Sandra Hüller’s sculptural, gravity-defying gown by Schiaparelli was a masterclass in red-carpet dressing – and her afterparty dress was another triumph. We dissect Hüller’s “wearable art” look.
If the 2024 Oscars ceremony played out largely as expected, with Oppenheimer scooping the big awards of the night, then the fashion was mostly free of big surprises, too. Gone are the days of Bjork’s Swan dress or Celine Dion’s back-to-front tux – celebrities now tend to keep it refined rather than rebellious when it comes to film’s biggest night of the year.
But if controversy was mostly missing, then grown-up glamour certainly wasn’t. Strong, structured shapes ruled – from Cynthia Enviro’s green leather number and Emma Stone’s Louis Vuitton peplum dress to Carey Mulligan’s strapless full-skirted Balenciaga gown and Zendaya’s metallic Armani Privé. Pretty pastels were largely pushed aside for black and white — even Margot Robbie ditched her usual Barbie-pink for a streamlined sparkling black Versace number.
But no-one pulled off the subtle drama better than German actress Sandra Hüller The best actress nominee and star of two of the night’s best picture contenders – Anatomy of a Fall and The Zone of Interest – wore an hourglass black velvet custom Schiaparelli dress with an exaggerated off-the-shoulder neckline and a bejewelled keyhole on the bust. She accessorised with a Cartier necklace containing 392 diamonds.
It was apt that the woman who gave us two of the best performances of the year also served up a double-helping of style on the red-carpet
Hüller might not have taken home an Oscar, but she easily won the red carpet, especially as a few hours later she rocked up at the Vanity Fair party in another impressive number, switching up the black for a cream Schiaparelli – with an equally dramatic neckline, this time covered in rhinestones. It was apt that the woman who gave us two of the best performances of the year also served up a double-helping of style on the red-carpet. “We really just wanted her to shine,” her stylist Jordan Johnson Chung told Vogue, describing Hüller’s iconic black dress as “wearable art”.
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It was a crowning moment for an awards season that has not only cemented Hüller as one of the most exciting actresses working today – but also has seen her emerge as a fashion darling. She started awards season as a green goddess, wearing a custom emerald gown by Louis Vuitton at the Golden Globe Awards in January. As more ceremonies got ticked off the calendar, her outfit choices become ever more interesting. At the Baftas she wore custom Louis Vuitton again, this time a silver satin gown that made her look like a walking statuette. At last month’s Cesar awards in France – where she picked up the best actress award – she wore a black sequinned trouser suit with a white belt. It wasn’t just her outfits that commanded attention, but her hair too – she switched up styles with chic chignons and punky quiffs, while she even made the mullet look stylish.
