Emma Stone Took the Red Carpet in Peak Best Actress Attire

Not to jinx it or anything, but Emma Stone stepped onto the red carpet of the Academy Awards on Sunday night in a dress that practically demands a statuette. The La La Land actress, widely regarded as the frontrunner to win Best Actress, arrived clad in a gold column gown by Givenchy, a custom couture look by Riccardo Tisci in what was likely among his final acts as creative director of the storied French house before he stepped down earlier this month. The elaborate design features nude lace embroidered with a gold beaded fishnet detail and three-dimensional Swarovski crystals that dissolves into ombré, ivory-and-bronze fringe with coordinating bronze sandals. It’s practically Oscar-worthy in itself.

But beyond her gown, which is peak “Oscar-winning actress” attire, Stone also seems to have worn a tiny Planned Parenthood pin affixed to the bodice. (We’re suspending our disbelief for a moment that Stone stuck a pin through a priceless Givenchy gown.) Dakota Johnson, not a nominee for the night but attending nevertheless, similarly showed her support for Planned Parenthood with the logo adorning her clutch. And regardless of whether Stone wins on Sunday evening, she’s slated to step onto the stage as a presenter. She, like fellow actresses Johnson, Brie Larson (who broadcast her support for a whole slew of causes, including the ACLU, GLAAD, and Planned Parenthood, in an Instagram post earlier this weekend), and Ruth Negga (herself a Best Actress nominee), is using her position to subtly continue to campaign for reproductive justice and civil rights.

The dress the Best Actress nominees wear on the red carpet is one of the most coveted assignments of the night for designers—just think of the flap caused when Karl Lagerfeld told WWD that Meryl Streep had declined one of his couture looks—and in this gilt dress, Stone dressed for the part of winner. Once filming has wrapped, the work of the nominee is far from complete—there are months of campaigning leading up to the awards ceremony itself, and Stone has consistently commanded the red carpet in a series of looks, especially those by Chanel and Prada, that have glimmered and shone their way to the Academy Awards stage.

Paired with retro waves, a wine-colored lip, and chandelier earrings and rings by Tiffany & Co., Stone looked every bit the Golden Age movie star—and fittingly so, since her film has been touted as the second coming of the classic Hollywood movie-musical. A Golden Age movie star with a cause.

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