Stylist: Molly Dickson assisted by Jordan Shilee
Outfit: custom Oscar de la Renta by Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia
Makeup Artist: Frankie Boyd using Jill Stuart Beauty
Hairstylist: Jenny Cho
Manicurist: Ashlie Johnson
Shoes: Jimmy Choo
Clutch: Judith Leiber
Jewelry: Forevermark x Adir Cohen bracelet | Forevermark x Anita Ko earrings | Taffin ring
It’s finally time for the 2021 Oscars this Sunday, so I thought it was a good idea to reminisce about last year’s Academy Awards.
Scarlett Johansson came to mind because she was otherworldly beautiful and there was so much meaningful information about her dress that if felt like an injustice not to share it with the world.
Johansson wore a custom Oscar de la Renta pewter gown with fringe bodice and satin skirt. The hand-draped corset and bias-cut skirt took the New York City Atelier over 300 hours of couture craftsmanship.
The dress probably inspired this black model from the Fall 2020 Ready-to-Wear runway show, which took place some days after the Oscars (usually it doesn’t happen but COVID-19 hit everyone pretty hard and things changed).
During an Instagram live conversation during lockdown, stylist Molly Dickson and one of Oscar de la Renta‘s creative directors Fernando Garcia discussed how the dress came to life. Initially, celebrity stylist Molly was interested in a Resort model that she thought Scarlett would like, so Dickson brought it with her to London for the fittings for the press tours for “Marriage Story” and “Jojo Rabbit“. Scarlett immediately liked the beading on it during those fittings and suggested to keep it in mind for the future, this was half a year before the project for a custom gown.
Molly asked Fernando to start to sketch a new model for them based on that dress, and Garcia went above and beyond giving them several options in a binder: in it there were photos of prototypes on mannequins in different colors and even a separate option (a top he was working on, that eventually became part of her Vanity Fair Afterparty choice).
Fernando continued working on the gown and one day in December Molly came up to him and told him that they were going to use it for the Academy Awards since Scarlett was nominated. Of course happy and glad that the brand was chosen for such an important event, the designer sent Molly a video in which there was a black version of the one we know she wore at the Afterparty in the end–the stylist was very keen on it not being black, and Scarlett was ecstatic to wear something different and more boho in a silhouette she had never worn before. Dickson requested to add a train to the dress, because at the beginning it was meant to be a column skirt.
During a brief Q&A at the end of the talk, Fernando explained that the inspiration for the dress came from the fringes on the Resort one, adding that he was trained on fringes by Oscar before he died, so he felt confident to have his own take on them. The most troubling part was finding a fabric that wasn’t too matte or too shiny. He also stated that he felt very honored to be present in one of her fittings because the actress is very private about them and generally doesn’t have a designer there when she tries on dresses for events.
Scarlett sparkled in one-of-a-kind 27-carat diamond earrings (worth $2.1 millions) designed by Anita Ko, which center on four Forevermark Exceptional diamonds. Each pear-shaped diamond is about six carats, completing the outfit; not to forget: her peculiar 11-carat Taffin engagement ring on her left ring finger. Another custom-made piece was her bracelet derived from a collaboration between Adir Cohen and Forevermark. She also sported a pair of Jimmy Choo Minny mirror leather sandals and brought with her a Judith Leiber New Goddess minaudière, encrusted in emerald-cut Austrian crystals.
Hairstylist Jenny Cho used strands of beads which were left from Scarlett’s red carpet dress and incorporated them into the updo.
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Johansson was nominated in the categories Best Actress for her role as Nicole Barber in Marriage Story and Best Supporting Actress for her role as Rosie Betzler in Jojo Rabbit.
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Marriage Story is a 2019 drama film written and directed by Noah Baumbach, who produced the film with David Heyman.
The film follows a married couple, an actress and a stage director (Johansson and Driver), going through a coast-to-coast divorce.
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Jojo Rabbit instead, is a 2019 comedy-drama film written and directed by Taika Waititi, based on Christine Leunens‘s 2008 book Caging Skies.
In the movie, Scarlett (whose son Johannes “Jojo” Betzler, is a Hitler Youth member) is a mother who hides a Jewish girl in her attic unbeknownst to him.
When Jojo discovers it, he must question his beliefs, while dealing with the intervention of his imaginary friend, a comedic version of Adolf Hitler (played by Waititi) who advises him throughout the film.
