Stepping out onto the red carpet for Hollywood’s biggest night, West Side Story actress Ariana DeBose stole the show at the 94th Academy Awards. Dressed by the styling duo Zadrian Smith and Sarah Edmiston, DeBose’s custom Valentino Haute Couture fire engine red ensemble, consisted of a cropped, plunging top, wide-leg trousers and dramatic cascading cape.
GRAZIA USA caught up with DeBose’s trusted styling team ‘Zadrian and Sarah,’ who hinted fans could “expect the unexpected,” when the actress stepped out on the carpet – and they definitely delivered.
In explaining DeBose’s signature style, Smith said, “I think Ariana’s style is a fusion of who she is as a human being, as an individual. It’s a hybrid of classic American feminine elements, but also classic masculine elements as well. There’s always this constant duality.”
Spicing things up with her Valentino top and trousers, DeBose has certainly managed to encompass a balanced alchemy of traditionally masculine and feminine traits while also tapping into a glamorous Old Hollywood ambiance with her long cape.
Winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Anita in Steven Spielberg’s remake of the 1961 classic, DeBose also snagged every other major win throughout awards season for her mesmerizing performance.
Her awards circuit mimics that of her Anita predecessor, Rita Moreno. In speaking with E! on the carpet, Moreno exclaimed of her West Side Story costar, “Is she gorgeous, or what?!”
With an impressive sartorial journey through awards season, this vivacious red Valentino number is the perfect bookend to close her West Side Story style odyssey.
