Rolling up the red carpet
Katherine Heigl’s stylist went on vacation to Mexico. Makeup artist Pati Dubroff’s cell phone and BlackBerry have gone extraordinarily quiet.
The change in format for tonight’s Golden Globe Awards from a jovial awards dinner and ceremony to a news conference doesn’t just mean disappointed award winners – it means a rolled-up red carpet.
It means no wardrobe analysis Monday morning, no best-dressed, worst-dressed lists, no new designer name on the lips of every fashion fan.
“I like to know who the celebrities are wearing, who they’re with,” says Maria Rodriguez, of Norwalk, Conn., who usually discusses everything from the stars’ hairstyles to shoes with her co-workers at a meat-importing company. “You get an idea of the trends.”
Thanks to the TV writers’ strike that forced the cancellation of the traditional Globes gala, stylists, makeup artists, hairdressers and all those who run the marketing machines in Los Angeles find themselves with unexpected time on their hands.
Stylist Nicole Chavez says a beautiful dress was picked out weeks ago for Heigl, a supporting actress nominee for “Grey’s Anatomy,” but they knew she might not get to wear it.
Chavez also didn’t make any special requests for a custom-made gown, something she has done in the past, because she didn’t want to waste designers’ time or money.
Designer Carmen Marc Valvo had created a couple of dresses for one star and sent sketches to another, but considers a break from the red carpet almost a welcome change, a spokesman says.
It’s giving him the chance to focus on his upcoming fall collection, which debuts during New York Fashion Week on Feb. 8.
But when the awards shows come back, so will Valvo, who in 2007 dressed Queen Latifah for both the Globes and Oscars.
Awards shows give designers a place to advertise their products on the backs of celebrities, but also pick up unexpected endorsements – as Jessica Alba gave to Dior Beauty last year when she whipped out a lip gloss from her purse. The next week, thousands of extra units of Beige Maniac lip gloss were sold.
But the big question is, will the other shoe drop? The Academy Awards are slated for Feb. 24, but the writers guild so far has refused to grant a waiver for its members to work on that show.
“To me the Golden Globes is a glamour moment … you get the TV stars as well as the movie stars,” says stylist Phillip Bloch. “But the Oscars is the big show.”
Up-and-coming designers can get exposure from the Oscars that they could never afford to buy. Bloch is considering gowns from a handful of such designers for Whitaker for the Oscars, including Lebanese designers Zuhair Murad, Vlassis Holevas from Greece and Italian Louisa Beccaria.
Photos from the Academy Awards are used over and over, notes makeup artist Dubroff, who says her proudest red-carpet moments were Naomi Watts as a nominee in 2004 and new mom Gwyneth Paltrow in 2005.
Makeup artist Shane Paish, who often works with Charlize Theron and Dior Beauty, says the loss of the Globes could have a ripple effect.
Dior advertises during entertainment shows that follow the broadcast, and has a product tie-in offering a red-carpet evening bag.
“I know that me talking after an event about Charlize’s makeup generates a lot of money around the world,” Paish says.