‘Haute Potato Collection’ brings Marilyn Monroe’s famous sack dress back to life

It has been 75 years since Marilyn Monroe turned a humble potato sack into a fashion legend, and now an Idaho designer has reimagined the moment for a new generation.

During New York Fashion Week on Feb. 11, Grand Central Terminal’s Vanderbilt Hall hosted “The Haute Potato Collection,” a couture showcase inspired by Marilyn Monroe’s iconic 1951 photo in an Idaho potato sack.

Idaho-born designer Cartier Dior Eliasen transformed vintage potato sacks into structured gowns, tailored suits, and hand-painted ensembles that blended 1950s glamour with modern silhouettes. 

The collection, created in partnership with the Idaho Potato Commission, paid homage to the actress’s playful defiance after a journalist once quipped she would look better in a potato sack, a comment Twentieth Century Fox famously turned into a publicity triumph.

“There is a reason why the photo remains iconic to this day,” Eliasen told People, noting the unexpected contrast between rustic burlap and undeniable glamour.

For Eliasen, who grew up in a potato-farming family in American Falls, Idaho, the show marked a full-circle moment. 

Drawing on her couture training at Institut Français de la Mode and her roots in quilting traditions, she crafted hand-painted graphics and western-inspired tailoring that celebrated both heritage and innovation.

The event also carried a philanthropic mission. Select designs are being auctioned to benefit No Kid Hungry, linking high fashion to hunger relief efforts nationwide.

“Fashion is a universal language that captures attention. Purpose sustains it,” said Anaïs Laurent of No Kid Hungry.