Mariah Carey season has officially begun with the arrival of the singer’s new holiday special, Mariah’s Christmas: The Magic Continues, debuting on Apple+ TV today.
Promotional clips for the event, which will feature cameos from Kirk Franklin and Khalid, whom Carey collaborated on for her new song, Fall in Love at Christmas, have been circulating for the past few weeks. And among the many things that have caught viewers’ eyes — and ears — is the stunning gown (and the accompanying train) the “Queen of Christmas” wears in the holiday spectacular.
“The train darling, the train,” Carey says when asked about the dress. “That train required six men to carry it with me,” she tells ESSENCE. “I’ve only worn a train longer than that once and it was for a marriage — and that was maybe my first marriage — we won’t get into it. It was a while ago,” she adds laughing.”
What Carey did get into were the details of the design for the rose gold designer ensemble. “This is different because it’s beaded,” she explains. “Dolce & Gabbana made this dress but it was heavy so I kept trying to explain to everybody, I can’t just walk from here to there. We literally needed to choreograph how the dress was picked up, how we walked down the stairs, how we did everything.”
In addition to the six men who offered Carey assistance, she even sought out the help of her old son Moroccan who will also appear in the special alongside his twin sister Monroe. “My son, he’s 10 years old, I was like, ‘Can you hold this Rocky? Just hold this little piece.’ And he’s like, ‘I can’t.’ It was that heavy,” she adds. “But it’s kind of fun to dress up in those moments you know? If you’re not doing it for the holidays, when are we doing it?”
Check out our full interview with Mariah Carey in the video above as she talks about creating new music in the Butterfly Lounge (the converted home Tyler Perry found for her in Atlanta), collaborating with Kirk Franklin, and her family’s plans for the holidays.
Mariah’s Christmas: The Magic Continues is currently streaming on Apple TV+.