Angelina Jolie had a clear "vision" for Suleika Jaouad Batiste's Oscars dress.
Jon Batiste and Suleika Jaouad Batiste at the 2024 Academy Awards
The 35-year-old author attended the 2024 Academy Awards with husband Jon Batiste and she wore a dress created by the 'Girl, Interrupted' star, teamed with accessories from Neil Lane and the jeweller has revealed the Oscar-winning actress gave him a lot of direction when it came to the pieces she wanted to be teamed with the first gown to come out of her atelier.
Neil told People magazine: “Angelina has a beautiful exquisite style and grace, and she knew what she wanted.
“She wanted to use vintage diamond and gold jewellery because it has such a rich warm color and it fit in with her mission of repurposing and sustainability...
“She had a vision and she knew it."
Angelina visited Neil at his showroom and described the dress to him, an upcycled silk piece featuring a painting of Jon conducting a symphony on the back by artist Chaz Guest, so he showed her pieces he thought would go with the gown and the actress quickly started to "put ensembles together".
Suleika ultimately wore two necklaces, one which was made in France around 1875 and was set with antique rose-cut and old mine-cut diamonds, and an 1890 American piece featuring European cut diamonds in a hand-carved gold floral motif. She also wore diamond earrings from the late 19th century and a ring designed be Neil himself.
He said: “The ring I designed using a vintage fancy-shaped coloured diamond surrounded by rose-cut diamonds in a handmade rose gold setting...
“Of course, when I saw [Suleika’s look] at the Oscars, it was fabulous the way she had layered the necklaces, and it was a wonderful way to balance the abundance of the silk fabric. You could just see and feel Suleika’s beauty and joy. She was radiant.”
Suleika - who has been undergoing cancer treatment after her leukemia returned in 2021 - previously thanked Angelina for making her feel "so beautiful" on Oscars night.
She wrote on Instagram: “After being in treatment for the last two years, I have a real love-hate relationship with clothes. But Angelina made me feel so beautiful and so seen that my eyes kept welling up during our fitting.
“To have the story of American Symphony emblazoned on the literal fabric of my gown feels like a map of where we’ve been and how far we’ve come. It’s an embodiment of the love and the creative forces that have seen us through."
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