Anna Sawai's 2025 SAG Awards Red Carpet Gown Casts a Glittering Optical Illusion
Her custom Armani Privé picked up where her last fiery awards look left off.
With her breakout role on FX's Shogun, Anna Sawai delivered one of the most decorated performances of the TV season. At the 2025 SAG Awards red carpet, she also added another "Best Dressed" accolade to her packed trophy cabinet.
Sawai arrived at the 31st annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on Feb. 23 glowing in a custom Armani Privé gown that was more than met the eye. From the front, it appeared stylist Karla Welch had helped her Best Actress-nominated client choose a strapless red gown coated in glittering embellishments. But when Sawai turned to the side, showing off the rest of her dress and a flash of her platform black sandal heels, the entire look changed.
Anna Sawai arrives at the 2025 SAG Awards in what appeared to be a sharp red gown...
...but from the side, the front panel of her dress appeared to levitate.
From the side, Sawai's neckline hovered away from her collarbone, revealing a deep slit on either side with a sliver of a mesh panel. Then, the dress transformed into luscious black fabric in the back. Much like her character on Shogun, this dress offered quite the plot twist.
Lady Mariko was top of mind as Sawai curated her awards season wardrobe. Speaking to Entertainment Tonight on the SAG Awards red carpet, she explained that red played a major role throughout the series. "It's a powerful, meaningful color to the character I played"—so wearing it was Sawai's way of honoring the part.
From the side, Sawai's dress featured a mesh panel and a new fabric in the back.
Shortly after Shogun began airing on FX, Sawai was coronated a rising fashion star with an expansive designer wardrobe to match. She sat front-row at Chanel's haute couture show last summer (in a slinky leather set) and then swept into the 2024 Emmy Awards in two back-to-back custom red gowns. Her first was a Vera Wang piece she called the "dress of her dreams," featuring a strapless neckline and dreamy tulle skirt. Later in the evening, she hit the Emmys after-party in a Louis Vuitton number with an exaggerated column skirt a plunging neckline.
Anna Sawai wore two fiery Louis Vuitton dresses to win (and celebrate) her first Emmy Award last September.
Sawai's fashion star only rose as the season went on. Her portrayal of Lady Mariko also earned a 2025 Golden Globe Award—the same week Sawai was named an ambassador for Dior. Fittingly, she accepted the golden statue in a white peplum two-piece by the French house.
Anna Sawai clinched her first Golden Globe award earlier this year, in a custom Dior gown.
Sawai has some tough competition in her category, Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series, at the 2025 SAG Awards. She's nominated alongside Keri Russell (for the political thriller The Diplomat) and Nicola Coughlan (for Bridgerton's swoony third season). Fashion editors can't predict whether she'll take home yet another trophy, but her gown says she's already made quite the awards season sweep.
