Armani also dressed nominee Naomi Watts, who shimmered in a steel-grey gown, and Quvenzhane Wallace. The youngest Best Actress nominee in history accessorised her Armani Junior gown with a puppy-shaped handbag. Although she couldn't say who designed the bag, it elicited more smiles and coos than just about anything else on the red carpet.‘You guys are just standing up because you feel bad that I fell and that’s really embarrassing, but thank you,’ she joked.
‘This is nuts!’
At 22, Lawrence is the second-youngest Best Actress winner in the history of the Oscars. ‘Thank you to the Academy, and thank you to the women this year,’ she continued. ‘You were so magnificent and so inspiring…. You’ve made this experience unforgettable.’
Joining Lawrence in the winner’s circle were Anne Hathaway, who won Best Supporting Actress honours for her role in Les Miserables; Adele for Best Song in Skyfall (watch her perform it live, below), Daniel Day Lewis for Best Actor in Lincoln, Life of Pi director Ang Lee for Best Director, and the producers of Argo for Best Picture.
Ben Affleck, one of three Argo producers as well as the film’s director, thanked a wide-ranging group, including Canada, the people of Iran and his wife, Jennifer Garner.
Life of Pi, a quiet movie about a boy, a boat and a tiger, proved the night’s big winner, taking home a total of four trophies. ‘Thank you, movie god,’ Lee said in his acceptance speech. And to his multi-continental cast and crew: ‘You’re the golden statue in my heart.’He called it ‘Garconne’ and reinterpreted his long-held fascination with masculine cuts for women – the idea being that pieces could be mixed according to attitude and mood. So narrow velvet trousers and a neoprene bomber jacket, say, worn with flat velvet boots for day, might be teamed with a more dressy satin jacket that fastened with round, golf ball-sized buttons and lacquered heels for evening. Almost everything came with the obligatory Armani hat – this time, an oversized soft velvet beret.
The collection was largely black –
a common thread here in Milan – and dedicated to Armani’s tailoring skills. Neat shouldered jackets with loose or slim trousers, or long velvet skirts worn with wide patent cummerbund belts that fitted snugly over the hips before gently flaring out towards the hem. Armani’s beloved Bermuda shorts-cum-skirts were also much in evidence. sculptural pieces too – one black jacket cut to dramatically wave on one shoulder, was what an Armani devotee might consider avant-garde. She will love his purist take on monochrome – a pristine white silk top with a high neck and long flared sleeves, worn with those slim black velvet trousers and a patent black clutch bag, would be a head-turning number in real life – reality, rather than fantasy showpieces always firmly at the forefront of Armani’s mind.
