For many viewers, the main attraction of Hollywood award ceremonies are the gowns and tuxedos worn by celebrities as they stroll from interview to interview on the red carpet and then alight to the stage to accept their Oscar, Emmy, Grammy or Golden Globe. A positive appearance at these award ceremonies can be a make-or-break moment for the fashion houses that outfit the stars. But what rights govern the use of designer gowns at these events? And what rules must designers follow when making commercial use of the celebrities who wear their creations? The answers can be more complicated than one might expect.

From the designer’s perspective, dressing a celebrity for an awards show represents a significant investment in time, energy and creative output. Designer Vera Wang has described the process as a “gamble of the highest order.” The stakes are high not only because designers must be careful not to deliver a gown that will be “ridiculed or ignored” or that “just technically doesn’t work,” Wang said, but also because if a celebrity changes her mind at the last minute, it can be “devastating” to the designers and the sewers, staff, public relations people and others who have devoted months of work to completing and promoting the design. For example, actress Anne Hathaway famously agreed to wear a Valentino gown to the 2013 Oscars, as announced in a press release. At the last minute, though, Hathaway opted to wear a pink Prada gown while accepting her Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. In 2013, Vanity Fair catalogued a history of similar snubs.

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