The Deeper Meaning Behind Emily Ratajkowski’s Cryptic-Chic Party Dress

Sometimes clothes speak louder than words — just ask Emily Ratajkowski.

When the model turned up at the 2024 WSJ. Magazine Innovator Awards at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City on Tuesday, October 29, she sent a cryptic-chic fashion message in a JW Anderson dress covered with bold-lettered text.

Ratajkowski, 33, plucked her party dress right off designer Jonathan Anderson’s Spring 2025 runway. But the source behind the print was more elusive: it was actually an excerpt from English art critic Clive Bell‘s book Art, originally published in 1914.

The essay, titled “Simplification and Design,” is considered a theoretical exploration of visual art.

While the excerpt wasn’t as lengthy as the one Katy Perry wore on a Balenciaga gown earlier this year, it still managed to turn heads at the event.

The streamlined silhouette featured a round neck and a micro-mini hem. Ratajkowski was smart to keep her accessories to a minimum, which let her dress do all the talking. She wore strappy black Jimmy Choo stilettos and a sleek Saint Laurent leather bag — but not a stitch of jewelry, save for her signature “divorce rings.”

Her hair was styled in tousled, finger-raked waves, which added an effortlessly cool slant to the scholarly embroidery on her dress.

While onlookers no doubt attempted to decipher the meaning behind the dress, Ratajkowski was quick to tell WSJ. Magazine that she simply fell for the dress the moment she laid eyes on it.

“I love Jonathan, and I just saw this dress when it went down the runway and was like, ‘I want to wear that,’” she recalled.

Ratajkowski brought her young son, Sylvester, 3, (whom she shares with ex-husband Sebastian Bear-McClard) to Anderson’s latest Loewe show following her high-profile appearance at the brand’s Paris Fashion Week event.

She certainly knows how to make a stylish statement on the front row and on the red carpet.