The Wow Factor, Sunday Times Style

Eva Longoria
in Marchesa at
the opening of
t h e 2 012 C a n n e s
f i l m fe s t i v a l
n the world of modern celebrity, images speak louder
than words. An actress doesn’t need a hit movie to
rule the A list (see Jennifer Aniston and her string of
duds), but she does need to speak fluent red carpet.
No longer simply an exercise in dressing up, the red
carpet has become a form of advertising for an actress,
reinforcing her unique brand of glamour. When the
former Desperate Housewives actress Eva Longoria
wanted to make the transition from TV totty to bona
fide movie star, she made sure she dressed the part.
Out went the sassy little minidresses, and in came
sweeping feminine gowns. Her go-to label was Marchesa,
where glamour’s hard edges are tempered by feminine
romance. “They zipped it up and it was a perfect fit. It was the
first time a dress really took my breath away,” says Longoria of
her favourite Marchesa moment, when she wore one of their
gowns to the Cannes film festival in 2012.
These days, it’s hard to imagine a modern red carpet without
a Marchesa moment, but it almost never happened. Ten years
f a s h i o n
the wow
fa c to r
wit h its a - list c li e nts , Ma rc h es a h as re d - c a rp et d ress i n g a ll
s e w n u p. r u b y w a r r i n g t o n m e e t s i t s f o u n d e r , g e o r g i n a c h a p m a n
37
Rex, Xposure, Famous, INF-photos, Getty
20 0 4
R e n é e Z e l l w e g e r a t t h e B r i d g et J o n e s :
The Edge of Reason premiere
2 010
Sandra Bullock at the
Va n i t y Fa i r O s c a r p a r t y
2 010
Blake Lively at the
Costume Institute Gala
because you hear it so much.” And anyway, she continues: “I think it’s rare to
ago, when Georgina Chapman started the brand with Keren Craig, her best
find a man who allows a woman to fulfil her ambitions and also be supportive
friend and a fellow Chelsea College of Art and Design grad, they had
of that.”
originally conceived it as a loungewear collection. The influential stylist
Chapman certainly looks the part of the Hollywood consort. At 38, she’s
Isabella Blow, rightly anticipating the dominance of celebrity dressing in
all lips and luscious locks, girlish and glossy in a crisp white cotton skirt
fashion, told them to ditch the daywear and focus on the red carpet. Since
and blouse from her new Voyage collection, and a pair of towering
then, Marchesa has dressed everyone from Sandra Bullock, who wore the
snakeskin sandals by Tabitha Simmons, one of her best friends. Marchesa
brand to collect her Oscar in 2010, to Renée Zellweger, Naomi Watts and
has two diffusion lines, a bridal collection, handbags, a fragrance and a
Kristen Stewart, who famously arrived at the London premiere of Snow
foray into fancy tableware. It’s all rather Danielle Steel. Did she always
White and the Hunstman in 2012 wearing trainers with her tulle and lace
envisage herself as the glamorous figurehead of a global lifestyle brand?
Marchesa gown.
“It’s a little mind-boggling. I think if I’d planned it, it would have been so
Chapman has a unique understanding of the needs of Hollywood’s elite
overwhelming it would have stopped me in my tracks,” she says, her accent
— her husband is the powerful movie mogul Harvey Weinstein. Lounging
still pure west London, despite the fact that she moved to New York as soon
on a velvet sofa in the concrete and glass corner office of her warehouse
as the label began to take off.
premises in Chelsea, New York, she gives me a snapshot of their Hollywood
It was Renée Zellweger choosing Marchesa for the London premiere of
power marriage. Moments before she was due on the red carpet at this
Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason in 2004 (yes, it was distributed by
year’s Costume Institute Gala, to celebrate the opening of the Charles
Weinstein’s Miramax Films) that really put the label on the map. “Getting
James exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum, Chapman took a call from
Renée was enormous. We actually made three dresses for her, and Cate
her husband. “He said, ‘George, I think I should tell you, in case people ask,
Blanchett ended up wearing one of the others.” (To the Rome premiere of
about Charles James — I just bought the label.’ I was like, ‘Oh, thanks for
The Aviator, another Weinstein-backed production.)
letting me know!’ ” she says, laughing. “How embarrassing
“Maybe I helped, but just very, very little, with Renée
if reporters had started asking questions and I’d no idea.”
Zellweger,” her husband has admitted.
She still doesn’t know the exact plans for his new label
From there on in, it has been a whirlwind of frocks and
— “I actually want to ask Harvey about it tonight” — but the
flashbulbs — not always as glamorous as it sounds. Of
rumours are that Weinstein wants to resurrect the American
Bullock’s gilded Oscar gown in 2010, Chapman says: “The
couture house with his wife on creative director duties. An
bodice of her dress was encrusted with bugle beads that
exciting development, but one that won’t exactly dispel the
had to be smashed with a hammer and restitched every
narrative that has dogged her career to date — that the
time we did a fitting. It was finally put together in the
success of Marchesa is largely down to the influence of her
bathroom of our hotel, which was so dark, we had to wear
all-powerful other half.
mining helmets with flashlights to see.”
Weinstein is rumoured to be summoning a stellar, A-list
When Bullock collected her gong on the night, Chapman
front row for Marchesa’s 10th anniversary show in London
G e o rg i n a C h a p m a n
says: “I was in the audience and I remember saying to
next month, but she’s sanguine about all that today. “You
a n d H a r v e y We i n s t e i n
Harvey, ‘At least one of us won!’ ”
know what? It sort of becomes white noise after a while
f a s h i o n
2 012
Kristen Stewart at the Snow
White and the Huntsman premiere
2 012
2 014
Rita Ora at the
E u r o p e M u s i c aw a r d s
K a r o l i n a Ku rk o v a
a t t h e M et B a l l
often takes India to his breakfast meetings at Morandi, a cafe
around the corner from her nursery in the West Village, “and she
loves going to his office, as well”.
Meanwhile, Chapman’s mother has a pied-àterre around the corner from the family
brownstone, and has spent “about five months a
year” in New York to lend a hand since India was
born. She says granny and grandchild are like
peas in a pod and love gardening together. “And
you feel less guilty leaving them with granny.”
So, what might the next 10 years have in store?
There’s a long pause. “When Keren and I started
this in my apartment in London, I could never
have imagined all the things we’ve experienced,
from making dresses at Windsor Castle to meeting the president. It
has been an incredible journey, and I’d actually be pretty happy if it
just stayed like this.” So more of the same, then? “More of the same
would be lovely, yes.” v
The couple began dating in December 2004, and wed at
Weinstein’s home in Connecticut in 2007, after he proposed in
Venice. She shows me her engagement ring, three
enormous diamonds she has just had reset into a
cascading branch she wears on her right hand.
Chapman’s power marriage is, of course, the
subplot to her fairy-tale life — even if it is more
Beauty and the Beast than Cinderella. With the
Charles James project on the table, what will it be
like working together? “You either get on with
someone or you don’t. And I love my husband,” she
says. “We’re both busy, and working together will be
an excuse to spend more time together. I think it’s a
bonding thing.”
She gave birth to their first child, India, in August 2010, followed by
Harvey’s first son, Dash, in April last year (he has three daughters from
his first marriage — “I think it’s still sinking in!” Chapman says).
Describing Harvey as “brilliant, actually” with the kids, she says he
I think it’s
r a r e to f i n d
a man who
a l lo w s a
w o m a n to
fulfil her
ambitions
r e a s o n a b l e r e d - c a r p e t lo o k s
Valentinostyle boho
finery at highstreet prices.
Wear with
f lat sandals
and centreparted hair.
Embroidered
dress, £150;
asos.com
The black
illusion
embroidery
on this dress
creates
A-list curves
in a f lash.
Fishtail
dress,
£299, from
Monsoon
39
This British
brand uses
Indian
artisans for a
modern take
on decoration.
Minidress,
£175, by
Needle &
Thread; neta-porter.com
This has
red-carpet
swish. You
won’t need
a necklace;
instead wear
oversized
Marni drops.
Maxidress,
£100, from
Mango