Red carpet ripped out from jewelry designers

February 05, 2007

By Beth Braverman

Hollywood, Calif.—George Clooney and Julia Roberts were not the only losers at the 65th Golden Globe Awards. Also among the disappointed were fashion houses, makeup artists, hotels and—of course—jewelry designers.

The Globes appeared a lot less golden this year, as organizers did away with the red carpet and the traditional black-tie trappings. The annual ceremony, which kicks off Hollywood's awards season, has served in the past as a harbinger of jewelry and fashion trends for the Academy Awards and the rest of the year.

"The Golden Globes give such exposure to jewelry designers," says Helena Krodel, associate director of media for the Jewelry Information Center. "A good picture of a celebrity wearing a designer's jewelry will appear not only in coverage of the event but also throughout the year in trend reports and in dos and don'ts lists.

Without the Globes, jewelry companies are
placing product at smaller events. Sarah Michelle Gellar
wore 18-karat yellow gold rose-cut diamond earrings
and bangles by Amrapali of Jaipur to a movie premiere on Jan. 15.

"Savvy to this significance, Platinum Guild International (PGI) has, for the past five years, hosted a suite to outfit celebrities with millions of dollars in borrowed jewels for the bash.

In early January, PGI decided to cancel the suite because many actors had said they would not cross picket lines to attend the Golden Globes. A few days later, NBC and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced plans to downsize the Golden Globes from a three-hour, glitz-filled TV event that draws more than a thousand celebrities and media moguls to a Golden Globe Awards Winners Special hosted by Billy Bush and Nancy O'Dell.

In the absence of the red carpet, celebrity presenters, audience members and the actual handing out of awards, Bush and O'Dell were reduced to delivering the names of the winners as if they were a couple of news anchors. Normally fantastic fodder for the juggernaut of celebrity media, this year's event received little coverage.

"From the [perspective of the] jewelry industry, it is really a shame," says Michael O'Connor, PGI's senior vice president of marketing communication and public relations. "We had 42 designers [who would have shown in the suite] who literally had the red carpet pulled out from under them. They have lost the consumer brand awareness and celebrity placement that they normally get."

Besides garnering press play for stars and for platinum, the PGI awards suite provides stylists and their famous clients access to lesser-known jewelry designers.The writers' strike began on Nov. 5 when scribes walked off the job after failing to arrive at an agreement with studios regarding, among other things, their right to digital distribution profits.

"Even the big houses rely so heavily on public relations and the red carpet at these events," Krodel says. "This is one of the only chances for the really big pieces to get exposure.

These sapphire and diamond earrings

in platinum by Oscar Heyman

exemplify the type of blockbuster-level

jewelry Hollywood stars might have

worn on the red carpet at the Golden Globes.

"The People's Choice Awards, typically less important for jewelry designers, also cancelled its red carpet and traditional format when it aired on Jan. 16. The Screen Actors Guild Awards proceeded as planned on Jan. 27, thanks to its union ties and included a red carpet. But it was barely a blip on the ratings radar, with just 6.1 million viewers compared with the nearly 40 million who watched last year's Academy Awards.

At press time, writers had not yet announced whether or not they would picket the more influential Academy Awards, set for Feb. 24, which could lead to a similar scaling down of the ceremony.

"We are keeping our fingers crossed, because the Golden Globes are important, but the monster is the Oscars," says Chris Aire, a jewelry designer and red-carpet regular. "If the Oscars still happen, I think we'll be OK."

At press time, writers had agreed not to picket the Grammy Awards, scheduled for Feb. 10.However, Aire and other designers have also begun looking at other opportunities for product placement to make up for the lost Globes red carpet. Aire has jewelry appearing in three upcoming movies and plans to bulk up his advertising this year.


These rose-cut diamond earrings by
Amrapali of Jaipur would likely
have made the red carpet at the Globes.

Bochic, the New York-based designer-jewelry firm, saw its star soar last year after Angelina Jolie wore its vintage-style necklace and earrings to the Golden Globes, and that alone seems to have prevented a case of red-carpet withdrawal this year.

"Red-carpet events are a fixture right through the year in Hollywood, and because we have the Bochic collection in our public relations showroom year-round, we are known to celebrities and their stylists as a source for red-carpet jewelry," says Ginnina D'Orazio of D'Orazio and Associates, which handles publicity for Bochic as well as for other red-carpet brands such as Le Vian and Hellmuth. "In addition, we provide jewelry for many editorial shoots with celebrities throughout the year, so in many ways, it's simply business as usual."




Globe trends that struck out

If the Golden Globes had aired, you would have seen these trends, experts say:

Shorter earrings: Shoulder dusters get brushed aside this year for shorter drop earrings and larger cluster-style earrings that lie on the lobe.

Brooches: Pins have popped back into fashion's forefront, especially flower- and starburst-themed brooches.

Colors: Large, smooth gemstones—particularly in pink, blue and green hues—accent colorful gowns that stars are choosing lately. Cocktail rings remain a red-carpet favorite.

Yellow gold: While platinum remains a hands-down favorite at Hollywood's most dressed-up events, risk-taking, fashion-forward celebrities have made the move to rich, yellow gold designs.
Bold pendants: Shorter earrings put the emphasis on the neck, where big, vintage-feeling medallions look just right this season.


Editor's note: This story first appeared in the February 2008 issue of National Jeweler.