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How Jewelry Gets to the Oscars and other Celebrity Events
09/06/10
Every year, the well-publicized Academy Awards ceremony draws nationwide attention.
People watch and read about the show not just to keep tabs on their favorites
films, but to admire and critique the glamorous celebrity fashions. Clothing,
cosmetics, hair styles, and (of course) jewelry worn to star-studded events
like the Oscars can influence fashion trends for months or years to come.
It's not surprising that fashion designers are willing to make significant
sacrifices to get their designs onto the bodies of celebrities who attend big
events like the Oscars, Emmys, and the various music awards shows. In the fashion-marketing
business, they call this a method of "product placement."
For years, the big fashion design houses have allowed celebrities to borrow
their designs, free of charge, to wear to high-profile events. This allows stars
to choose among various designs based on their own tastes (or the recommendations
of their stylists). But this practice is becoming more rare with increased competition
among designers - and huge design house budgets.
Today, popular celebrities are paid large sums of money by designers to wear
certain designs to public events. So your favorite actress might not even like
the high-priced necklace and earring set you see her wearing. She could be working
a paid advertisement for a design house, even though she appears to be on her
own free time.
Consider the luxurious little Chopard diamond earrings worn by Best Actress
winner Hilary Swank at the 2005 Oscars. According to TimesOnline (London), Swank
originally borrowed jewelry from jewelry Harry Winston for the event, but returned
it after accepting an offer from Chopard to pay her an estimated $90,000 to
wear its design instead.
(Or did this switch-a-roo happen at the earlier Golden Globes? The L.A. Times
reports that both Swank and actress Charlize Theron returned their loaned Harry
Winston jewels within 24 hours before they planned to wear them to the Golden
Globes, reportedly receiving "6 figure checks" from Chopard to wear
its designs to the event.)
Swank wasn't the only celebrity wearing Chopard on Oscar night, although its
unclear whether other stars received similar compensation from the company.
The list of Chopard wearers reportedly included Mary J. Blige, Natalie Cole,
Nicolette Sheridan, Penelope Cruz, Star Jones Reynolds, and even Al Roker.
Lorraine Schwartz is another designer whose jewelry was worn by many celebrities
at the 2005 Oscars. Her jewelry became a hot commodity after the 2002 Golden
Globes, where it was worn by the popular Halle Berry. Schwartz's company, Lorraine
E. Schwartz, Inc., now describes its client list as including "celebrities,
fashionistas, and the social elite." (From a 2003 Lorraine E. Schwartz,
Inc., press release.)
According to Schwartz, her "big break" came when celebrities chose
to wear her designs; she did not pay them to do so. Schwartz now expresses concern
that lesser-known designers will not have the opportunity to expose their designs
to the stars, because they cannot compete financially with the wealthy design
houses.
Writer Beth Moore of the L.A. Times shows similar concern in her beautifully-written
summary of the new celebrity pay-to-wear practice. She calls it "the latest
artifice of rigged pop culture [that] risks squeezing smaller designers out
of the promotional game and could signal the end of seeing any real personal
style in Tinsletown."
But smaller designers are not completely uninvolved in the glamour of Oscar
night. A select few have their designs placed in some of the hundreds of gift
bags (otherwise known as "Oscar baskets" or "hospitality bags")
given to stars who attend the event.
These designers hope celebrities will choose to wear their jewelry some time
after the awards show - and preferably be photographed wearing it. Even if celebrities
give away their gifted jewelry and decide not to wear it, the publicity of having
a design included in an Oscar bag provides a lot of publicity in itself.
Of course, there's always a catch. Designers are required to donate large amounts
of jewelry for the bags, and typically each jewelry piece must have a substantial
minimum value. For example, one company requires a donation of at least 250
pieces of jewelry, and that each piece be valued at a minimum of $500. Not many
lesser-known designers can afford that kind of financial commitment and risk.
But those who can often believe the opportunity for fame is well-worth the price.
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