In the beginning it was, "Can I borrow the dress? I'll bring it back dry-cleaned." Then it was, "Can I keep it?" Then, "Come shopping and pick out whatever you want." And soon it became, "We'll pay you." Now people are paying from $500,000 to $1 million for A-list actresses.'
This is Kelly Cutrone, the founder of the fashion PR firm the People's Revolution, on the arranged marriage between fashion and film at tonight's Oscars.
As Charlize, Reese and Keira teeter along the red carpet, showing off a year's worth of preening, primping and no-carbing, there will be an audible sigh of relief from their stylists and fashion designers. Where lesser mortals might resort to an extra splurge for a special night out, retouching their highlights and having a manicure, for the starlets and their stylists, choosing an Oscar outfit can mean months of negotiations, brokering deals with jewellers and fashion houses, and drawing up complicated contracts.
And for the designers behind the actresses' creations, it is an event for which they will do anything to get their dresses and jewels on the right stars and stiff the competition.
Affiliating their wares with celebrities translates into direct sales for designers. Around the world 800 million people watch the Oscars. According to Nielsen Media Research statistics, 63 per cent of American women between the ages of 18 and 49 who are watching television that night tune into the ceremony. It is the ultimate product-placement opportunity.
As Giancarlo Giammetti, Valentino's business partner, noted after Julia Roberts wore a vintage black and white Valentino gown to the 2001 Oscars, interest in the brand increased significantly: 'It's an example of how one dress can make a real impact. The return from celebrities wearing your clothes is huge.'
So when the designers' gentle wooing, haggling and haranguing doesn't work, one-off payments, modelling contracts, five-star trips, use of private villas and jets are dangled. 'Everyone hears about it,' says Mary Alice Stephenson, Liv Tyler's stylist and CNN's fashion commentator. 'It is the dark secret of the industry.' Jean Paul Gaultier's press spokeswoman, Lisa Lawrence, is more direct: 'You are the celebrity. We all know you are making more money than us, and then you are taking yet more money to wear someone's dress. It's tacky.'
Fashion designers begin serious campaigning with the stars after Golden Globe nominations in December. Actresses are jetted to the haute couture collections in January and are often paid to sit in the front row. 'When you are flown first-class to Paris for a show, put up at the Ritz, with your every whim met, of course you are going to want to wear their clothes,' says Stephenson.
Once the Oscar nominations are announced at the end of January the courtship intensifies. Stars and their stylists are sent flowers and handwritten notes from the designers and jewellers. And not just any old flowers. The bouquets cost between £500 and £2,000. All of this effort, of course, can be for nothing. The stylist whittles down the options to three or four looks by the weekend of the Oscars, but a final decision is often not made until a few hours before the awards. Designers and their PRs are left on tenterhooks, knowing they could have wasted hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Which is why some designers choose to guarantee their place on the red carpet with one-off deals or long-term advertising contracts, a complicated affair involving lawyers, managers and agents. 'The contract states very clearly, and I mean very clearly, what is to be expected,' says Kelly Cutrone. 'For example, if a girl were to wear a Calvin Klein dress, she would not be able to wear Marc Jacobs shoes.
She wouldn't be able to wear any other competitor's products, with the exception of jewellery. With jewellery, if it is a certain style of earring, the wording of the contract will be, "You will agree to wear your hair up, so the jewellery can clearly be seen." In 2000 Cate Blanchett wore an open-backed gown and chose to put the brooch on her back. The jewellery house freaked out: 98 per cent of the pictures didn't show her brooch. So now it's very specific: "You agree to wear the earrings on your ears. You agree to wear the necklace on the neck, and it will not be covered by any clothing. You agree to mention the design house X number of times on camera."'
'There was a big uproar last year when Hilary Swank didn't wear Calvin Klein,' says Mary Alice Stephenson. 'Swank was the face of Calvin Klein lingerie and was nominated for Million Dollar Baby [which she won]. She hadn't been in a film for a while after Boys Don't Cry, and Calvin Klein went out on a limb to give her this contract. So many people expected her to wear Calvin Klein - as did the house - because if someone is loyal to you, you are loyal to them. And she wore Guy Laroche.' Needless to say, Calvin Klein didn't renew her contract.
