Olivia Culpo Wore A Dress Made Out Of Stella Artois Glasses To The Oscars
Hollywood always brings its A-game to the Oscars red carpet, and the 89th Academy Awards was no exception.
It's rare to be truly surprised when it comes to celebrity fashion on Hollywood's biggest night, but this year brought about something you definitely haven't seen before: Olivia Culpo debuted a custom Marchesa gown made with Stella Artois Chalices.
Yes, the 24-year-old 2012 Miss Universe winner walked the red carpet in a dress literally made with beads from a melted down beer glass -- and it's stunning.
The dress itself is gorgeous (I mean, come on, it's Marchesa), but the cause behind the collaboration is what's truly intriguing and inspiring.
Stella Artois and Water.org partnered up for the "Buy A Lady A Drink" campaign, which provides clean water to people in the developing world.
One of these Chalices is literally changing people's lives across the world.
Marchesa then came on as the creative force to design a dress for influencer Olivia Culpo, providing a moment in fashion to not only turn heads, but with any hope, also pull on some heartstrings.
Stella Artois recently released three Limited-Edition Chalices, featuring Uganda, Brazil and Cambodia, three counties where Water.org provides support.
For every $13 Chalice sold, Stella Artois will help Water.org provide five years of clean water for one person in a developing country.
Elite Daily got the chance to sit down with the designers and with Olivia Culpo a couple weeks before the Oscars -- and before any of them had actually seen the finished gown in person -- to talk about the collaboration and what made this dress more than just a fashion statement.
"I just love everything they create," Olivia said about the women behind Marchesa, Georgina Chapman and Keren Craig, "and the opportunity to collaborate for this amazing cause is also part of why I decided to be involved."
Olivia was involved in the design of the dress from the beginning, but definitely wanted to take a backseat in the process.
She explained,
We had three options originally and there were a few tweaks, I had particular silhouettes that I wanted, but for the most part, I wanted Georgina and Keren to kind of do their own thing and make sure that it was definitely a signature Marchesa look.
I think it's probably the most important dress we've ever done.
The driving force behind that signature Marchesa look is something Georgina and Keren are very passionate about. Georgina told Elite Daily,
Our idea is to empower women through dressing. We believe a woman feels beautiful when she feels powerful, and so the whole idea that actually now we can provide clean water, as well, and use the Oscars and use the red carpet, which is something we do a lot, to actually have a voice for Water.org. It's amazing.
The design of the dress was definitely about more than just one woman, and for Olivia, that was a real honor. She said,
What we did come up with is our main inspiration being water, and the fluidity of it, and obviously just kind of making this red carpet moment more than just about the fashion; it's about the cause... One of these Chalices is literally changing people's lives across the world.
Olivia, Georgina and Keren all emphasized their strong connection to the cause, and the idea that the global water crisis is something that truly affects women, in particular.
This is something Olivia got excited talking about, explaining how women are often the ones who are so affected by a lack of clean water they can't go to school, get a proper education or keep a job. She said,
This will really help, and I think if we are able to hopefully be the generation to stop the global water crisis, women all over the world will just be so much better off... so it's kind of like girl power, too!
Girl power is an integral part of Marchesa designs, starting with the name of the line itself.
"We named the company after Marchesa Luisa Casati, so I think it's really about the woman who feels bold and someone who is not afraid of a bit of experimenting and wants to feel fabulous," Keren said. "We're very unapologetic about glamour and romance."
Olivia Culpo, an actress, model and pageant winner (she won Miss USA representing the state of Rhode Island and went on to win Miss Universe in 2012), seems to be a perfect fit for Marchesa's vision, although it's difficult to imagine her not looking incredible in anything she puts on.
When asked how she prepares for an award show like this, and if she does any intense prep in the weeks leading up to the show, she said she doesn't change a whole lot, seeing as her travel schedule around fashion weeks is pretty grueling.
She said,
My motto and mantra in life is just everything in moderation so I really do try to keep an eye on what I eat and put into my body and I try to make time to work out... I think that one of the things that helps me the most is just staying calm and stress-free, and this is actually a great opportunity for me to do that because I don't want to think of this event so much as about 'my moment,' it's really just about other people, really, and just being able to give back... and that takes out the pressure... [Oscars night] will not be about me, it will be about the cause.
Echoing just how important the Marchesa for Stella Artois dress is, Georgina said,
I think it's probably the most important dress we've ever done.
If you want to provide water for someone for five years, all you have to do is purchase one of the Limited-Edition Chalices on Amazon.com or BuyALadyADrink.com.
