‘The Hunger Games’ Star Mckenna Grace Keeps Paying Homage to Katniss Everdeen, This Time With a Dress From President Snow’s Mansion
Few franchises are as tied to fashion as ‘The Hunger Games.’ From the Capitol’s extravagant costumes to Katniss’s famous wedding dress transformation, clothing has always been part of the storytelling. It is no surprise, then, that the stars of the new prequel are treating the press tour like a runway.
Leading the style charge is Mckenna Grace, who plays Maysilee Donner in ‘The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping.’ Maysilee is a District 12 tribute and the original owner of the Mockingjay pin that Katniss later wears. The film follows the 50th Hunger Games, which is also the second Quarter Quell, and it arrives in theaters on November 20.
Now Grace has added another Katniss reference to her collection. In a new picture, she recreates a look from Katniss Everdeen’s appearance at President Snow’s mansion in ‘Catching Fire.’
Mckenna Grace references Katniss Everdeen’s look from Snow’s mansion in ‘CATCHING FIRE’ in new picture. https://t.co/ob9gUvTkwb
— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) October 26, 2026
The photo shows Grace in a black dress with red-tipped feathered shoulder details, holding up a phone with a screenshot of Katniss in the original look. The comparison is the whole joke, and it works. Next to the film still of Katniss standing beside Peeta at the party, the match is unmistakable.
It’s a more playful approach than a straight replica. Instead of presenting the outfit as a costume, she shows the source material right next to her, inviting fans to spot the reference.
mckenna grace, more like mckenna graceful https://t.co/a7q9LzUBvg
— val ୨ৎ (@kendramerced) October 26, 2026
This isn’t the first time she has done this. On October 6, Grace attended the opening of ‘Elegance Is Authority: The Story, Style and Power of Panem’ at the Musée Rodin in Paris. She wore a vintage Monique Lhuillier gown reworked to echo the wedding dress Jennifer Lawrence wore as Katniss, complete with tiers of white ruffled tulle and a sculptural metal bodice.
The original gown was developed by costume designer Trish Summerville with Indonesian designer Tex Saverio. On screen, Katniss wears it to a televised interview on President Snow’s orders, then spins until it burns away to reveal a black mockingjay dress created by her stylist, Cinna.
Grace teased the look in a TikTok video the day before, lip-syncing to Johanna Mason’s famous reaction to the dress. She also said the meaning of the look was not lost on her.
mckenna grace is killing it with the hunger games references during the sunrise on the reaping press tour https://t.co/mHki9Ty568
— kat (@districtshields) October 24, 2026
The tributes have kept coming. In Sydney, Grace wore a floor-length pink gown by House of Gilles to a photocall for the film. She also wore a sleek red dress that was her take on Lawrence’s red Oscars gown, and more recently a see-through Gucci sequin dress in red, blue and gold.
Grace has revealed that her press-tour looks deliberately honor characters, designers and cast members from the earlier films. Her stylist, Molly Dickson, has put the looks together, and Grace publicly thanked her for months of work bringing her fangirl dreams to life.
The Katniss references are more than fan service. Maysilee is the first tribute to wear the Mockingjay pin, which makes her a direct link to the heroine of the original films. One outlet noted that dressing as Katniss weeks before release connects the two characters visually before audiences see how the story does it.
The role has reportedly been seen as the closest thing to the Katniss part made famous by Jennifer Lawrence, although the story is really Haymitch’s. Grace also plays Maysilee’s twin sister, Merilee Donner, which gives her a double role in the film.
Witness the beginning of the revolution. #TheHungerGames: Sunrise on the Reaping – in theaters & IMAX November 20. https://t.co/fKCrWXIk3T
— The Hunger Games (@TheHungerGames) September 16, 2026
Joseph Zada plays young Haymitch Abernathy, and Whitney Peak plays his girlfriend, Lenore Dove Baird. The ensemble also includes Jesse Plemons as Plutarch Heavensbee, Ralph Fiennes as President Snow, Glenn Close, Ben Wang, Kieran Culkin as Caesar Flickerman, Elle Fanning and Maya Hawke. The story is based on Suzanne Collins’ 2025 novel and serves as a sequel to ‘The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes’ and a prequel to the original film.
With about a month to go, the press push is heating up. Reaction to Grace’s appearances has been warm, with commenters praising her fairy-tale aesthetic, and the general mood is admiration.
Rachel Zegler nodded to Katniss’s “girl on fire” gown at a 2023 premiere for ‘The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes,’ so reference dressing has precedent in this series. Grace has taken it further, turning each appearance into a small piece of franchise history. The newest photo, with its phone-in-hand comparison, is perhaps the most direct version yet.
If this is any sign of what is coming, the weeks before the premiere should be full of surprises. For a series that has always used clothing as storytelling, it feels exactly right.
Which Katniss-inspired look from Mckenna Grace has impressed you most?
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