"I was very aware when I went to the Academy Awards that it would probably be my first and last time. So I thought my input should really be about fertility, and I thought I'd bring some eggs.
I don't watch many Hollywood films, and being from Iceland, it's pretty accidental what gets over there. Most Hollywood films that I watch are Busby Berkeley musicals and ... what's that movie called with all the swimming? Esther Williams, that sort of thing, so I thought it'd be very appropriate to wear a swan. I guess they don't do those things anymore, right? But it was a tribute to Busby Berkeley and that sort of elegance."
Designed by Macedonian designer Marjan Pejoski, the dress was designed like a mute swan (Cygnus olor) and at the ceremony Björk mimicked laying an egg on the red carpet.[5] It was described by Emanuel Levy as "A giant swan dress, a full-body stocking that was covered with a giant swan whose neck wrapped around her with its head and beak resting on her breasts".[6] She had two copies of the dress produced, given that it could not be taken to the dry cleaners.[7] She later wore the dress on the cover of her 2001 record albumVespertine, photographed by Inez and Vinoodh, and variations of it many times on the Vespertine world tour. One of the copies was auctioned off for the international aid agency Oxfam on eBay and sold for $9,500 in 2005.[8]
Reception
The dress was talked about in the fashion and entertainment world for weeks after the event. It was widely criticized and seen as outrageous and outlandish and an outfit that "became the year's fashion faux pas".[6][9] Some viewed it as bizarre enough to be more than just a publicity stunt, something confirmed by Björk.[10] Jay Carr of the Boston Globe wrote, "Bjork's wraparound swan frock...made her look like a refugee from the more dog-eared precincts of provincial ballet", while Steven Cojocaru called the dress "probably one of the dumbest things I've ever seen".[11]Joan Rivers remarked "Later I saw her in the ladies room spreading papers on the floor...This girl should be put into an asylum."[11] However, the dress was praised by some for its originality; The New York Observer's verdict was "total overall j'adore" and Melissa Etheridge was also reported to have praised the dress.[11]
In response to the media hype, Björk said "It's just a dress".[11] She said, "I don't really know why I'm obsessed with swans but as I said, everything about my new album is about winter and they're a white, sort of winter bird. Obviously very romantic, being monogamous. It's one of those things that maybe I'm too much in the middle of to describe. When you're obsessed with something, you can explain it five years later, but in the moment, you don't know exactly why. Right now, swans seem to sort of stand for a lot of things."[12] The swan or water bird slung around the neck or hung limply under a person's arm could be a reference to The Rime of the Ancient Mariner written in 1798.
It has been suggested that the dress may have been inspired by Annie Leibovitz's 1997 Vanity Fair photograph of Leonardo DiCaprio holding a swan, its neck curled around his own in a position similar to the swan dress.[13] In 1935, Hollywood actress Marlene Dietrich wore a similar swan dress to a costume party which she attended dressed as the Greek mythological character Leda.[14]
In her 2005 comedy album Assassin, Margaret Cho lauded the swan dress for its originality, stating, "And all of the fashion magazines said she was the worst dressed, but when they say you're the worst, that means you're the best." She classed Björk with the "great divas" of Hollywood for wearing it. She also cited the swan dress as an inspiration for her own choice to wear a peacock feather gown by Narcisse to the 2004 Grammy Awards and her pleasure at similarly being named "worst dressed."[20]
On Halloween 2023, Spanish singer Rosalía wore a costume of Björk’s Swan Dress look, ahead of her and Björk's release of the song "Oral," which she was featured on.[21]
