LOS ANGELES (AP) 鈥 Many things about the Academy Awards have changed over the years, but for the past six decades there has been at least one constant: The red carpet. The hues have varied over the years, but it has always been some shade of red. Until this year.
On Wednesday outside the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, workers unspooled a champagne-colored carpet as Jimmy Kimmel, who is hosting the 95th Oscars on Sunday, .
鈥淚 think the decision to go with a champagne carpet over a red carpet shows how confident we are that no blood will be shed," Kimmel said.
The decision to change the color came from creative consultants Lisa Love, a longtime Vogue contributor, and Ra煤l 脌vila, the creative director for the glamourous Met Gala in New York.
This year the carpet will be covered, in part to protect the stars and cameras from the weather, but also to help turn the arrivals into an evening event. For Love, there has always been a disconnect between the elegant black tie dress code and the fact that it鈥檚 mid-afternoon when people arrive to be photographed in the daylight. With a covered carpet, they could change that.
鈥淲e turned a day event into night,鈥 Love told The Associated Press. 鈥淚t鈥檚 evening, even though it鈥檚 still 3:00.鈥
The Oscars red carpet dates back to 1961, the 33rd Academy Awards held at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, when Billy Wilder鈥檚 鈥淭he Apartment鈥 won best picture, Burt Lancaster and Elizabeth Taylor won the lead acting prizes, and there was still a 鈥渏uvenile award,鈥 which went to Hayley Mills for 鈥淧ollyanna.鈥 It was the first televised ceremony, broadcast on ABC and hosted by Bob Hope. The general public wouldn鈥檛 see the red carpet in all its glory on television until 1966, when the Oscars were first broadcast in color.
There wasn鈥檛 any debate over the change, Love said. They just knew they had the freedom to break from tradition. They tried some other colors too but they seemed too dark with the covered tent. 鈥淲e chose this beautiful sienna, saffron color that evokes the sunset, because this is the sunset before the golden hour,鈥 Love said.
Instead they went lighter and Academy CEO Bill Kramer approved.
They weren鈥檛 especially worried about upsetting Oscars traditionalists either.
鈥淪omebody鈥檚 always got a way to find something wrong with something,鈥 Love said. 鈥淭his is just a lightness and hopefully people like it. It doesn鈥檛 mean that it鈥檚 always going to be a champagne colored carpet.鈥
As for what we should call it? Love said 鈥渃hampagne鈥 and 鈥渟and鈥 are apt descriptions, but that there鈥檚 no reason to not default to 鈥渞ed carpet鈥 either. It鈥檚 more metonym for the glamorous arrivals than a literal description of what everyone is walking on.
The 95th Oscars 鈥渞ed carpet鈥 opens Sunday at 3:30 p.m. Eastern. The ceremony is set to begin at 8 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ABC.
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