The red carpet at the Academy Awards, which takes place on Sunday evening, promises to be the biggest fashion show the ceremony has seen in years. Attribute the increased flair to star power and ingenuity behind the scenes.
From Anya Taylor-Joy to Bad Bunny, Billie Eilish, Cynthia Erivo, Jennifer Lawrence, Lupita Nyong’o, Charlize Theron and Zendaya, the mix of fashion conversation starters on offer is unlike any other.
The palpable anticipation surrounding the red carpet this year is also a result of the timing of the ceremony. After the SAG-AFTRA strike halted film production for an unprecedented 118 days, many in Hollywood began to appreciate the lucrative contracts with luxury brands that make them millions. Awards season, which once seemed like a daunting task for some actors, has been warmly embraced by everyone.
In years past, when serious actors would shy away from being asked, “Who are you wearing?” by TV crews along the red carpet – reasoning that this overshadowed the purpose of an awards ceremony to celebrate the art of cinema – answers to that question have emerged enthusiastically this year.
“I’ll give you a perfect example: I was on the red carpet at the Golden Globes and Carey Mulligan was talking to me about her Schiaparelli dress,” says Zanna Roberts Rassi, host of E! Style referring to the British actress who is competing for the Best Actress Oscar with her performance Master. ‘You know she really wanted to talk about it – and that was a first for me, because she’s usually quite busy. She is very subdued. She doesn’t really want to talk about the clothes she wears, but she does want to talk about her role.”
Roberts Rassi, who will report live from the Oscars red carpet, believes the finery on display this year should prove more interesting than usual due to a recent style change she describes as ‘method dressing’, with actors wearing the brands that they represent and hire their stylists. to invent couture inspired by the films they represent.
“The red carpet used to be about actors dressed as their very best selves,” Roberts Rassi explains. “It was about their individuality – you saw them as a person – as opposed to their character.”
Los Angeles pop culture expert and film critic Naz Perez explains, “We are from who you wear to what story are you telling through your clothes?”
So Margot Robbie, who is the producer of Barbie competing for the Best Picture award (one of eight that Greta Gerwig’s blockbuster has received), is ready to complete the fashion story that she and her stylist, Andrew Mukamal, first portrayed during the film’s promotional tour in July and which they continued throughout the awards season. Mukamal enlisted a roll call of A-list designers to create Robbie’s looks, inspired by the Mattel fashion doll she brought to life on screen.
“I wonder if there is still pink dust in Europe?” jokes the Hollywood reporter fashion writer Laurie Bookins, reflecting on the Barbie-inspired outfits from Giorgio Armani, Balmain, Schiaparelli and a long list of others that Robbie has shown off. Considering she serves as a Chanel brand ambassador, it’s safe to say that Robbie will wear handiwork from Virginie Viard, the label’s creative director, on Oscars night. “For brand ambassadors, the Oscars are the finish line and the big reward for the brand,” says fashion writer Merle Ginsberg.
“But it will be interesting to see how Virginie Viard de Barbie inspiration,” Brookins adds.
Method dressing is an old Hollywood tradition rooted in the Golden Age, when costume designers working for the major studios like MGM, Paramount and Warner Brothers dressed contenders like Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly and Elizabeth Taylor in dresses inspired by the costumes which they wore in their nominated costumes. movies.
In 2018, Marvel Studios revived the concept to promote Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther. The “purple carpet premiere” referred to the film’s key hue and the stars who stormed the film in designer formals inspired by Ruth E. Carter’s Oscar-winning screen wardrobe. from a black filmmaker.
At this year’s Oscars, Louis Vuitton brand ambassador Emma Stone is expected to continue the red carpet story she has maintained as the frontrunner in the Oscars Best Actress race for her role as Bella Baxter – a ‘ woman with the mind of a child’. …” – in the outré comedy by Yorgos Lanthimos, Poor things. Vuitton’s creative director, Nicolas Ghesquière, has reimagined her looks for the film’s premieres and her awards show appearances, adapting the flourishes of avant-garde Victoriana that define Stone’s style. Poor things wardrobe – from the 19th century row of delicate buttons that adorned the pale blue bias-cut satin slip she wore to the film’s London premiere to the ‘mega sleeve’ that embellished the beautiful apricot silk jacquard one-shoulder organza dress in which she claimed the BAFTA for Best Actress last month.
As Stone’s carefully crafted fleet of Vuitton couture has made headlines — helping her maintain her assured status in the Oscars Best Actress race — it has also boosted her chances Poor things costume designer Holly Waddington, who wins an Oscar for Best Costume Design. It’s a remarkable achievement considering that one of Waddigton’s fellow nominees, Ellen Mirojnick – who is up for the prize for her work on Oppenheimer – has amassed 77 costume design credits over the course of her career.
Cast members out Dune: part two – including Austin Butler, Timothée Chalamet, Florence Pugh and Zendaya – will perform at the Academy Awards ceremony or at the Vanity fair Oscar Party, which celebrates its thirtieth anniversary this year. Perez and Roberts Rassi are betting that Zendaya will maintain the “modern” style of method dressing she recently adhered to when promoting Denis Villeneuve’s masterfully crafted sci-fi epic.
The term was coined by Jacqueline West – the costume designer of the multi-part film franchise (who also received an Oscar nomination for her work on Martin Scorsese’s film). Killers of the Flower Moon) – to describe “medieval fashion with a modern twist,” which guided her in handcrafting some of the 4,000 pieces included in the film’s wardrobe and which also trickled down to Zendaya’s press tour looks curated by Law Roach.
Flamboyant Roach – Zendaya’s self-proclaimed “image architect…” – joins Robbie’s stylist Mukamal, along with Wayman Bannerman and Micah McDonald or “Wayman + Micah”, who work as “lifestyle connoisseurs…” for Rustins Best Actor, Oscar nominee, Colman Domingo – and the mastermind of Past lives star, Greta Lee’s red carpet wardrobe, Danielle Goldberg, as part of a new wave of stylists being praised this year for not only boosting awards season by deftly tapping into superlative European couture workrooms to create originals that channeling the theatricality of Hollywood, but also by introducing new designers to the red carpet with the likes of Loewe, Thom Browne and Schiaparelli’s Daniel Roseberry.
Awards season 2024 is more subdued for men, with the exception of Domingo who has achieved fashion icon status by ditching the traditional dark tuxedos favored by his competitors at awards shows this year for a formal wardrobe enlivened by deliciously spicy tones (think paprika and saffron), duster coats, flowy, voluminous trousers, sharp footwear and dazzling jewellery.
He’s one of Louis Vuitton’s A-brand ambassadors, so he’s sure to impress with something spectacular from current menswear designer Pharrell Williams, who has consistently made headlines during his own time as a Hollywood player (and Oscar nominee) with his outfits that incorporated shorts, hats and Chanel jewelry.
As for the finishing touch – beauty – the drama generated by method dressing can be offset, according to Roberts Rassi, by nominated actresses opting for classic, understated makeup and hair. “I’ve lost count of the number of stylists who have told me that this season marks a return to old Hollywood beauty trends,” reveals the host who is also co-founder of Milk Makeup. “So a clean eye and a hint of color on the lip. When it comes to hair, you’ll see the return of bouncy locks, big waves and a side parting. Put Veronica Lake and Grace Kelly on a mood board and everyone is happy.”