The stunning gown Céline Dion wore at the Paris Olympics opening ceremony took quite a while to create.
For her first performance in four years on Friday, July 26, Dion, 56, wore a long-sleeved, floor-length, silver Dior gown that took 1,000 hours to create, per Vogue France.
“@CelineDion’s haute couture dress took over 1,000 hours to create in the @Dior ateliers,” the outlet wrote in an Instagram post on Saturday, July 27, including closeup photos of the designing of the gown. “For the ultimate chapter of the #Paris2024 #OlympicGames opening ceremony and her comeback on stage after 4 years, the singer wore a white gown imagined by @MariaGraziaChiuri.”
Vogue France went on to explain how the dress was “embroidered with sequins and over 500 meters of fringing” that also included thousands of silver beads.
The designer of the gown, Maria Grazia Chiuri, also took to social media to share what an honor it was to create Dion’s gown for her.
“The one and only @celinedion closing the Olympic Games Ceremony in Paris in a custom @dior Haute Couture gown we especially created for her,” Chiuri, 60, wrote via Instagram on Sunday, July 28. “It was such a pleasure to take part [in] this special moment and to create this all over embroidered cape dress for this stunning performance. Thank you to @celinedion for choosing @dior and to the incredible team!”
Dion returned to the stage for the first time since sharing her stiff-person syndrome in December 2022. She stood at the base of the Eiffel Tower for her performance, which began after the torch lighting. She previously opened the 1996 games in Atlanta with a rendition of “The Power of the Dream.”
Following her powerful performance, Dion shared that she was “honored” to sing at the opening ceremony in Paris and she was “so full of joy” to be back in one of her “favorite cities.”
“Most of all, I’m so happy to be celebrating these amazing athletes, with all their stories of sacrifice and determination, pain and perseverance,” she wrote via Instagram on Saturday. “All of you have been so focused on your dream, and whether or not you take home a medal, I hope that being here means that it has come true for you! You should all be so proud, we know how hard you have worked to be the best of the best. Stay focused, keep going, my heart is with you!”
Dion’s opening ceremony gig comes one month after she told Hoda Kotb she “will” return to the stage despite her disease.
“I’m going to go back on stage, even if I have to crawl. Even if I have to talk with my hands, I will. I will,” she shared on Today in June. “I am Céline Dion, because today my voice will be heard for the first time, not just because I
