Award season 2024 has seen a fashion underdog hold court, and her name is Sandra Hüller. The German actor might not have had the backing of a big brand ambassadorship, but she certainly had a secret weapon: Jordan Johnson Chung. At the beginning of the Anatomy of a Fall press run, the stylist sent the cerebral star, whose compelling turn in Justine Triet’s did-she-do-it murder trial is a lesson in quietly controlled power dynamics, a moodboard detailed with Louis Vuitton, Bottega Veneta and Schiaparelli – intellectual brands who take their wearers on a journey as well as kitting them out in good clothes. Hüller bought in with one condition: she wanted to play.
Read more: Oscars 2024 Red Carpet
The chameleonic dresser, whose hairstyles alone have veered from choppy mullets to punky quiffs and neat low buns, has even put a new spin on fashion for Johnson Chung, a seasoned red-carpet dresser, who was responsible for guiding Michelle Yeoh through her award-winning Everything Everywhere All at Once promo. “It’s been so fresh and fun to look at a piece through Sandra’s eyes because of the level of excitement she brings,” shares Jordan. “She is a true joy, beyond lovely and so grateful to everyone who has made her things.”
The Oscars is the exclamation point after a season punctuated by statuesque metallic LV gowns, confidence-boosting Bottega tailoring and Rosie Assoulin and Cong Tri wildcard dresses – many of which were on Johnson Chung’s initial board of inspiration. The Academy Awards look – a black stretch velvet hourglass gown with an exaggerated off-the-shoulder neckline and padlock-stamped bustier – was entirely custom for Sandra. Fashioned in Daniel Roseberry’s surrealist atelier, the hyper-cinched hourglass gown – the leading trend on the red carpet for 2024 – is one of Jordan’s favourite ever looks. “You know Schiaparelli pieces – they are wearable art!” she grins. Even better? Roseberry doubled down on the “modern Old Hollywood” brief and made Hüller a second look for the Vanity Fair after-party.
“She looks like an old-school movie star,” asserts Jordan. “There’s something so beautiful about that.” True to form, Sandra’s beauty went “against what’s expected”, but the pre-Oscars vibe in the hotel suite was “calm and light” with the Best Actress nominee creating an “incredible energy” around her. The word “genuine” does not often crop up in red-carpet interviews, but it’s the dominant phrase in Johnson Chung’s enthusiastic musings on her friend. Sometimes the quieter talent gets lost in the awards season circus, but Hüller has been standing self-assured in the brands that best represent her. “We really just wanted her to shine,” adds Jordan. Bagging a Phoebe Philo campaign just days before the Academy named its leading lady, Sandra Hüller is already fashion’s coolest actor.
