Chappell Roan is used to creating a social media frenzy with her red carpet looks, as her appearances at the Grammy Awards and elsewhere often attract a lot of media attention. At the 2025 Grammys, she wore a Jean Paul Gaultier dress inspired by Edgar Degas’ paintings of ballerinas, while at the January 29 premiere of the film Charli XCX. The momentThe Grammy winner for Best New Artist of 2025 channeled the idea of a modern, retro nurse with a mint green design from Paris-based label ILONA.
Roan went a little further at Sunday’s 2026 Grammys at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, wearing a design by Mugler creative director Miguel Castro Freitas. Her custom negligee dress and matching cape were made of silk georgette in a deep maroon red. But once Roan took off the cloak, the result was a nude dress that seemingly exposed her breasts, with the silk georgette suspended by nipple rings.
But unlike, say, Bianca Censori’s stunning nude ensemble at the 2025 Grammys, Roan appears to be wearing pasties under her Mugler dress to cover her nipples. The Paris-based brand describes the look as inspired by Manfred Thierry Mugler’s spring/summer 1998 collection, which also features a controversial design suspended by nipple rings, which was reinterpreted for spring/summer 2026 by Castro Freitas.
Live coverage of the red carpet needed to quickly adapt to the controversial look. When E! The red carpet hosts interviewed Roan on the red carpet, it was clear that he was wearing the cape to cover himself from his shoulders to his waist, while the cape was not present as he walked the red carpet for the photographers.
While Mugler’s design had been widely reported by the media before the Grammy telecast began, as of Sunday night Roan had not shared any details about her look on her Instagram account with 7.6 million followers. Roan also changed her dress when she appeared on stage to present the best new artist award, the Grammy she won in 2025, to Olivia Dean.
Chappell Roan at the 2026 Grammys.
Amy Sussman/Getty Images