See Lily Gladstone’s Stunning Oscar Gowns Designed by an Indigenous Artist
The two gowns were a collaboration between Gucci and a porcupine quillwork artist. Both are now on display at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian
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At last year’s Academy Awards, Lily Gladstone became the first Native American to be nominated for Best Actress. She didn’t win the Oscar—it went to Emma Stone instead—but she used the high-profile event and her nomination to help promote a Native American designer.
That night, she wore a pair of custom gowns designed by Joe Big Mountain, a Mohawk, Cree and Comanche porcupine quillwork artist. Big Mountain, who owns Ironhorse Quillwork, teamed up with luxury fashion brand Gucci to create the dresses Gladstone wore to the awards ceremony and an after-party.
Now, those gowns are heading to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. They’ll be featured in a special installation called “Making a Statement,” which is on view through March 2026, according to an announcement from the museum.
The museum also plans to host four public programs related to the installation, including a conversation with Big Mountain and an Indigenous fashion showcase.
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“Indigenous design is not just part of history—it’s shaping luxury fashion today,” Anya Montiel, a curator at the museum, tells Smithsonian magazine. “The collaboration between a high-fashion designer and a quillwork artist is groundbreaking, showing that Native artistry belongs on the red carpet and in major cultural institutions. Many visitors may not realize that Indigenous artists are actively influencing the fashion industry, and this installation ensures their work is seen and celebrated.”
Gladstone, who has Blackfeet and Nez Perce heritage, wore both gowns on March 10, 2024—one to the Academy Awards and another to the Vanity Fair Oscar party afterward.
For the ceremony, Gladstone donned a midnight-blue velvet dress with a porcupine-quill neckline. She also sported a matching cape featuring 216 hand-quilled and beaded petals.
For the after-party, she changed into a black corseted dress with a porcupine-quill neckline and a chevron-patterned beaded fringe. Her second ensemble of the evening featured brass sequins, as well as beads made of glass and 24-carat gold.
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Both outfits featured porcupine quillwork, a traditional Native American technique that uses porcupine quills to embellish clothing and other textiles. Though the gowns were designed in collaboration with Gucci, only Big Mountain and his team of Native artists tackled the quillwork, which “protected this Indigenous knowledge,” according to the museum’s announcement.
Gladstone often uses her platform to spotlight Indigenous art, culture and heritage. Last year, she became the first Indigenous person in history to win the Golden Globe for Best Actress. She started her acceptance speech by speaking in the Blackfeet language.
“Hello, all my relations,” said Gladstone, according to a translation that Karla Bird, a tribal outreach specialist at the University of Montana, provided to Today’s Anna Kaplan. “My name is Eagle Woman. I am Blackfeet. I love you.”
At the ceremony, she wore a custom white, strapless dress from Italian fashion house Valentino. She paired the gown with a draped black cape, which was “a nod to the blankets and shawls worn by Gladstone in [Killers of the Flower Moon], her ancestors and the rich cultural significance and heritage the garment holds in Indigenous communities,” wrote Grazia magazine’s Ava Gilchrist.
Gladstone earned both historic nominations for her portrayal of Osage woman Mollie Burkhart in Killers of the Flower Moon. At the film’s world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2023, the actress wore a pair of earrings by Jamie Okuma, who is Luiseno, Shoshone-Bannock, Wailaki and Okinawan. At the Santa Barbara International Film Festival in February 2024, she wore an architectural top featuring 2,000 feathers by Plains Cree designer Jontay Kahm.
But Gladstone doesn’t just wear these Indigenous-designed pieces. She also “tells their stories, uplifting the artists behind them and expanding awareness of Native identity in contemporary spaces,” says Montiel.
“Her presence at star-studded events ensures that Indigenous voices are not just included, but centered,” she adds.
