'It took 120 hours to make': the story behind Ruth Negga's exquisite Louis Vuitton Golden Globes look
Even before her appearance at the Golden Globes tonight, Ruth Negga has been tipped as the break out style star of the 2017 awards season. Nominated for the Best Actress award for her role in Loving, the Ethiopian-Irish rising star has been working with Hollywood super-stylist Karla Welch to hone an experimental yet elegant look which has already won her red carpet plaudits and helped her to bag the cover of January's issue of American Vogue.
The Louis Vuitton look which the pair hit on for the Globes, which traditionally kick off the season, has been in the planning ever since November, Welch tells The Telegraph. "It's a custom piece made in the very special atelier in Paris. Nicolas Ghesquiere [Vuitton's creative director] designed the dress for her." The finished creation is "a work of art" Welch adds. "It's a combination of rose gold, yellow gold and silver paillettes- they were all sewn by hand and it took 120 hours to make."
The column silhouette and shimmering finish made for a pristine red carpet look but it's the product of a relaxed attitude to getting Negga's style perfectly on-point. "We just wanted an awesome dress," Welch explains, "what I love about working with Ruth is that we can do a lot of different things but they feel very authentic to who she is. She loves the process but it's actually really easy. It's so good to be a little more free and not get too stressed out."
She likens the dress to "armour" which is possibly a very useful feeling for an actress making her first forays into the high octane world of the awards season . After seeing the sketch which Vuitton sent, Welch and Negga "immediately went for it. We love artists - Nicolas is an artist and Ruth is an artist so it felt perfect."
Negga is strikingly beautiful with cool cropped hair so the rest of the look was kept quite simple. The only jewellery was a vintage 1920s wrist clasp by Fred Leighton. "We added a beautiful, ethically-sourced 24 carat ruby from Gemfields," Welch says of the precious finishing touch they made.
While the Louis Vuitton is undoubtedly a landmark in Negga's red carpet evolution, every choice carries meaning and excitement for Welch. The week before the Globes is full of parties and warm-up events which have provided an excellent opportunity to showcase an eclectic variety of outfits.
The opulent pink and black tea dress by The Vampire's Wife, the label created by Nick Cave's wife and former model Susie Cave, which Welch chose for the BAFTA tea party on Saturday was a case in point.
"Well that is the power of Instagram," Welch laughs. "I started following Susie and she started following me. I DM'd her and asked if she'd consider making us a dress- she said she'd love to. I'm so obsessed with it. I love supporting smaller designers. I'm a huge Nick Cave fan and I think Susie Bick (Cave;s maiden name) is amazing and so iconic." It was a special moment for Negga too. "I said to Ruth that Susie Bick is going to make you a dress and she hit the floor. We loved it."
Earlier in the week, Negga won praise for an icy blue and pale pink Erdem ensemble at the Variety Creative Impact Awards.
"We had a lot of fun with that," remembers Welch. "We're both travelling so much so we meet when we can in New York. We tried that on and loved it and went for it- we loved that it was English and it followed all the Valentino she has been wearing quite nicely." The ladylike mood of the Erdem also presented a clever contrast to last night's armour feel. "We knew we were going to do something hard tonight so I wanted to do a little bit of romance to contrast with the edge of the Vuitton look."
Although it's still early in awards season- the SAGs, the BAFTAS, the Oscars and many more are still to come- Welch's work with Negga over the past few months means there's already a signature emerging. "She can really pull off a lot of things, because she's a woman not a teenager," reflects Welch. "She has a beautiful confidence with how she carries herself so it's a real pleasure."
