New York Fashion Week: 10 runway looks we would like to see on the Oscars red carpet
Reporting from New York — Though fashion stylists have been busy these past few weeks picking out red-carpet looks for their clients to wear to the Oscars on Feb. 24, some of the standout gowns that were shown at the just-completed New York Fashion Week might have made a few of them reconsider their choices.
As for us, we could see Amy Adams going full-on glam in a silvery, neck-plunging look from Tom Ford. Or Regina King stride to the podium in Oscar de la Renta. Or Olivia Colman stay totally in character in a regal look from Rosie Assoulin.
To that end, we picked 10 looks that could easily make a beeline from the runway to the red carpet.
Tomo Koizumi
Japanese designer Tomo Koizumi seemed to explode out of nowhere, making his New York Fashion Week debut at the Marc Jacobs store in SoHo with a fall and winter 2019 assortment of brightly colored polyester organza ruffle dresses that became one of the week’s most talked-about shows. It’s hard to think of a better choice for a breakout star to the big screen.
Tom Ford
The shimmering silvery V-neck dress that closed the Tom Ford runway show sparkled like a billion-dollar diamond mine, and the chunky electroplated chain link detail across the decolletage added the tiniest edge to the breathtakingly simple silhouette.
Brandon Maxwell
There was no shortage of awards-show possibilities in the collection of elegant armor Brandon Maxwell sent down the runway, but this black ball gown with a racer-back bodice struck the perfect balance between vulnerability and strength thanks to the wide combination-lock belt.
Ralph Lauren
Since Ralph Lauren has moved to showing in-season (as in available now) collections at New York Fashion Week, dressing straight off the runway requires only a credit card and not a well-connected stylist. One of the head-turners to come down the staircase at his Madison Avenue flagship was a body-hugging $16,000 evening dress in a gold metallic micro-sequinned jersey with black tulle overlay. If the Oscar statuette was recast in female form, it might well look a lot like this. (Let’s call it the Ralph, shall we?)
Oscar de la Renta
Things Mediterranean — particularly Spain and Morocco — were the inspirational starting point for the fall and winter 2019 Oscar de la Renta collection. The piece we felt has a better-than-average chance of being snapped up by a red-carpet stylist (besides the strapless black velvet and tulle full-skirted ballgown Bella Hadid wore in the second-to-last-look) had a definite Art Deco vibe. The strapless column gown alternated horizontal zigzags of zinnia pink velvet and black tulle, resulting in a dress that was equal parts Old Hollywood glamour and youthful, modern-day chic.
Marc Jacobs
This fine-feathered frock was one of many of the Marc Jacobs runway looks we could easily see winging its way west in time for this year’s Academy Awards to provide an elegant alternative to the traditional red-carpet silhouettes.
Christian Siriano
Over the last few seasons Christian Siriano’s gowns have become as close to a sure thing as you can get on the red carpet, and his fall and winter 2019 future-in-space-themed runway collection put several options on our radar. Tops among them was the catwalk collection’s penultimate look: a V-neck high-low tiered tulle gown in a regal purple that would make it perfect for one of the warrior women of Wakanda.
Proenza Schouler
Most of Proenza Schouler’s fall and winter 2019 runway show was a fashion editor’s dream come true, an art-inspired, make-you-think kind of collection more likely to end up in the pages of a fashion glossy than an awards show red carpet. That being said, there are all kinds of awards shows out there — and all kinds of people dressing for them. For anyone who wants a cutting-edge look for, say, the Independent Spirit Awards, think of this look as a modern-day alternative to YSL’s Le Smoking.
Prabal Gurung
One piece of runway shorthand we learned during this round of shows: If you’ve got a red-carpet contender, put it on Bella Hadid. The model trod the catwalk in Oscar-worthy gowns at just about every label that had one in the running. One of the most memorable came unexpectedly at the end of Prabal Gurung’s collection of hippie nomad chic: an inky black-velvet, drop-waist, V-neck gown whose only embellishment was a two-tone, hand-draped shoulder ruffle. It was elegance and restraint at its best.
Rosie Assoulin
Although the overall vibe of Rosie Assoulin’s fall and winter 2019 presentation was casual (wide-legged pants with a built-in overskirt and dresses with bra-and-corset details), the designer, whose red-carpet dressing credits include Tessa Thompson, Mandy Moore, Danai Gurira and Yara Shahidi, served up a couple of stunners, including a white-and-lilac color-blocked silk faille ballgown with a bow-like ruffle between the shoulder blades (with a smaller contrast bow right below it) and semicircle train that made it just as beautiful to behold from the back. And that’s no small consideration if you’re the one headed to the stage to collect your just-won award in front of an all-eyes-on-you, star-packed Dolby Theatre.
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