Lady Gaga's 'Best Friend' Designed Her Oscars 'Gown Suit'
All the scoop on the star's look
Lady Gaga pulled an Emma Watson on the Oscars red carpet.
Opting for a white dress-and-pants combo, the singer — who arrived with fiancé Taylor Kinney — turned to her stylist pal for her Academy Awards look.
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“This was designed by my stylist and best friend, designer Brandon Maxwell, and he spent an entire week making five custom dresses for me, and we chose this one yesterday,” the actress-singer (who was also wearing a pair of 10-in. Brian Atwood heels beneath her hem) said Sunday night on ABC’s pre-show.
Currently the fashion director of the Grammy winner’s creative team Haus of Gaga, the designer got his start styling the Oscar-nominated singer. And Gaga has stuck by him, supporting him at both of his New York Fashion Week shows and rocking his threads everywhere from the Emmys to a Grammys after-party.
The designer — whose fans include Gwyneth Paltrow and Zendaya — took to Instagram to share his excitement over Gaga’s “gown suit.”
“Do you know what it feels like to watch your best friend, in your dress, walk down the oscars red carpet, as a nominee in love? Unreal. We are PROUD of you,” he captioned one shot, writing of another: “Our beautiful and talented and out of this world @ladygaga wearing custom #brandonmaxwell gown suit & @lorraineschwartz on the Oscars Red Carpet! We love you beyond words and are thankful to share in this momentous moment. What a true friend and talent you are!”
Nominated for Best Original Song with hitmaker Diane Warren for their track “Til It Happens to You” (a song from the campus rape documentary The Hunting Ground), Gaga said she’s happy to use her time at the Oscars as a platform to advocate against sexual assault.
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“It’s such an important song to me. One in five women will be raped before the time they finish college. One in 20 men will be raped before they finish their schooling at their university … It is something that is deeply connected to my heart,” said Gaga, who was raped at age 19.
She added: “I am myself a survivor. Diane Warren is herself a survivor of sexual violence, and we’re here tonight and very grateful to the Academy for giving us this world stage to reward survivors for being brave and coming forward. I’m just really happy to be here.”
–Jeff Nelson