Maria Lucia Hohan has spent more than two decades building a house on a single idea: that eveningwear should move with the woman wearing it. Since founding her namesake label in Bucharest in 2003, the Romanian designer, who trained at the LISAA School of Art & Design in Paris and began her career illustrating for an Italian house in Milan, has become a red-carpet regular, with gowns worn by Beyoncé, Jennifer Lopez, Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Nicole Kidman and Selena Gomez. Her signature is silk, worked into ethereal, body-skimming shapes and finished by hand in small runs. Many of the pieces below read just as convincingly as modern bridal as they do black-tie, which is part of the pleasure of the label. You can read more about the house on our Maria Lucia Hohan brand hub; below is a closer look at eight gowns worth knowing now, grouped by the fabrics that define them.

The ivory silk gowns

If there is a starting point for this house, it is ivory silk. The Pauline Gown is cut from silk mousseline in a soft ivory, the kind of weightless, slightly sheer silk that skims the body and catches the light as you walk. The Esteri Gown works in the same ivory mousseline yet reads as its own proposition, fluid and quietly grand, a gown that suits a gala as easily as it suits a wedding. Both make the case for ivory as a colour with real depth rather than a safe default.

The Moonie Gown shifts the texture. Here the silk is pleated, still in ivory, so the fabric holds a fine, repeating line that lends structure and movement at once. Pleated silk photographs beautifully under low light, which is why a gown like this earns its place on a bride who wants more presence than a plain column can give, and equally on a guest who wants to be remembered.

The tulle, metallic and polka-dot pieces

Tulle is where Maria Lucia Hohan turns airy. The Anouk Gown is made in white silk tulle, a delicate, gossamer-light fabric that layers into softness without weight, and it sits firmly in bridal territory for anyone after something modern rather than traditional. For a gown with more shine, the Lissandra Gown uses a metallic silk tulle in neutral tones, so the fabric holds a low, liquid gleam rather than an obvious sparkle. It is a considered answer for black-tie when you want light in the fabric without committing to colour.

The Annabeth B Gown is the playful one. Worked in tulle scattered with polka dots and set in a soft pink, it keeps the house’s lightness while trading solemnity for charm. Picture it on a wedding guest at a summer garden ceremony, and equally on a bride who wants her celebration to feel joyful rather than formal.

Colour and the shorter option

Not everything here is pale. The Dalia Gown arrives in silk mousseline in a warm orange, the same fluid, draped construction as the ivory pieces but with real colour behind it. That makes it a strong choice for anyone who wants an evening gown that reads as confident and current, a dress for the woman who has done ivory before and wants something with heat to it this time.

And for those who would rather not wear a full-length gown, the Medana Mini Dress is the exception on this edit. Cut from taffeta in neutral tones, it has the crispness and light body that taffeta gives, holding its shape where the silks fall soft. It is a short, occasion-ready dress that suits a registry-office wedding, a rehearsal dinner and an after-ceremony change, proof that the house thinks about the whole day, not only the aisle.

Across the edit, the constant is the silk craft and the hand-finishing that give these gowns their fall and their glow. If you are weighing the label up, our guide to whether Maria Lucia Hohan is a luxury brand sets out where it sits, while how to style Maria Lucia Hohan covers the shoes, jewellery and finishing that suit these silks. For pieces in the same register, see brands like Maria Lucia Hohan, and to browse the wider selection, visit our designer dresses.