While movie legends and breakthrough film stars may pull out their most glamorous attire for Hollywood's biggest night, we can always count on Frances McDormand to do something totally off-beat. Tonight, while presenting the Best Actress Oscar to Olivia Coleman, the actress took to the stage wearing a pair of Valentino custom yellow suede Birkenstocks underneath her pink gown from the Italian house's Spring 2019 Couture collection. McDormand rarely walks the red carpet and isn’t into name-checking designers, but she has grown close to Valentino and its creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli ever since she wore one of his couture confections to the 2018 Met Gala. Though the Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri star kept to her usual no-makeup look, her couture-meets-comfort ensemble made a bold red carpet statement. Tonight, the 2018 Oscar winner elevated the Brooklyn mom wardrobe staple to Hollywood fashion icon status.
While Birks may feel like decidedly casual choice, McDormand explains that much thought went into the Birkenstock and Valentino partnership. "Last year, while swanning on the grand staircase at the Met Gala, by invitation of Pierpaolo Piccioli of the House of Valentino, a spark ignited in me. I have always followed fashion and had a secret desire to find a way to express my knowledge and appreciation for it. When given the chance to lend my enthusiasm and experience to the collaboration of a particular item of fashion there was only one answer for me: Birkenstock's Arizona two strap sandal." She adds, "I have worn these sandals for most of my adult life. They have literally formed me physically and philosophically. All that I desired was to have a pair in my favorite color: acid yellow. And now they exist!" "The spark caught fire and there's no going back."
Sounds like this may not be McDormand's last fashion collaboration and here's hoping it isn't. From head to footbed, she always does her own thing, which is certainly a red carpet trait worth celebrating time and again. To forgo heels for a pair of Piccioli-designed cork-soled slides is fearless, insanely cool, and a totally appropriate move in the wild world of Frances McDormand.
