Some red carpet moments are about much more than a dress. Some go down in fashion and entertainment history. Nicole Kidman in a chartreuse Christian Dior Haute Couture gown at the 1997 Oscars (one of John Galliano’s first designs for the house); Angelina Jolie at the same event in 2009 in a sculpted black Elie Saab gown and giant emerald Lorraine Schwartz earrings that single handedly revived the market in the precious stone; Gwyneth Paltrow, statuesque in a white column dress and full length cape by Tom Ford in 2012. But, behind almost every great red carpet look of the last two decades is a guiding force: The celebrity stylist. Bringing together hours of research, meetings, show attendances, fittings, collaborations, tough decisions and creative inputsinto one magical optical illusion, the top stylists command power, respect and have no small hand in boosting a blossoming actor’s rise to stardom.
“I think the rise of the Internet and social media has heightened interest in stylists,” says Sophie Lopez, the stylist responsible for Kate Hudson’s recent run of bombshell chic, including the unforgettable plunging white Versace gown Hudson wore to this year’s Golden Globes. “These days, media is instant and immediate. So much press attention is given to fashion on the red carpet that its importance has definitely increased over the last five to 10 years, mainly due to how, culturally, society has evolved with the Internet. We no longer need to wait for monthly magazines to see fashion.” It’s that instant access that brings out the fashion critic in each one of us: Making any red carpet appearance an intricate dance of the right dress at the right event and on the right star.
As the top-rated entertainment telecast of the year, this year’s Oscars reached around 40 million viewers in the United States alone and garnered 58 million social media interactions (Nielson Media Research statistics). Beamed directly into homes, the red carpet parade provides focused product placement like no other event. In the late Eighties, it was Giorgio Armani and Gianni Versace that began to capitalise on the celebrity factor. “It was the 62nd Academy Awards. But it looked like a Giorgio Armani fashion show,” commented Gaile Robinson of the LA Times in 1990, as Jessica Lange, Jodie Foster, Julia Roberts and several others arrived clad in the designer. Fashion didn’t ever look back from this nascent model of publicity, with Carolina Herrera, Calvin Klein and Jean Paul Gaultier all quickly joining the mutually beneficial party. In 2001, Julia Roberts wore a 1992 monochromatic haute couture Valentino gown on the night she won a Best Actress Oscar for Erin Brockovich: A look which came about through a connection between a Valentino employee and stylist and editor Debbie Mason, who dressed Roberts that year. With Oscar winners as the holy grail of red carpet dressing, Valentino Garavani realised he had “struck gold” in that iconic moment, and the brand subsequently noted a significant rise in interest from that single red carpet outing.
Now, with stars shouting out their designer dress, shoes, jewellery and glam squad credentials on social media, their Instagram pronouncements read like the credits of a fashion editorial. “Celebrities went from being photographed on carpets to being followed all day while out on the street and people wanted more, more, more,” says stylist Taylor Jacobson, whose clients include Kate Beckinsale, Jon Hamm and Marisa Tomei. “Stylists and celebs started posting behind the scenes photos and videos of sets, shoots and fittings. Also, with social media, everyone gets to be in the “spotlight”, even stylists, so I think the more people have put out there the more the public wants to see who is putting their favourite looks together.”
Working with a high profile stylist and a luxury designer now brings a cache all of its own. The sheer number of events calling for a perfectly nuanced ensemble, from premieres to press conferences and even airport dashes, as well as the number of designers willing to lend clothes, has left stars with more style admin than they can handle. Hiring one of the Hollywood Reporter’s 25 Power Stylists, like Leslie Fremar, Kate Young or Cristina Ehrlich to name a few, is as much a career move as learning lines. Uber-stylist Petra Flannery (this year’s number one on the list) is known for pushing an edgier aesthetic for the likes of Gwen Stefani and tomboyishly tailored Emma Stone (remember the studied nonchalance of the Lanvin jumpsuit complete with train at this year’s Golden Globes that kickstarted a menswear trend for the actress?). Flannery sends Stone winging her way between global premieres with pre-packed complete looks, labeled and ready to slip into without a further thought.
The search for the perfect red carpet gown begins the moment nominees are announced and doesn’t stop until the client has found ‘the one’. Stylists know that their connections with designers are key collateral and no time is wasted in perusing sketches for custom dresses, runway looks or even archival pieces. “It’s important as a stylist to have relationships with designers,” notes Lopez. “Usually, the designers have particular celebrities they like to dress, depending on the aesthetic of the brand and the fit with the individual. It’s a partnership. Working closely with designers on custom gowns for my clients is a highlight of my job.”
Inevitably, only one gown hits the jackpot and stylists walk a fine line between calling in enough dresses and disappointing design houses that may have spent many hours creating a couture work of art. The top stylists need engage only a few specific designers to find that elusive outfit, cross referencing which other stars the designers are dressing that night and the colour and silhouette of their gowns. “Whatever looks the best on my clients wins,” explains Jacobson of the negotiations between stylist and designer. “Making sure they feel comfortable and happy will always be my number one priority,” she says, citing dressing Jon Hamm at the 2015 Emmy Awards as one of her favourite recent looks (“he looked like a winner in Tom Ford and he did win!”). Gridlock, where a stylist holds on to multiple gowns, making it difficult for others to get near the brand, is an inevitable side effect of this careful balancing act. “Oh yes, the politics, especially when it comes to this event [the Oscars], can be rough if you don’t know the players,” Elizabeth Saltzman, contributing editor at Vanity Fair and Gwyneth Paltrow’s go-to stylist, told Paltrow for Goop. “The advantage I have is that I’m not new in the industry and I’ve built relationships that are not about screwing anyone else over.”
The transformative power of the right outfit has the potential to make an up-and-coming actor or actress look like a bona fide movie star. Who can forget the awards season in which Lupita Nyong’o truly came into her own in the style stakes at the hands of rising stylist Micaela Erlanger, who shook up red carpet conventions with the young actress, culminating in the icy blue custom Prada gown Nyong’o wore to the 2014 Oscars. With the likes of Rosie Assoulin, Suno, Givenchy and a bold red Ralph Lauren off-the-shoulder cape dress added into the mix that year, Nyong’o made her Hollywood debut in style, appearing on best dressed lists all over the globe. By making fashion a priority for Nyong’o, Erlanger had no small role in the subsequent campaigns for Miu Miu and Lancôme and the numerous fashion covers that followed.
Shaking things up is a strategy that can yield results, but one small misstep runs the risk of a client’s achievements being overshadowed by a dubious style decision. It’s just one of the reasons stars are known to switch stylists as frequently as roles. “Not all fashion translates well from the runway onto the red carpet,” notes Lopez. “You need to consider how outfits look when they are photographed and the body type of your client. You also need to consider the event and ensure the outfit chosen is appropriate for the particular situation. I always want my client to feel comfortable and authentic in what they are wearing. If your client is uncomfortable, this will come across in the pictures.” And, that is why red carpet dressing comes with a set of insider rules all of its own: No big gowns or trains for the Golden Globes (it’s a small venue); save the big dress for the Oscars; have a tailor on hand at all times for the inevitable last minute emergencies (Olivia Munn walked the red carpet sewn into her Marchesa fishtail gown in 2013 after popping the zipper before leaving the house); plank in the car to avoid creases on the way to the event; consider underpinnings as crucial as the dress itself; ensure the second choice gown is just as knockout as the first; and, most importantly, if you win an Oscar, you generally get to keep the dress.
But, cultivating relationships with designers, sitting front row at the shows (often with that all-important star whom the stylist will introduce to key designers) and the most militant of sartorial preparation is not always enough to prevent a last minute change of heart. Anne Hathaway switched from a beaded Valentino gown to a pale pink Prada sheath dress on the day of the Oscars in 2013, when she discovered that co-star Amanda Seyfried’s Alexander McQueen halter dress was a similar colour and shape. She later publicly apologised, having gone on to win an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in Les Misérables in her Prada gown. “It came to my attention late Saturday night that there would be a dress worn to the Oscars that is remarkably similar to the Valentino I had intended to wear,” Hathaway said in a public statement, “and so I decided it was best for all involved to change my plans.”
Avoiding such complexities are the stars and brands who choose not to enter the stylist’s thrillingly chaotic world of fine dresses and high jewellery. Hermès stays out of the fray, opting for a communications strategy that doesn’t involve celebrity relationships. Diane Kruger, who describes fashion as her second language, famously doesn’t work with a stylist, and neither do Blake Lively, Emmy Rossum, Marion Cotillard or January Jones (an avid vintage clothing collector). Kruger, a close friend and Parisian neighbour of Karl Lagerfeld, has designers on speed dial and an innate sense of her own style. She almost always hits a high note with each look, challenging norms and selecting from designers as diverse as Mary Katrantzou to Elie Saab. Cotillard has been a campaign star for Dior, which has taken the guesswork out of her red carpet appearances, while Lively prefers to play with her style, dressing according to her mood. Perhaps there’s something to be said for not delegating the task of dressing for the red carpet. It harks back to the stylist-free reality of an old-Hollywood era that many stars are seeking to emulate – Grace Kelly and beloved Givenchy muse, Audrey Hepburn, worked directly with designers – and it undoubtedly offers a frisson of fashion excitement amidst the polished glamour of the heavily styled, in a sea of colour blocked gowns and artful statement jewellery. It takes fashion confidence to take a risk in the face of armchair critics, fashion police barbs and best dressed analysis, but these stars embrace the challenge.
Over time, the band of stylist-free renegades may grow, but when it comes to ensuring red carpet perfection, the safe money is on the stylish power players, who take the effort out of looking effortless. “I think the relationships between designer, stylist and client will simply grow stronger and stronger,” says Lopez. “The public interest and curiosity in red carpet and celebrity fashion seems to be growing by the day.” The alchemy in matching stars with their exclusive Cinderella gowns is a magic formula, and only a few perfectly connected stylists have the key.
