Hilton designer’s red carpet feat
Not only is the Oscar win for the Netflix documentary “My Octopus Teacher” a proud moment for the South African film scene, it’s also a dream come true for Hilton’s home-grown designer, Sadie Bosworth Smith, who got to dress the film’s director, Pippa Ehrlich, for her red carpet moment.
Bosworth Smith recalled creating the kelp-inspired dress Ehrlich wore to receive her Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
“It was very last minute. Pippa’s planned dress fell through and she needed a new dress in a very short time. Netflix also gave them very short notice. A mutual friend of Pippa’s from my university days, who was helping her get ready for the Oscars, remembered that I had branched into fashion design and referred Pippa to me. She came to me to try on my readymade gowns, but because I am a bridal designer, there wasn't much that suited her so I offered to make her a dress.”
Bosworth Smith only had a week to make the custom gown inspired by the kelp forest in False Bay where the documentary was filmed. “I immediately thought of this olive green sequin fabric that would simultaneously reference the kelp forest and the light refracting off the surface of the water,” she shared, adding that she luckily managed to buy the last of the fabric on the roll.
Despite the stress and pressured time constraints, the reward was worth it. “It was a surreal experience seeing it on the screen,” said Bosworth Smith, who had also dressed Ehrlich for her British Academy of Film and Television Arts (Bafta) virtual award ceremony earlier in April where “My Octopus Teacher” also won.
The St Anne’s College alumna has always had a passion for fashion and design, but had not believed in herself when she was younger. She instead obtained an honours degree in Psychology from Rhodes University before later studying fashion design at the Durban University of Technology (DUT).
“I got a sewing machine for my 21st birthday and I remember spending all my time sewing. I was even sewing instead of studying for my finals,” she said.
Bosworth Smith now lives in Cape Town where she runs her bridal studio, Sadie Bosworth Atelier, specialising in custom and bespoke bridal gowns.
“My Octopus Teacher” documents filmmaker Craig Foster’s interactions and friendship with a young octopus he follows around for a year while free-diving in an underwater kelp forest in False Bay. Ehrlich was involved in the directing, writing and editing of the documentary.