like a haunted Victorianera garment

2 Why did Dior make a dress specifically for Ethel Cain
Dior collaborated with Ethel Cain because her music and artistic personawhich often explores themes of Southern Gothic trauma and Americanaperfectly align with the dark romantic and storytelling aesthetic of Creative Director Maria Grazia Chiuris recent collections It was a meeting of high fashion and a specific musical subculture

3 What made the dress look haunted
The haunted effect came from its distressed antiquelooking white lace the deep crimson bloodstain splatter on the skirt and train and its overall ghostly ethereal silhouette It was designed to appear like a relic from a tragic past

4 Was the dress actually haunted or cursed
No it was not literally haunted The term haunted is a creative descriptor for its aesthetic meant to evoke a ghostly tragic and Gothic storymuch like the narratives in Ethel Cains music

Advanced Detailed Questions

5 Who designed the dress at Dior
The dress was created under the direction of Diors Creative Director Maria Grazia Chiuri It was part of her Fall 2024 collection which was heavily inspired by tarot cards and Gothic romance

6 What were the specific design elements and materials
The dress was a tailored jacket over a fulllength gown Key elements included
Material Ivory guipure lace with a distressed aged finish
Details A high neck legofmutton sleeves and a fitted bodice
The Stain A carefully placed artistic splatter of deep red resembling dried blood on the skirt and long train