How the Academy Awards became ‘the biggest international fashion show free-for-all’

The dress actress Lupita Nyong’o wore to the 86th Academy Awards in 2014 became a story in and of itself. Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage via Getty Images by Elizabeth Castaldo Lundén, University of Southern California The Oscars are no longer just a celebration of movies. They’ve also become a fashion show, with fans, designers and the media celebrating and critiquing Hollywood celebrities as they stroll, pause and pose on the red carpet of the annual awards ceremony. A sharp look can be a story in and of itself. Take actress Lupita Nyong’o. After she wore a powder blue Prada dress to the 2014 Oscars, she became the new “It girl” overnight. She was named People magazine’s Most Beautiful Woman, became the first Black ambassador for beauty giant Lancôme and landed on the covers of Vogue, Vanity Fair and Glamour. But fashion wasn’t always so central to the ceremony. In my book about the history of the Oscars red carpet, I point to two essential figures that turned the Oscars into the fashion spectacle we know today. TV puts the Oscars in the spotlight At the end of the 1940s, the Hollywood film industry was facing economic headwinds. More and more households were...