What it’s really like to dress for the Oscars, by Kate Young

“I REALLY LOVE MY JOB. I love clothes. I’m not talking about the stuff hanging on the rack in the bargain bin, I mean dresses handmade by people who’ve been trained for years. It’s incredible to be able to touch them and see them made. Half the dresses from the Oscars end up in a museum. And it’s really fun to work with the girl who’s embodying our time and to put her in the clothes that are the most significant right now, too. That marriage of fashion and pop culture is really exciting to me.”

“THE OSCARS IS PRETTY MELLOW. It’s the end; a celebration. I haven’t counted them but I think since I, Tonya came out, I’ve dressed Margot Robbie for 20 red carpets, so there isn’t a difference in our opinion any more. We plan the whole awards run at the beginning and by the end you’ve done everything: pants, suits, short dresses, long dresses, sparkly dresses, printed dresses. We communicate about what’s working and what’s not, we make sure it doesn’t get too sweet or too tough for too long and that she still looks like herself. So, by the Oscars, we’re experienced, we’re good at it and we’re looking forward to the big bang finish.”

“THE PERFECT OSCARS DRESS SHOULD BE something that you’ll remember, a symbol of our time. It’s the fanciest of all the awards, so the jewelry can be bigger, the dress can be more grand. You can say that about the Met Ball, too, but the thing about the Oscars is that there’s a certain timelessness to it. If the actress wins then that picture will live on forever and become part of our culture; people will get their prom dresses and wedding dresses made just like it.”

“WE PLAN THE DRESS EARLY, in November or December. There have been years where I think the Golden Globes dress has become better than the Oscar dress because we’re overthinking it. So it’s important to me, when I’m planning the whole arc of the red-carpet season, that we know what color and what shape we want the dress to be, so that she doesn’t wear something similar before it.”

“WE CHOOSE THE DESIGNER ON INSTINCT. Often, it’s a designer that’s exciting me in fashion, a designer that we’ve been working with and the collaborative nature of our relationship is really positive, or even just that she’s tried on a dress and it felt great. I want it to feel organic. There’s a real side to celebrity styling that’s political and power based and I don’t think that’s my strong point, that’s not how I play the game. I like to do things in a much more intuitive way.”

“RED-CARPET STYLING IS SUPER COMPETITIVE. As soon as the nominations are out people start securing exclusives, so even if I want a designer I can’t have it because they’ve already agreed to dress somebody else. It was very different when I started and to be honest I don’t really understand the exclusive thing; it’s not something I ever ask for. The year that Michelle Williams wore the yellow Vera Wang 2006, Keira Knightley also wore Vera Wang and it was irrelevant. Designers can dress whoever else they want – but I want the best dress.”

“GETTING THE DRESS RIGHT TAKES TIME. All Oscars gowns are custom-made so there’s a meeting where we talk about the style and try on some samples that already exist or talk about a sketch and pick fabrics. Then there’s a toile fitting and then two or three fittings of the actual dress so that we can make changes. Sometimes it’s finished a day before the ceremony, sometimes it’s an hour, but it doesn’t matter. I have the luxury of working with the best designers who have the best ateliers in the world, so if the seamstress from Givenchy has flown in from Paris and is sewing the dress, I’m not worried it’s not going to fit because she’s the best in the world.”

“YOU WANT ME TO CHOOSE MY FAVORITE DRESS? That’s like choosing my favorite child or something. My favorite red-carpet moment is somebody else’s work: Martha Plimpton with River Phoenix at the Oscars in 1989. It’s the best ever, so chic.”