Emma Stone’s Louis Vuitton Oscars gown marks an emotional goodbye of sorts for the star. Bella Baxter, the straight-talking, custard tart-gobbling Poor Things character for which she has scored Best Actress nods across the board, seriously got under Stone’s skin. Anyone who has seen Yorgos Lanthimos’s deliciously filthy take on Frankenstein will understand why. The press tour has been a sherbet-colored ode to the directional ruffled fancies dreamed up by costume designer Holly Waddington, featuring references as playful as the peculiar protagonist herself. “We wanted to keep Emma, Emma,” her longtime stylist Petra Flannery previously told Vogue, “but show her affinity with the character and Bella’s spirit.” The Academy Awards is Stone’s swan song on this wild high-fashion ride.

And what a way to go. Stone’s light mint strapless column gown features a tulip bustier with a crinoline-like construction that taps into the Old Hollywood mood for hourglass silhouettes this season, but features a subtle shell motif on the sheeny silk cloqué jacquard that looks fresh and right for both Bella, whose wardrobe is pure fantasia in Poor Things, and Stone herself, who can pull off anything, it seems. “It’s one of the prettiest colors I’ve ever worked with,” asserts Flannery, who fell for the pearls, waves, and shells in Poor Things and immediately connected with the fabric in the LV atelier. “It looks so beautiful on her.” Adding to the level of Academy Awards wow factor is the 30.47-carat octagonal step-cut golden Sri Lankan sapphire on a necklace detailed with diamonds. Against Stone’s signature red hair and almost English rose complexion, the jewel was one of the most arresting on Oscars night.It was the “hint of mint,” though, that truly captured Flannery’s imagination. Waking early one day (a habit when crossing transatlantic time zones for ceremonies, shows, and parties), Petra googled what that palest of greens means, metaphorically speaking. The phrases “rebirth,” “growth,” and “new beginnings” greeted her. Texting Stone immediately, she wrote, “This is Bella! This is the character! It plays beautifully into the story.”“It feels celebratory,” continues the Hollywood mega-stylist, who is resolutely unflappable and always the picture of professionalism, keen to do every single one of her collaborators justice and credit each element of the gown precisely. “I want everyone to look at Emma and see her—it’s so elegant,” she continues, effusing nothing but warmth when talking about Nicolas Ghesquière. Make no mistake, though: the simplest-looking dresses are always the most complex to finesse because there is absolutely nowhere to hide. The team has been “fine-tuning” the complex inner workings of the gown and its peplum with laser-sharp precision, so that on Oscars night Stone can channel the “energy” of Baxter and let the “modern simplicity” do the talking. “We won’t leave Bella behind,” muses Flannery, adding with a smile: “This dress exudes the journey—and it’s been fun.”