Fashion blackout:
USUALLY at the Golden Globes, the red carpet is awash in colour. This year, it was an almost total blackout.
Hollywood’s A-listers on Sunday turned out en masse in black -- a sartorial show of force to draw attention to sexual harassment in showbiz and other industries, a culture of abuse revealed in the downfall of mogul Harvey Weinstein and others.
Women and men alike strutted into the Beverly Hilton for the gala event in their finest, the wide majority of them in basic black, with only the slightest hints of colour.
Many men wore pins supporting the Time’s Up initiative launched by hundreds of prominent women in Tinseltown to shine a light on sexual misconduct – starting with Sunday’s “blacklash”.
“People are aware now of a power imbalance. It’s led to abuse in our industry. It’s everywhere,” said Meryl Streep, who was vying for a Globe for her work in media drama The Post.
Streep – who has come under fire over her denials that she knew about Weinstein’s misconduct -walked the red carpet with an activist. She brought Ai-jen Poo, the head of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, as her plus one.
The three-time Oscar winner said Hollywood’s men and women now felt “emboldened to stand together in a thick, black line”.
Indeed, the men of Hollywood took some flack ahead of the gala for saying they too would wear black, with some remarking they would have worn tuxedos anyway.
But many donned black shirts as well, and offered their impassioned support for the movement.
The protest movement did not preclude Tinseltown’s finest from making fashion statements.
For the most part, the pops of colour were minor – a streak of bright green eyeshadow here, a snippet of white fabric at a neckline there, or an orange sash.
But Meher Tatna -- the president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which organised the event -- caused a stir when she appeared in a bright red ensemble with metallic accents.
A source close to the HFPA said: “She supports the women here tonight. As part of her Indian culture, she chose to wear a red dress.” – AFP