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Back in August, during the Venice Film Festival, jaws dropped when Angelina Jolie hit the red carpet for the world premiere of Maria. Jolie channeled the signature Old Hollywood glamour that the festival is known for and emerged wearing a draped chiffon strapless gown, complete with a dramatic faux-fur shawl. The internet instantly went wild for the look—dubbing her a “goddess,” “royalty,” and, of course, “queen.” The question on everyone’s mind? Who made the retro-chic ensemble. Turns out, it was Tamara Ralph—a longtime designer to the stars who has been taking over Hollywood lately with looks for Blake Lively, Florence Pugh, and Halle Berry.
Ralph, who cofounded the couture label Ralph Russo and served as creative director until 2021, dressed everyone from Jennifer Lopez to Zendaya to, yes, Jolie while at the helm. It’s no surprise, then, that under her new eponymous line—launched in 2022—celebrity dressing is a primary focus. “It is a business, but to work with celebrities organically is, in my opinion, the only way to ensure an authentic approach and result,” Ralph tells Vogue. “It is also critical to ensure I am aligning myself and my brand with the right talent—women who share my ethos and my values, who inspire me, and who have a voice that they use for good.”
The Tamara Ralph takeover has been especially apparent this month: From the Toronto International Film Festival to the Emmys, A-listers have been popping up in her formal designs in droves. In Toronto, Lopez wore a Tamara Ralph silver mirrored column dress with side cutouts and velvet bows, while Pugh wore the designer’s pink silk taffeta gown with pleated corset detailing. At the Emmys, Rita Ora donned a pink double-satin strapless dress with a silk chiffon cape from the label, while Eiza González wore a sequined version with an ostrich cape. (The two outfits were very similar, as noted by observers across social media. The strapless gown–and–cape combo is a signature Tamara Ralph look.) Which was Ralph’s favorite? “I could never choose!” she says. “It is too hard and, furthermore, I don’t like to play favorites. Each moment holds special meaning for me.”
In a sea of red-carpet options—where celebrities and their stylists have virtually any fashion house at their disposal—Ralph’s popularity in the space, at this exact moment, is certainly intriguing. Whereas brands like Loewe and Balenciaga are thriving by attracting stars with more avant-garde silhouettes, rebuking the idea of traditional glitz and glamour, Ralph is doubling down on the appeal of classic gowns—and her A-list clientele seems to appreciate the offering. The designer adds that the Hollywood elite often come to her. “I have worked hard over my career to forge special relationships with celebrities and their teams,” she says. “In many cases, my relationship is with the celebrity directly, and we work together to create their look. In other cases, it may be through their stylist.”
While Ralph’s hyper-feminine dresses are not pushing the fashion envelope the way that Schiaparelli’s and Bottega Veneta’s sculptural designs are, not everyone wants to take such a bold risk. Lately, the red-carpet set has been gravitating toward the designer’s sparklier designs, which certainly still command attention. Just last week, Berry, a longtime Tamara Ralph fan, stepped out wearing a crystal mesh chevron gown. The label also played a starring role in the It Ends With Us press tour, with Lively wearing Ralph’s crystal mesh intarsia gown with floral appliqués (and, of course, a cape).
Ralph says we can expect to see much more of her work on the red carpet in the months to come. “Red-carpet dressing will always be integral to the brand,” Ralph says, “and I will continue to invest my time and energy in maintaining and forging new relationships with celebrities—and the teams behind them—who feel right for me as a designer and for my brand.”
