ROME — Guests of the Dior 2026 cruise show made it through the step and repeat and the entrance of Villa Albani Torlonia just before it started raining on Tuesday evening, ominous black clouds in the background.

Abiding by the dress code — white for women and black for men — Natalie Portman made her way toward the 18th-century residence, whose spectacular gardens served as the stage for the fashion show.

Asked about her work as an audiobook narrator, for example on the “Wheel of Time” series by Robert Jordan, Rosamund Pike said smiling that “it’s a gift because you are alone, just with your imagination, which is a wonderful place to be and you create everything. If you do an audiobook you have to do it so that the person you are reading to has to picture everything, so you have to know it deeply and imagine it first so that you can share your imagination with others.”

Spotted earlier in the day at the Teatro della Cometa, which Maria Grazia Chiuri has been restoring, Pike, who is a Dior brand ambassador, lit up and said “it’s a wonderful, very special project. Theaters are places of dreams and creativity and for Maria Grazia to see this one and restore it to its glory, hoping to bring all kinds of artists, productions and music, it’s very, very exciting. That would be my dream.”

The theater was on her mind because she said she loves a dress code as “it makes everybody feel special, there is a sense of belonging and togetherness, you are part of a production, I suppose. It’s like being part of a theatrical company, you are required to play a part.”

“I love a dress code, I get overwhelmed with choices,” concurred Alexandra Daddario. “I’m an actress, I’ve learned fashion but that was not my expertise. So for me it’s wonderful to have someone as talented as Maria Grazia and Dior choose something for me.”

From the first to the latest “White Lotus” seasons, Daddario and Sarah Catherine Hook commented on the series’ enduring success.

Daddario did not envision how influential it would become. “I didn’t think much about it because we shot it during COVID, so we had other things on our minds but I’ve been doing this for a really long time and you just never know what’s going to happen, so it’s awesome. Sometimes you think something’s going to be huge and it’s not, but I knew we were making something special.”

Hook said she was “a fan of it right from the beginning as a viewer and it made so much sense to me. After the success of the first and second seasons and going into the third we all felt this type of pressure and we hoped and wanted the success to continue, but honestly it’s all Mike [White, its creator and director], if it’s in his hands, we are good. I feel very enriched by the whole experience and the location was stunning. I love Thailand and Asia.”

She gave a thumbs-up to the night’s dress code, too. “Oh my gosh, I love it, I didn’t know we were going to do all white and being here and seeing it, I think it’s elegant and perfect for a garden show. It’s kind of like a dream look, and I feel like a vintage princess,” she said, smiling.

“It’s timeless color, very much like Dior, and I think there’s a lot of ways and times that you can wear it, it’s fresh and I think it’s fabulous,” said Ashley Park.