The mood – and red carpet – at this year’s Oscars has been the subject of speculation for months. And in the run up to Sunday’s ceremony, it seems the industry and Time’s Up, the movement against sexual harassment that was behind protests at the Golden Globes, the Grammy’s and the Baftas, have been split.
Referring to any potential plan for protest as “the direction”, a representative for Time’s Up would not comment further, but they did confirm to reporters that there are no plans for a formal red-carpet dress code. Director Ava DuVernay said: “We’re trying to build something that’s sustainable, lasting and serious”. Director Shonda Rhimes added: “the movement is bigger and broader than awards shows”. The movement will, however, have a presence at the ceremony.
The Academy, which declined to comment, has said the focus of this year’s 90th anniversary Oscars is the films. However it is thought that any details relating to a coordinated sartorial protest will break in the hours before the ceremony.
The focus is likely to centre on the acceptance speeches, and the 45-second red carpet interviews, although news that Ryan Seacrest, who has been accused of sexual misconduct, has been retained as the host of E!’s red carpet coverage is likely to incite its own micro-protest – not least because the allegations come from Seacrest’s stylist. Jennifer Lawrence has already said she may not talk to Seaccrest, and suggested other actors may follow suit. It’s been said that potential plans are being made via a WhatsApp group. And according to an unnamed insider, the behind-the-scenes teams “may have other ideas about the clothes”.
From a fashion perspective, the lack of an official line for Sunday makes things complicated for these stylists. Before the Golden Globes, there was a “black dress panic” when news broke late that there would be a protest.
Aimee Croysdill, a British stylist who worked with actor Natalie Dormer for the Baftas, says she was lucky they caught wind of the dress code early on. Dormer wore custom-made, all-black Alberta Ferretti, although she was inundated with sketches from other big designers saying “we can make this in black”. “Quite a lot of designers probably realised they weren’t going to get any press if they didn’t come up with something,” she says, adding that the entire process was backed by everyone involved.
It is particularly hard for small ateliers who want to participate in the protest but haven’t got the budget to quickly re-make something in black. Croysdill said: “When we were given the memo, gowns were re-made. I would like to know how stylists coped with the Globes, bearing in mind they were ready to show their spring/summer dresses. They had to think about using autumn/winter gowns.” It is no surprise, then, that black featured heavily on these catwalks. Saint Laurent was black-heavy, Tom Ford’s show featured a bag that said “Pussy Power”, and Alexander Wang dedicated his collection to the women he works with.
Melissa Silverstein, founder of the campaign group Women and Hollywood, thinks the mood has “gone beyond black on the red carpet. Regardless of whether there is any protest, it’s permeated everything.” Silverstein will be wearing black in the interview room at the awards, although she concedes “that’s also because I am from New York – it’s what we wear”.
Corrina Antrobus, the founder of the Bechdel Test Fest, a festival inspired by female representation in film, thinks a move away from clothes is perhaps a good thing: “What women wear on the red carpet, has unfortunately – or not – been one of the few ways of being acknowledged. Men wearing black is a very basic show of solidarity.”
Since the Time’s Up blackout “launch” at this year’s Golden Globe awards, subsequent red carpets have been explicitly choreographed. But this coincided with a drop in ratings. At the Grammy’s, where most attendees wore white rose pins, viewers were down 24% according to Nielsen data. The Academy’s line is likely coming from the telecasters, who are concerned about the distraction – or monotony – of a sartorial protest, and already concerned by the ratings for last year’s ceremony, which drew 32.9 million viewers, the second-lowest total since Nielsen launched in 1974.
Speaking to the New York Times, Academy producer Jennifer Todd made her position clear: “It should also be a giant commercial for the movie business, which we all need to keep going.” In keeping with this, the proscenium arch which will surround the Oscars stage has been designed with “a little bit of a Hollywood Regency flavour”, says its set designer Derek McLane. That, if anything, is a gesture towards a focus on a golden (pre-Weinstein) age of Hollywood.
Speaking to the Guardian a month before award season, La La Land producer Jordan Horowitz said the film industry had long been about “men using their power” and that “we need to take a long hard look at the women who are making movies”.
Regardless of how passive or even empty these sartorial gestures may seem, the dress code did have a pronounced impact on the coverage and provided much needed ballast for the cause. Plus, it is still possible to look glamorous in black.
