Lily Gladstone ticked off their final awards season appearance on the 96th Academy Awards red carpet on Sunday night with a tribute to their Siksikaitsitapi and NiMíiPuu heritage.
The Oscars nominee appeared at the Dolby Theatre in Bulgari jewellery and a midnight blue Gucci dress, which the actor said was 'museum worthy' prior to the ceremony, made in collaboration with artist Joe Big Mountain of Ironhouse Guillwork. 'It's going to be just ongoing proof that Indigenous design belongs on red carpets with luxury fashion,' they said ahead of the event to PEOPLE.
The embroidered pattern on the dress paid tribute to their heritage and celebrated the best of Indigenous artistry.
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'Lily is an incredible talent. Her selecting Gucci to dress her for this historic moment is an honour,' Gucci creative director Sabato De Sarno said. 'Creating a dress that conveys beauty and illuminates Indigenous designers and artistry, passed down through generations, is powerful; The collaboration with Joe and [his wife] Sunshine in Italy was a special moment for me.'
Joe Big Mountain said of the look: 'Lily could have picked anyone in the world to design her dress for this monumental moment in her life, and she chose me—just a Native kid who grew up wanting to be an artist, trying to make a living for my family. That's a true reflection of who we are as Indigenous people: No matter the situation, we still want to bring everyone to the table.'
Gladstone's is nominated for Best Actress at the awards ceremony for their role as Mollie Burkhart in Killers of the Flower Moon. If she wins, the actor will be the first Indigenous person to do so in an acting category.
At the Golden Globes, Gladstone, who won the Best Actress gong at the ceremony, said: 'This is for every rez kid, every little urban kid, every little Native kid out there who has a dream, who is seeing themselves represented and our stories told by ourselves in our own words, with tremendous allies and tremendous trust from with and from each other.'
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