Cynthia Erivo Oscars 2025: Her Dress is a Powerful Tribute to the First Black Winner

glamour.com:

is not only showstopping, but poignant.Erivo showed up to the Sunday ceremony, where she‘s nominated for best actress for her role as in , in a high-drama black custom Louis Vuitton gown with dramatic off-the-shoulder sleeves and a matching collar.

With the look, Erivo departed from her green, but the dress has a certain witchy vibe that certainly fits with her character.She kept the rest of the look relatively simple, with a fresh face of simple yet glowing makeup and a smattering of rings.There's more of a story to the dress, though, than meets the eye.

Erivo's stylist, Jason Bolden, wrote on Instagram Stories that the dress is meant to be a homage to legendary actress Hattie McDaniel.“Hope this dress makes you proud, love Jason and Cynthia,” he McDaniel, of course, was the first Black actor to ever win an Oscar.

She won best supporting actress in the 1940 ceremony for her role as Mammy in .“This is one of the happiest moments of my life, and I want to thank each one of you who had a part in selecting me for one of the awards for your kindness,” she said accepting the In the decades since though, only nine other Black actresses have won an Oscar, with only one, in 2002 for her role in Monster's Ball.