Celeb stylist, Karla Welsh, talks us through the five red carpet moments that made her
A year ago, while reviewing the Cannes Film Festival lineup, stylist Karla Welch, first noticed the name of Ruth Negga, star of Loving...
“I thought, that movie seems cool,” she says. “It stayed in my head.” So, when Welch, 42, a go-to for both Hollywood veterans (Sarah Paulson, Amy Poehler) and newcomers (she dressed Felicity Jones throughout her 2015 Oscar campaign), got the call to dress Negga, it felt like kismet.
At their first fitting, Welch, who calls her process “very personal,” pulled out a darkly romantic long lace Marc Jacobs number, Negga put it on, “and we were like, yesss,” Welch says.
Vintage-inspired looks from Valentino, Rossie Assoulin, and Givenchy soon followed. “There’s so much intuition in styling,” Welch says. And Negga, whom Vogue annointed its “breakout red-carpet star of 2016,” agrees: “Karla managed to sniff out what stylishness I do have and translate that into something more fabulous.” As for their Oscar night look? “We have a saying in my studio,” Welch says. “#NoObviousDressing.”
Here's the stories behind five of Welch’s stand-out red-carpet moments (below - from left to right)...
“The lacework on the dress brought work to poverty-stricken areas in Brazil,” Welch says. “We thought it was a powerful statement.”
“They sent an image, and I said, ‘Send the dress!’ It was the only one we tried,” Welch says.
Funny story: This dress was completely sheer,” says Welch, “so my assistant and I took pieces off and strategically reapplied them.”
“Michelle and I are such fans of small brands,” Welch says of designer Virgil Abloh’s label. “We loved this take on evening dressing.”
“The colour, the cutouts - Olivia and I like to say we championed amazing pregnancy dressing,” says Welch.
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