Stylist April Steiner, ‘…lover of fashion, friends, animals, life and love’ tells us how she created Naomie Harris’ stunning Oscars look!
” For Naomie’s look I wanted to keep her looking sophisticated but young and fresh…
I chose her H Stern jewels based on color and shape…the bracelets color tied in the amber look of the sequin embellishment on the dress…what I love is mixing the shapes and having the emerald cut stones in the bracelet and the brilliant cuts in the earrings brought in a great use of shapes especially with the spotted shapes on the dress…I also liked keeping her neck open and focusing on a wow piece on the wrist and a smaller but noticeable earring since there was so much going on in the upper torso of the dress.
The shoes were a perfect fit Christian Louboutin…because the dress had a beautiful slit I wanted something that had a bit of an ankle strap since we were showing so much leg and the subtle sparkle in the heel was just what we needed for a bit of shine.
The bag I chose was Stella McCartney…I loved this because it was sustainable and the copper/brown color brought out the brown color in the dress and it really stood out.”
We thank so many people for supporting us! We have a full photo album of ‘Thanks’ on Facebook here.
THANK YOU everyone including the following people:
Our Team
Penny Walsh – AO Textiles
Geoffrey Oak – Consultant / Couture for Red Carpet Green Dress
Connie
Dame Vivienne Westwood
At Vivienne Westwood – Diane, Emer, Nina, Brigitte, Laura, Galina and Giordano
Lewis Perkins – Cradle to Cradle
Zem Joaquin – EcoFabulous
Christiana Wyly
The Academy:
Christina Kounelias
Ric Robertson
Toni Thompson
Sponsors:
Richard and Noelle Siegel
Emma Werner at Stella McCartney
Kelly Egarian at Stella McCartney
Inge and Ali Bongo
Fred Gassita, Joe Slavik, Andrea Slavik and Robert Gataeu
CLASS Fabrics showroom in London
Want to know more about what went into making our stunning dress?
Well….the couture team at Vivienne Westwood worked tirelessly on this dress, putting in well over 120 hours. The dress was constructed in their gorgeous Battersea office. The hand embroidery by the Royal School Of Needlework was a huge part of the sustainable story – emphasising the importance of hand crafts over fast machine led fashion. The embroidery took over 500 hrs with a team of 22 including students working on the dress. Hand embroidery is an old art form which is very applicable to the modern fashion industry. One small embroidered ‘lava piece’ took up to 7 hours!
Our fabric is a GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) certified organic silk crepe de chine. It was dyed using chamomille and golden rod. No chemicals were used and our colouring process has just received the Greenpeace international ‘Detox Fashion’ stamp of approval. Check out this fantastic article here about why they chose to support our dress!
Elements to the dress like zips and threads were reclaimed zips and we used an organic cotton thread for the embroidery. The dress was embroidered with old vintage beads from the 20′s through to the 60′s and Westwood have also incorporated Chocolate wrappers. The embroidery was done by the Royal School of Needlework at Hampton Court Palace and took over 700 hours! All of the embroidery can be taken off afterwards with relative ease. Our beads are vintage – bringing in the ‘old’ concept – re-using not throwing away. All the beads are glass not plastic.
Impressive!
The Winning Design from Suzy Amis Cameron’s Eco-Fashion Campaign Red Carpet Green Dress Unveiled On The Oscar Red Carpet By Naomie Harris
The Winning Design from Suzy Amis Cameron’s Eco-Fashion Campaign Red Carpet Green Dress Unveiled On The Oscar Red Carpet By Naomie Harris
Photo Credit: Matthew Hinchcliffe
Los Angeles, CA, February 24, 2013 – Bond Girl Naomie Harris has hit the red carpet at the 85th Annual Academy Awards® in the winning design from Red Carpet Green Dress winner, Michael Badger. “I couldn’t be more thrilled with the incredibly glamourous design we’re presenting to the world today,” exclaims Suzy Amis Cameron, Campaign Founder. “I believe it will make a very powerful statement on behalf of sustainable fashion, and my hope is that it will provoke some thought about more sustainable fashion in our everyday lives.”
Legendary designer Dame Vivienne Westwood mentored winning designer, Michael Badger, through the creation of his design in her London-based studio. After Westwood’s couturiers logged 120 hours on the gown, it was then transported to the Royal School of Needlework where a team of 22, and the winner himself, using an organic cotton thread logged 680 hours of cherished hand embroidery, a major reduction of carbon footprint that showcases the importance of hand embroidery, over machine embroidery, as a sustainable art form. The gown is made of a Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) certified organic silk crepe de chine. It was embroidered with old vintage glass beads from the 20s through the 60s and chocolate candy wrappers. Standard reclaimed zippers were sourced. The dying process employed golden rod and a renewable biodegradable natural plant source, a humble camomile, which is also used medicinally and for camomile tea. Since there were no water pollutants or chemicals used, any waste produced was transferred to a compost heap.
The dying process, completed by Ao Textiles, has received a stamp of approval from Greenpeace International’s Detox Fashion Campaign, and they have also fully endorsed the completed design as a whole. “The gown created for this year’s Red Carpet Green Dress contest proves that even the most intricate design, subject to the highest levels of scrutiny, can be as sustainable as it is beautiful,” says Tommy Crawford, Creative Director for Greenpeace International’s Global Detox Campaign.
The dress is currently being assessed for certification from the Cradle To Cradle Products Innovation Institute, a non-profit organization that helps designers and manufacturers create products that are safe for people and the environment through its globally recognized Cradle to Cradle CertifiedCM Products Program. Certified products are rated across five quality categories: material health, material reutilization, energy use, water stewardship, and social fairness.
This year, Red Carpet Green Dress has raised $120,000 for MUSE School CA, the single beneficiary of the campaign. MUSE School CA is a non-profit, educational organization in Malibu Canyon, California, dedicated to empowering children to realize their full potential through academic excellence, personal responsibility, compassionate relations, global consciousness and environmental awareness. MUSE School CA was founded by Amis Cameron and her sister, Rebecca Amis.
Badger, born in Ghana and is presently working toward a B.F.A. in Fashion Design at the Savannah College of Art & Design in Atlanta, insured his design would be 100% biodegradable from its inception by using an old recycled sketchbook as a process journal and by illustrating his spirited design on 100% hemp watercolor paper. He drew inspiration from one of nature’s most powerful forces, a volcano. By focusing on the appearance of lava as it flows, Badger’s design celebrates our world’s natural splendor and serves to remind each of us of our role as its caretaker.
Samata Angel, Global Campaign Director, adds, “We are so grateful for everyone who made this year’s campaign a smashing success including the Royal School of Needlwork and Naomie Harris. Michael Badger is an incredibly talented designer and was such a pleasure; Vivienne Westwood and her couturiers were amazing mentors to Michael and we can’t thank them enough.”
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About Vivienne Westwood:
Vivienne Westwood began designing in 1971, and by the end of the 1970s, she was already considered a symbol of the British avant-garde. For Autumn/Winter 1981, Westwood showed her first catwalk presentation in London. In 1986, a radical change of direction moved Westwood away from street style and youth culture as she adopted more traditional Savile Row tailoring techniques. Since then, Westwood has received numerous accolades, continues to show in Paris, Milan and London, and is one of the most influential fashion designers in the world today. She uses the medium of her shows to talk about culture and politics, more specifically about the urgent need to act against climate change.
About Naomie Harris:
Naomie Harris rocketed to international stardom opposite Daniel Craig with the November release of Skyfall, the most recent James Bond installment. The London-born actress is certainly no stranger to blockbusters as she has occupied starring roles in Michael Mann’s Miami Vice, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. Since her first major breakthrough performance in 2002 with Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later, she has appeared on the stage in Boyle’s London production of Frankenstein opposite Johnny Lee Miller and has received numerous awards, nominations and critical acclaim. Next up for Harris is the Nelson Mandela biopic Long Walk To Freedom in which she stars as Mandela’s controversial second wife, Winnie.
Media Contact:
Jason Trotter
Trotter Public Relations
323.819.5353 | jason@trotterpublicrelations.com
We are so excited for you to see the stunning dress that has been created for Naomie Harris to wear at the Oscars this year! Our dress has worked on by the talented team at the Royal School of Needlework and is simply, well…breath-taking. It has been designed by the talented Michael Badger – under the guidance of the Couture team at Vivienne Westwood. It is truly incredible and we cannot wait for you to see it and support us along the red carpet journey.
It is also one seriously green dress…dyed with plants known for their therapeutic properties – (can you guess which ones?) made from a fabric which is an organic GOTS certified organic silk Crepe De Chine and featuring some unique and beautiful vintage and recycled elements. Intrigued? You should be!
We have some great efforts running alongside the dress to support our project and to raise funds for the MUSE School, CA including this awesome Charity Buzz auction of goodies from the likes of Vivienne Westwood, James Cameron and Stella McCartney, across to a stunning eco-necklace we will be giving away next week through our social media here and here. We ask you to get involved and show your love!
Red Carpet Green Dress
Xo
