Sustainability featured heavily on the 2020 Oscars red carpet

Vintage gowns, sustainable fabrics and re-wears turned the Oscars red carpet green
REUTERS
Chloe Street10 February 2020

The 92nd Academy Awards kicked off on Sunday night with a sea of crystals and sequins hitting the red carpet.

However, behind the bling and ruffles, sustainable fashion emerged as a key theme for many of this year’s Oscars attendees.

Some, like Margot Robbie and Lily Aldridge, chose to borrow from brand archives rather than wearing new gowns, while others chose to re-wear dresses they already had in their wardrobes.

Jane Fonda re-wore a red sequinned Elie Saab gown she first wore at the Cannes Film Festival in 2013, while Pitch Perfect star Elizabeth Banks wore a Badgley Mishka gown that she’d first worn to the Vanity Fair Oscars Party in 2004. This time around she removed the jewelled straps from the back of the dress, to give it a cleaner aesthetic.

“It’s gorgeous and it fits…so why not wear it again?!” said Banks in an Instagram post.

Joaquin Phoenix
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

Best actor winner Joaquin Phoenix also championed buying less by wearing the same Stella McCartney suit he's been wearing all awards season. The custom one-button black tux was created for him by the sustainable British designer, and has been Phoenix's uniform at every event this season.

Others meanwhile chose to embrace sustainability in the construction of their gowns.

Saoirse Ronan's gown was made using material from her BAFTAs dress
REUTERS

Saoirse Ronan for example wore a custom black and cornflower blue Gucci pelmet hem gown, the black bodice of which used repurposed material from the black Gucci gown she wore to the BAFTAs last week.

While Olivia Coleman wore a Stella McCartney gown made from a sustainable velvet material.

Olivia Coleman's Stella McCartney gown was made form sustainable velvet
Getty Images

Kaitlyn Dever and Léa Seydoux meanwhile both opted for custom-made sustainable gowns by Louis Vuitton. Both the actresses are ambassadors for the Red Carpet Green Dress (RCGD) initiative, a women-led initiative devoted to environmental activism.

Kaitlyn Dever's dress was made from 'eco responsible' silk satin
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

Dever wore a red dress made out of eco-responsible silk satin with Swarovski crystals and beads, and red platform heels by Aldo, a climate-neutral brand, Léa Seydoux opted for a black-and-white gown made from organic silk faille and eco-friendly fabric Tencel Luxe, paired with sandals made from organic satin.

Lea Seydoux also made a green style statement at the 2020 Oscars (REUTERS)
Reuters

This is the second consecutive year Louis Vuitton has partnered with the Red Carpet Green Dress organisation, who took to Instagram to state: “It is with partners like Vuitton and TENCEL Luxe, RCGD is able to create red carpet “moments” and make them “movements” bringing sustainable designs to the forefront of conversation and action within the fashion industry.”

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