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With his Atelier Versace suit, the ‘Oppenheimer’ star added the signature lapel detail preferred by male peacocks this awards season.
By Laurie Brookins
Freelance Contributor
He’s been collecting best actor trophies throughout awards season, and at the 2024 Oscars, Oppenheimer star Cillian Murphy added a different kind of chic hardware to his wardrobe before stepping on the red carpet.
With his custom Atelier Versace suit, Murphy is wearing a bespoke brooch by Hong Kong-based design house Sauvereign for the 96th annual Academy Awards. (See all the star-studded Oscars red carpet 2024 arrivals.)
The opportunity for the under-the-radar brand started with a chance meeting in London between the actor’s stylist, Rose Forde, and Bertrand Mak, the label’s founder and chief creative.
“[Forde is] forward-thinking and progressive, interested not only in the usual conglomerates but independents such as myself,” Mak tells The Hollywood Reporter exclusively. “Not long into our conversations, I learned that she dresses Cillian Murphy and was looking for a brooch for him. It was not intended for the Oscars specifically. She invited me to prepare a design and I was thrilled, even if Murphy were to end up wearing it on his dressing gown.”
Mak designed a brooch in 18-karat yellow gold, with a design that appears to reference Murphy’s role as J. Robert Oppenheimer, the American physicist whose work was integral in the development of the atomic bomb, first tested in 1945. Directed by Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer took the top spot in this year’s Academy Award nominations with 13, including best picture and Murphy as best actor.
Swiss-based watchmaker Kari Voutilainen, a beloved figure among timepiece aficionados, handcrafted the brooch in his studio in Val-de-Travers, Switzerland. Dubbed the HS14 Gem, the brooch consists of eight joined pieces. Voutilainen then embellished the brooch with a sunburst guilloché, a hand engraving that creates texture and is meant to evoke light rays.
“The piece is not cast but machined from an 18K yellow gold block,” Mak points out. “The key feature is of course the sunburst guilloché engraved on the surface of each trapezium, which is hand-turned and untreated. Technical challenges aside, the biggest obstacle was to have the piece crafted from scratch in a week.”
How did Mak blend the design with both its inspiration and Murphy’s unique style? “Style is incredibly personal, especially for someone as interesting as Cillian Murphy,” Mak says. “I knew my design had to be simple but well-considered, subtle yet bold, minimal and detailed. I played with fundamental forms that only upon closer inspection reveal depth and complex nuances; it constantly oscillates between the two ends of the spectrum. Exercising restraint on the size, the piece has a quiet intensity that is strong but silent.”
In a release, Sauvereign noted that the design’s eight concentric trapeziums mimic “the shape of interior components in Oppenheimer’s history altering invention.”
Ultimately Mak is grateful that a chance meeting in London led to an opportunity not only to handcraft a piece of jewelry for one of the year’s most talked-about actors, but also for Sauvereign to win a spot on such a major red carpet. Adds Mak, “[It’s] a testament that with hard work and a bit of luck, it is possible for an independent brand from Hong Kong to climb to one of the world’s biggest fashion stages.”
See more of the best fashion and beauty looks, check out THR‘s full Oscars issue and follow all of our Oscars 2024 coverage for the winners, memorable moments and what the cameras missed.
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