Jodie Turner-Smith wears computer-parts dress to Tron: Ares premiere in Paris
Schiaparelli couture crafted from salvaged circuit boards and components nods to the film’s digital world and a trend toward wearable tech on the red carpet
Jodie Turner-Smith arrived in Paris for the premiere of Tron: Ares wearing a Schiaparelli couture gown constructed from salvaged computer parts. The dress features a collage of vintage circuit boards, computer chips and other electronic components meticulously sewn into the structured silhouette, turning wearable technology into a high-fashion statement on the red carpet. The 39-year-old actress, who portrays Athena, an AI program in the film opposite Jared Leto, used the look to nod to the film’s digital universe as she walked the premiere in the French capital.
Styled by Law Roach, Turner-Smith completed the futurist look with a matching clutch, Tiffany HardWear earrings, and transparent pumps. The ensemble draws from Schiaparelli’s Spring 2024 Haute Couture runway, where a motherboard-inspired dress highlighted the tension between society’s embrace of artificial intelligence and nostalgia for early 2000s devices. Designer Daniel Roseberry noted that pre-2007 tech is now so antiquated that sourcing those elements is nearly as challenging as finding certain vintage fabrics. Turner-Smith wore the same glitzy choker showcased on the runway, tying the look to the fashion house’s stated theme while nodding to the film’s cybernetic world.
The gown’s design elements were described as a tribute to the Tron universe, with salvaged circuit boards, microchips and other electronic components arranged to form a structured silhouette. The look was completed with Tiffany HardWear Large Link earrings valued at $1,925 and transparent skyscraper pumps, creating a juxtaposition between vintage gadgetry and high fashion. The film’s narrative centers on Athena, the AI character Turner-Smith brings to life opposite Jared Leto’s Ares, amplifying the sense that the premiere was as much a celebration of digital culture as it was of cinema.
Schiaparelli’s runway commentary underscored the collection’s premise: an exploration of the relationship between advancing technology and human nostalgia. Roseberry spoke about the challenge and allure of sourcing devices from the era, comparing their availability to that of rare fabrics. The turnout underscored how fashion runways and film worlds have increasingly converged on themes of artificial intelligence, data, and the shifting definitions of wearable tech.
Turner-Smith’s look quickly became a talking point beyond the red carpet. The star’s couture moment was amplified by social-media posts that highlighted the dress’s otherworldly details, including the back of the gown and its hidden techno accents. Paris-based designer Jude Macasinag shared a street-shot of Turner-Smith, noting that he’d spotted the Schiaparelli motherboard dress at a bar in the wild that same evening. The image captured the hour’s zeitgeist: high fashion meeting high concept in real-world settings, with a digital-age wardrobe that reads as both couture and commentary.
The film’s premiere location and the look’s precision contributed to a narrative of fashion as a form of storytelling about technology. The social-media chatter also drew attention to the dress’s more literal tech motifs, including a back feature noted by observers that showcased a digital point-and-shoot camera, trailing cords, and a CD tucked into a back pocket—elements that reinforced the piece’s motherboard-inspired concept. The overall effect anchored Turner-Smith’s presence as part fashion moment, part cultural commentary on AI, nostalgia, and the evolving landscape of wearable technology.
Ultimately, the look signaled a broader cultural moment in which red-carpet fashion embraces electronics as material and symbol. By integrating circuit boards and other tech relics into a couture silhouette, Turner-Smith helped foreground a conversation about how artificial intelligence and digital culture influence design, identity, and storytelling in contemporary entertainment. The Tron: Ares premiere thus served not only as a launch event for the sequel but as a showcase for a fashion statement that fuses nostalgia with a forward-looking, tech-forward aesthetic.
