Months before Lupita Nyong'o walked down the 2025 Oscars red carpet and onto the best fashion moments list outside Hollywood's Dolby Theatre, stylist Micaela Erlanger was already crafting the star's custom Chanel looks for the 97th Annual Academy Awards. Models debuting the house's Spring 2025 collection had barely stepped off the Paris Fashion Week runway last September when Erlanger visited the Chanel Atelier to start her Oscars research process.
Digging through the archives led Erlanger to a reference she knew would make an impact by the time the Oscars red carpet rolled around. "I found this incredible photo of Linda Evangelista on the runway, I think from the '90s, in a beautiful dress that stood out to me as understated, elegant, timeless, and glamorous—everything I hoped to achieve with the overall mood and feeling of Lupita's look," she tells Marie Claire just before the ceremony in an exclusive interview. "I sent them the reference, and we went back and forth on some sketches. Of course, Lupita weighed in and played a big part in my creative process; it’s such a collaboration."
Nearly six months later, the resulting custom couture piece features pearl-embellished straps, pearl tassels, and an ivory satin belt—homages to Chanel's 1991 Spring Haute Couture collection that still feel modern. All in all, it took 600 hours of work to place 22,410 embroidery elements all over the Oscars gown, each one complimented by an equally intricate piece of diamond and pearl Chanel High Jewelry.
Every second poured into the look was worth the effort. "I think the dress we created embodies that perfectly. It's understated and beautiful, allowing Lupita to shine," Erlanger says.
That dress—along with the black-and-white Chanel Couture Nyong'o wore to the after-party circuit later that evening—are also a sign of just how much the pair has evolved since their first Academy Awards together in 2014. Erlanger began styling Nyong'o for her 12 Years a Slave press run, culminating in the rising star's Best Supporting Actress Oscar win. Nyong'o accepted her award in a custom, Cinderella-blue Prada gown that instantly made that year's best-dressed Oscars list—and landed in the all-time hall of fame for Academy Award gowns. This was the springboard for a style partnership that's one of award season's favorites to watch: a duo whose choices in custom and off-the-runway pieces always meet the moment without ever feeling forced or disingenuous.
"I think it's really rooted in mutual trust," Erlanger says of her relationship with Nyong'o. They're close enough to celebrate birthdays and life events together, as well as attending all those premieres. And the closer they've gotten, the more they've broadened Nyong'o's style horizons. "I'm like, everything you had originally thought you wouldn't like, we've done—and we've done it well! We laugh about it now."
Erlanger has worked with clients from Kelly Clarkson to Meryl Streep; she's also the only Hollywood fashion specialist I know of with a Harvard Business School Executive MBA. She understands red carpet styling is as strategic as it is creative—and she can walk the tightrope of setting clients up for brand partnerships and serious projects while letting their personalities shine. "Some stylists dress their clients like they dress themselves," she says. "I pride myself on having range and having worked with a real diverse set of clients."
When Nyong'o was campaigning for her very first nomination, Erlanger used what she called a "Lupita rainbow" to show the spectrum of designers she could wear.
She prioritized bright colors from a variety of luxury houses, and veered toward classic silhouettes. "I wanted as many designers to see how their clothes resonated on this extraordinary talented woman, and how she could carry that and we looked to variety and silhouette," she says. Oscars red carpet looks aren't just about the photo, after all. A look that resonates can open the door to contracts and even future roles; they build a star's image and brand in entertainment.
"You never have a crystal ball. You never know that when you start working with someone that their small indie flick might get a nom." But Erlanger can sense when a client is on the precipice of something big. She believed in Nyong'o; she believed in their first press tour's looks. The fervor over her client's first Oscars gown proved her correct.
The decade since has been a cascade of memorable looks at the annual Oscars red carpet and beyond. On Academy Awards night, Erlanger and Nyong'o have tried everything from pearlescent Calvin Klein to armor-like Atelier Versace. Every accomplished actor wears at least one dress channeling the golden Oscar statue; Nyong'o's came in 2022, taking the form of a three-quarter sleeve Prada gown with tiny pink floral embellishments.
These dresses, and those Nyong'o wore to promote films like Black Panther, Us, and The 355, were more so about her growing love of fashion than the movie she was trying to promote. "Nothing was reminiscent. There was no method dressing," Erlanger says. "There was none of that. It was about who she was."
Avoiding one-to-one copies of a character doesn't mean the pair has avoided symbolic choices altogether. For example, some dresses and headwraps for 2016's Queen of Katwe were created with fabric Erlanger sourced on a trip to Kenya where she met Nyong'o's family.
Nyong'o has spent this awards season getting settled into her recently-announced Chanel ambassadorship and promoting her Best Animated Picture-nominated film, The Wild Robot. For a project where her client is prominent without being an on-screen lead (she's the voice of a major character), Erlanger thought about referencing the film's watercolor palette through bright looks by Markarian, Dolce & Gabbana, and Ph5 (among others). Then when the nominations started rolling in, the duo switched into a more elevated gear at the 2025 BAFTAs and Critics' Choice Awards—mostly with help from Chanel.
Erlanger and Nyong'o's partnership has covered so much ground over the last decade, the stylist says, because her client is willing to experiment. Whether she's trying gilded-gold Prada or custom Chanel, regardless of the project, "She's dynamic, she's multi-dimensional—she's a chameleon." And even as she samples different aesthetics, it's the same friendship behind the scenes that keeps her continuously on the best-dressed list.
