The story of one of the most photographed and copied dresses of the last 50 years began with a simple zip. In 1998, designer Roland Mouret had just shown his first collection at London Fashion Week and was looking for a way to produce good clothes quickly. He connected with a small British atelier, and it was there that some old-school industry wisdom changed his approach: he learned that a longer seam doesn’t actually cost any more than a shorter one.
Despite his brilliantly instinctive approach to design, it was like cracking a code—and it steered him toward the dress that would make his name. “My brain was buzzing!” he says. “I hadn’t thought about it before—if you extend a top by 50cm, it becomes a whole outfit. You just need accessories. Focusing on dresses gives you a signature piece at the right price.”
The hyper-bodycon Galaxy dress, with its industrial zip on the back, was born, embedding itself in the public consciousness via the backs of Beyoncé, Halle Berry and Victoria Beckham. Creating a singular silhouette, it helped Mouret define the look of the late 90s and early 2000s in London as much as John Galliano or Alexander McQueen did a few years before him.
Naomi Watts in the Galaxy dress in 2005. Photograph: James Devaney/WireImage
“I really earned my two lines in the fashion bible,” says Mouret, whose new autobiography, I Am Roland Mouret – The Butcher’s Boy Who Dressed the World, documents the era. “It had what we call in French ‘the lunch neckline,’ with the sharpness of a table, and a waistline cinched in like that of an iconic 1950s actress, but comfortable and not too girly. It had masculinity.”
While Elizabeth Hurley culturally owned that Versace safety-pin dress after wearing it on the red carpet in 1994, leaving its second life solely to museums, the Galaxy reappeared in Mouret’s collections “in the colour and fabric of the season” for years—and continued to be seen on a who’s who of Hollywood, from Scarlett Johansson to Naomi Watts.
“I always saw the people I was dressing from the back,” he says now over a video call from his home in London. “I wanted to position myself behind them so I could see their point of view. The zip was part of that—it was at the back of the dress. As soon as you see a face, your imagination stops and the real person is there.” It was a way of designing clothes that he would later pass on as a mentor to Victoria Beckham; the Galaxy’s silhouette could be seen in her early collections.
In the book, which is a candid and moving account of his life in rural France, Paris and London, Mouret writes about sexual exploration as a teenager. It would become part of the R&D for the Galaxy: “I had sex with women but knew I wasn’t straight,” he says. “It was a collaboration. I wasn’t trying to prove my masculinity, it was just an amazing experience, discovering a body in a carnal way. The dress was about equality. I wanted to create the female version of a man’s suit.” One of the celebrities who wore it, Dita Von Teese, whom Mouret describes as “an athlete,” epitomised the woman who suited it best after a period of size-zero ubiquity.
Dita Von Teese at the Elle Style Awards in 2006. Photograph: MJ Kim/Getty Images
The way the Galaxy fastened was practical, but it was also part of the pleasure of wearing it. It was literally sensational. “It was lined in power mesh fabric,” says Mouret, “and when you unzip it at the back, whether yourself or with your partner, the flesh jumps out—it’s a rollercoaster of carnal experience, an explosion of emotion.”
But while Mouret describes the zip as being about “strength and choice,” some notable women chose to wear it without the hardware. Catherine, Princess of Wales, had one made without it because, when faced with paparazzi, it was a weak spot. Ditto the female president on House ofClaire Underwood’s cards. Robin Wright, the actor who played her, told Mouret that his signature gold zip had to go. In the book, she explains: “I love it as a woman, but as a woman in charge, a female president… that part of me has to be invisible.”
Strangely, some of the energy of Mouret’s Galaxy dress now shows up on podiums in Trump’s America. The Galaxy is no longer made new, but similar sheath dresses from the Mouret label still reach women like Ivanka, Melania and Lara Trump. And that bodycon silhouette, favored by so many in the Trump administration, has always been severe—now it signals a Trumpian aesthetic and style of politics, accented with extreme eyelashes, straightened hair and injectables.
Does Mouret know why the look has been co-opted? “Fashion is just a reflection of the sociopolitics of its time,” he says. What “[Maga women] wear is extreme now. The clothes are so tight, and the heels so high, that you couldn’t run from anything to protect yourself. The future is fear, and the look is decadent.”
The past was a better-looking place, according to the memoir, which documents the optimism and later collapse of possibilities in fashion for independent designers. But the book marks the end of fashion as Mouret knew and lived it—it doesn’t define him today. He is no longer at the helm of his brand: after Covid hit his niche of eveningwear and event dressing hard, the label went into administration in 2021 and then changed hands. Mouret now describes himself as a queer artist, and much of his imagery still reaches back to being the rural butcher’s son who wanted to explore bodies regardless of gender.
Clothes are still made with Mouret’s name sewn into them, but they are not his. It’s unlikely lightning will be caught in a bottle again. As he says in the book: “The Galaxy proved to me that my signature was not my name, but my technique.”
In 2015, 10 years after the dress first appeared, customers could buy one new for £1,750. Now you can get one on resale sites for not much more than £200. Its time has passed, but it has also passed into fashion history, along with Mouret’s journey. It was autobiographical. As he writes in the book: “It was a dress born out of my collective consciousness; it was my mum getting dressed in the morning, it was my dad’s precision with meat, fat and bone.” It was the product of his biggest inspirations, Azzedine Alaïa and Yohji Yamamoto, filtered through his psyche. “Making it,” he writes, “was like the moment you find yourself speaking another language without thinking.”
I Am Roland Mouret – The Butcher’s Boy who Dressed the World is published on 22 October by Quercus (£25). To support the Guardian, buy a copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.
Frequently Asked Questions
FAQs I Wanted to Create the Female Version of a Mans Suit How Roland Mourets Galaxy Dress Took Over the World
1 What is the Galaxy dress
A figurehugging dress designed by Roland Mouret launched in 2005 It became famous for its structured tailored fit that flattered the body like a suit would
2 Who is Roland Mouret
A French fashion designer based in London known for sculpted architectural dresses that celebrate the female form
3 Why is it called the female version of a mans suit
Mouret said he wanted to give women the same sense of structure power and confidence a tailored mens suit gives menbut with curves
4 What makes the Galaxy dress special
Its internal corsetry thick fabric and precise seaming hold and sculpt the body so it looks flawless without needing shapewear
5 When did it launch
It debuted in Mourets SpringSummer 2006 collection shown in 2005
6 Why did it become so popular
It flattered almost every body type was worn by major celebrities and arrived just as online fashion media was exploding
7 What is internal corsetry
A builtin support structure sewn inside the dress that shapes the waist and bust similar to a tailored jackets canvas
8 What fabrics are used
Mainly thick stretchy woolblend and viscose fabrics that hold their shape and smooth the silhouette
9 Who wore the Galaxy dress
A long list of celebrities including Victoria Beckham Scarlett Johansson Cameron Diaz Dita Von Teese and Elle Macpherson
10 Why did it take over the world
It was widely copied sold out repeatedly and became a symbol of the power dress eracelebrities wore it magazines featured it and highstreet brands rushed to make affordable versions
11 What is a power dress
A dress that projects confidence and authority often through structure and tailoringthe female counterpart to a power suit
12 How does the Galaxy dress differ from a regular bodycon dress
A bodycon dress clings to the body
