The 2023 Oscar nominations were announced yesterday, and the red carpet outfit predictions followed quickly. It’s fun to think about what the nominees will wear, but perhaps even more fun to think about how the underrated can make a dramatic entrance. Of course they are all enlightened souls who don’t think of anything as trivial as the vengeance suit – but what if they were? A suggestion: Consider grabbing the spotlight with the stunning Stéphane Rolland gold dress that debuted on the couture runway in Paris yesterday.
This was the final look, what appeared to be frozen liquid gold in the middle of the casting, springing from the model’s shoulders and forming a shiny cloak-lame tent to protect her from front row mortals. A teardrop was carved in the center of his face and torso, reminding everyone that he was spiritual but still earthly. Gold bracelets wrapped around her arms like wire. He was the celestial statue of a revived god. The Oscar statuette, frankly, never, ever.
This particular look was inspired by Brazil’s patron saint, Nossa Senhora da Conceição Aparecida, whose original image was consecrated on the central high altar in Aparecida, Brazil. In his demonstration notes, Rolland wrote that the look should represent the conquerors’ gold exploding in the rising sunlight. She wanted to represent spiritual women “dressed in the baroque of the Bahia churches”. And it seems like Rolland had his mind on the Oscars, as he said the entire collection was inspired by Marcel Camus’ Oscar-winning movie. orfeu nigga1960 adaptation of Greek myth Orpheus and EurydiceIt takes place in a slum in Rio de Janeiro during Carnival.
While Schiaparelli’s lion-headed dress set the internet on fire and split the internet in two, Rolland’s gold dress popped up the very next day, uniting every online person around the idea that looks are divine. It was a representation of what couture should be like, the kind of unimaginably beautiful ensemble that you couldn’t even imagine with your wildest imagination, but when you see it, you’re so overpowered that you can say “wow”.
There were so many other Stéphane Rolland looks from the collection that are worth a “wow”. Like a draped long brown jersey crepe dress reminiscent of the drooping petals of a dying flower held together by lapis at the neck. Or a hooded, gold-lame crepe dress with amethyst pouring on the chest like a lei. And we can hope to see any of them at the Oscars, ideally for revenge (Viola Davis, are you reading?) – but we’d gladly get them for victory garb, too.
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