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If you’ve been in awe of Emma Stone’s stunning red carpet fashion this award season, you have stylist Petra Flannery to thank for that. From the sheer, embellished slip at the Golden Globes to the peach, puff-sleeved BAFTAs gown, Flannery successfully combined the essence of Stone’s Poor Things character, Bella Baxter, with the actress’s personal style to create look after flawless look. For the Oscars, Flannery collaborated with Louis Vuitton to create an hourglass-shape gown that featured a dramatic peplum and a “hint of mint” hue, which Stone wore as she accepted her second Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role.
As Petra puts it in this episode, “Everything [this award season] was created to have a nod to Bella.”
Though Petra’s styling at every award show, premiere, and press tour stop this season has been impeccable, there’s also so much more to her career. In addition to Stone, she’s also the stylist to other celebrities such as Reese Witherspoon and Zoe Saldana, and just this month, she and her sister Meehan Flannery released a retro-chic diamond jewelry collaboration with Vrai.
For the latest episode of Who What Wear With Hillary Kerr, Petra sits down with Who What Wear’s editor in chief, Kat Collings, to share her journey from working the Oscars after-party as an intern to becoming an Oscars stylist herself and all the behind-the-scenes details of this award season—yes, including Emma Stone’s broken zipper.
For excerpts from their conversation, scroll below.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
I’m just dying to talk about the Oscars. Emma Stone just won her second Best Actress Oscar on Sunday night, and her dress put her at the top of every notable best dressed list. She wore a strapless seafoam green Louis Vuitton gown with a very dramatic peplum, and I want to talk about how you chose this look for this moment. Why this color, the shape, the jewelry? Let’s just dive right in.
Yeah, we called it a mint. We had tried it on in a different colorway and decided that we wanted to explore the color mint. We called it, I think, a hint of mint, and it just came out exquisite. I knew the color would be special because not many people have ever done that. … And so it encompassed a lot of her character along the way. The whole season, we took little nods from the movie and her character, Bella Baxter. The shell shape with the peplum and the column—it was very hourglass. It felt very regal. It also felt very fresh, and it felt very Emma when she put it on. It was funny because one morning I woke up, and when we had decided, you know, “Let’s try it in mint,” I looked up one morning like, “What does the color mint symbolize?” And it symbolizes rebirth and growth. And I was like, this is Bella; this is your character.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
I’m curious what you said about initially it was tried in a different colorway. Was it the same fabric, just in a different color? Or was it a completely different material?
It was in the same material, but it was just something that we felt like maybe we should explore. We did many different colors. You know, we did yellow, we did pale blue. Like for Globes, it was a combination of pastels. The film was so inspiring with all of these sherbet-like colors and interesting combinations of colors. So we wanted to really make sure that we kind of stayed in that very feminine, soft palette.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
It felt like there’s an increased amount of storytelling with the red carpet dressing and how it connects to the film sort of feels like it’s at an all-time high. But it’s very cool to hear the slightly subtler versions of that. What about the jewelry? Let’s talk a little bit about that.
So that was a diamond necklace with a 30-plus-carat yellow sapphire. Incredible set in the middle. And that was, again, it was beautiful. The yellow with a mint. I thought it complemented each other. You know, again, it was just subtle enough. Both colors were subtle enough, but they really worked off of each other, and because it was strapless, it was nice to have that focal point there too at the neck.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. Next, check out our episode with Mara Roszak.
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