The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art – the new museum from filmmaker George Lucas and wife Mellody Hobson – held its splashy grand opening, with megawatt stars, such as Harrison Ford, Katy Perry, Michael B Jordan, Kim Kardashian and Leonardo DiCaprio all in attendance.
Another Hollywood A-lister on the guest list was Emma Watson. The and star says she was honoured to be a part of the museum’s unveiling, as “storytelling is one of humanity’s oldest art forms,” she said. “A museum devoted to it feels like a remarkable gift to Los Angeles and its visitors.”
Given the special feel of the night, the star naturally wanted to find an equally special red-carpet look for the occasion – and one that also played into the idea of storytelling. To do so, she and stylist Jared Ellner closely collaborated on a striking handmade dress that was crafted, in part, from live flowers. (Watson says flowers are her “favourite thing.”) The duo wanted something “living and natural – not conventional embellishment – to be the central source of beauty in the look.”
Both Watson and Ellner worked together on the dress concept from early sketches to the final result. The vision was to use the frock “as a catalyst for a larger conversation, about what we value in society today,” says Watson. The aim was to pay homage to “Mother Nature, and draw attention to the natural resources and beauty we so often take for granted.”
The black off-the-shoulder silhouette was made from recycled black velvet, sourced from downtown Los Angeles. It was then trimmed with a variety of different white florals. They worked with local florist Anthony Maslo (of The Boy Who Cried Flowers) to achieve this result. On the day of the event, he and his team hand placed each flower onto the dress, including four different types of Phalaenopsis orchids, two types of Dendrobium orchids, and two lilies (Nerine and Gloriosa). For volume, Maslo also used baby’s breath and broom mixed with linoleum.
For Watson and Ellner, it was this slow process of putting the frock together that made it intentional and meaningful. “Because the flowers could not remain exactly as they were, they became a reminder to be fully present and appreciate beauty while it is happening,” says Watson.
The thoughtful touches didn’t end with the dress either. Watson’s bag and jewellery for the night were also made of hand-blown, reclaimed glass – “a material that can be melted down and made anew repeatedly without losing its quality,” noted Watson.
Hair stylist Daniel Moon and make-up artist Katie Mellinger, meanwhile, crafted a glamorous beauty look that complemented the look in a softer, subtler way. “I wanted the hair to feel whimsical and romantic to match the energy of the dress, but also the ephemeral nature of actually making a garment in real time, as we were doing the hair all in the same room,” says Moon. “That kind of organic collaboration was so unique. As I was putting bobby pins in the hair, the florists were pinning the flowers into the dress, and it was such a surreal, cool moment to be working side by side with that team at the exact time.”
When Watson saw herself in the final look, her mouth “fell open.” “It felt unreal,” she said, adding it proved her hypothesis that, indeed, “fashion can, itself, be a form of storytelling.” The handcrafted design was certainly one of the most unexpected – yet glamorous – of the night. But for the star, playing dress-up was just one of the memorable moments: She also loved “seeing Frida Kahlo, Snoopy, Banksy and Darren Cullen’s golf-cart artwork under one roof.”
Once the night concluded, the living floral dress was not put to waste: All of the flowers were removed carefully from the frock and are now being pressed as keepsakes.