'All women are superheroes': Stars make feminist fashion statement as cape dresses dominate Oscars red carpet

Natalie Portman, Brie Larson and Olivia Colman all attended the Oscars wearing capes

As the conclusion to awards season, the Oscars are brimming with expectation, particularly when it comes to the red carpet.

This year, celebrities descended on the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California, bringing with them a host of exquisite fashion looks from sweeping and dramatic ballgowns to sequin-covered column dresses.

But, while the themes we have come to associate with the Academy Awards were present, there was an unexpected trend that flooded the red carpet for 2020: cape dresses.

Alternatives to the traditional prom-style shapes, ruffles and thigh-high slits that many guests inhabit come awards season are always welcome but this year the cape signalled a shift in the star’s sartorial choices that saw them reject red carpet dressing rules to make literal fashion statements.

The most notable look of the night came courtesy of Natalie Portman who decided to use style to send a message about the state of Hollywood.

The actor stepped on to the red carpet wearing a Dior gown and matching cape that paid tribute to the female directors who were snubbed at this year’s event.

The names of the women behind some of the best films of 2020 were stitched into the lapel of Portman’s cloak, including Hustlers' Lorene Scafaria, Little Women's Greta Gerwig, and Queen & Slim's Melina Matsoukas.

Natalie Portman's cape was embroidered with the names of female directors who had not been nominated (REUTERS)

“I wanted to recognise the women who were not recognised for their incredible work this year, in my subtle way,” the Black Swan star explained on the red carpet.

While Portman’s cape might have been the only one to make a discernible political statement, a number of other celebrities adopted the trend on Sunday night including Brie Larson, Tracee Ellis Ross, Maya Rudolph and Olivia Colman.

Brie Larson wore a caped design by Celine (Getty Images)

Larson's champagne-coloured caped design by Celine was made with over 120,000 sequins, 110,000 glass beads and 13,000 Swarovski crystals, and Rudolph opted for a shimmering burnt-orange-sequined number by Valentino.

Elsewhere, Colman chose a dramatic royal blue design by Stella McCartney and Fatma Al Remaihi, CEO of the Doha Film Institute, wore a head-to-toe velvet gown with a matching cape and turban.

Olivia Colman chose a dramatic royal blue design by Stella McCartney (AFP via Getty Images)

Harriet star Janelle Monae also made quite an entrance when she arrived on the red carpet wearing a caped metallic Ralph Lauren dress that took a team of four people to carry and featured more than 168,000 hand-embroidered Swarovski crystals and took 600 hours to make. She later sported a floral number inspired by the horror film Midsommar as she took to the stage for the Oscars' opening performance.

(Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Sweeping and dramatic, no two cape dresses were alike, but they all afforded their wearers with a superhero status; a topic Sigourney Weaver discussed during an inspiring feminist speech alongside Larson and Gal Gadot as they awarded the Oscar for best original score.

The three women, who have respectively played Corporal Ripley in Alien, Wonderwoman and Captain Marvel, joked they wanted to start a “fight club” and said that the loser would have to answer questions from journalists about how it feels to be a woman in Hollywood.”

Fatma Al Remaihi wore a head-to-toe velvet gown with a matching cape and turban (Getty)

Weaver then added: “Kidding aside, we just want to stand here together and say all women are superheroes.”

The trio then presented the award to Hildur Guðnadóttir – who wrote the score for Joker – as she became the first Icelandic woman to ever win an Oscar.