One Oscars dress that might have gone fairly unnoticed is Salma Hayek‘s metallic rose-colored Gucci outfit. The two-piece is a Dapper Dan of Harlem original, with his name literally written all over it.
Those of us powered by melanin forces – or simply reppin’ Harlem – are perhaps immediately tasked with celebrating the cultural significance behind a Dapper Dan original being donned by an internationally-acclaimed Hollywood darling wearing such garb amid the elitism that is a Vanity Fair Oscars soiree. But for those who missed the larger picture of it all in between internal yaaas’s, Dapper Dan himself spelled out the brilliance of this particular moment:
“@SalmaHayek wore the most important outfit of the night. It wasn’t because she is absolutely stunning—because she is. It wasn’t because it was the best outfit of the night—because it wasn’t. It’s not because it was @Gucci, nor is it because it was made by #DapperDan,” he writes in the Instagram post below. “No. It was the most important because it sent a message to my pen pals in the favelas of Brazil, and in Soweto, South Africa, and in every ghetto in the world where people are trying to find a way to “make it from The Corner to the rest of the world.” It is important because they know that my story is their story, and that if someone of Salma’s stature would wear something of mine, then they, too, can be a designer. #Harlem”
This isn’t the first time Hayek makes a statement at the annual awards ceremony. She ruffled feathers some years ago after criticizing Three 6 Mafia for wearing so much jewelry during the 2006 Oscars, because “brothers and sisters are dying over in Africa.”