Looking past the glitz of red carpet fashion, Oscar attendees of colour chose outfits that were woven with meaning
Even before Michelle Yeoh’s legendary win, the Oscars 2023 was destined to be a big night for Hollywood’s Asian community of actors, actresses and filmmakers. The Academy Awards, held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, was in its 95th edition—a few years shy of its centenary, and thus steeped even deeper in historical importance than other film awards like the Baftas or the Cannes Film Festival. It was also the first edition that seemed to welcome and celebrate talents of colour so unabashedly. This was nothing like the Oscars that Anna May Wong knew.
For one, the red carpet wasn’t even red, which was a shame, given the colour’s significance in Chinese culture. Instead, what Asian stars like Yeoh walked out onto on Oscar night was a “champagne” carpet, as The Academy called it, and they dominated it with spectacular ensembles that brought the awards to life.
Read more: Oscars 2023: The best red carpet looks, from Michelle Yeoh to Rihanna
Yeoh, as if predicting her history-making Oscar moment, arrived in a white Dior haute couture gown that was at odds with the more fashion-forward red carpet looks she had showcased this awards season. Like the previous Best Actress winners of Oscar history—including Cate Blanchett, Jessica Chastain and Nicole Kidman, who were all present last night—the Everything, Everywhere, All At Once star didn’t merely wish to land on our “best-dressed” lists. She was intent on being immortalised, and her Dior dress, in all its simplicity, is as timeless as you can get.
You could say the same for Yeoh’s co-star, Ke Huy Quan, who has moved film fans with his wide-eyed wonder at being thrust into the spotlight, two whole decades after walking away from his acting career. In the past month, the Vietnamese-American actor has scooped up multiple awards for his role in Everything, Everywhere, All At Once. But upon the film’s release in 2022, Ke was still little-known. Giorgio Armani was one of the first fashion brands to loan him their suits for premieres, according to an interview with his stylist Chloe Takayanagi.
And so it was another one of the Italian brand’s impeccable black tuxedos that Ke chose to wear when he finally accepted his first Oscar. He elaborated on his outfit choice on Instagram, writing, “The [Giorgio Armani] team has been so especially kind to me from the get-go… they made me feel so incredibly special. I will never forget it. So lucky to be wearing Giorgio Armani to what will be one of the most memorable nights of my life.”