A celebration of Viola Davis' gloriously gorgeous at-home Awards season fashion

Viola Davis made history this year for becoming the most Oscar-nominated Black actress of all time (Davis has been nominated an impressive four times, but it's a pretty dismal showing in terms of opportunities for BIPOC in the film industry.) Her portfolio of characters—whether for the big or small screen—are always multi-layered and complex. In the 2008 film, Doubt, Davis played the role of a torn mother. In Shonda Rhimes' How To Get Away With Murder, she outsmarted us as the high-profile attorney and law professor Annalise Keating. This year, we were entranced by Davis as the influential blues icon Ma Rainey in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom—for which Davis could very well take home the Academy Award for Best Actress.

Davis’ at-home looks this awards season were multi-layered in their own way. Not only were her gowns utterly gorgeous and thoughtfully selected and created, there was also something of Davis’ personal beliefs folded into the seams of some of her outfits. We unpack the layers behind all of the looks that Davis has presented to us from her home this awards season and why they—like most of her projects—deserve to be celebrated.

She wanted the gold standard at The Golden Globes

When Davis was thinking about her Golden Globes look, she wanted a dress “that spoke to her specifically as a Black woman,” her stylist Elizabeth Stewart said on Instagram the day after the virtual awards show.

To create this effervescent silk-cotton African print mermaid-cut gown, Davis and Stewart collaborated with Los Angeles-based Black designer Claude Kameni, founder of the brand Lavie By CK. Stewart told People that the design was inspired by African royalty and called the look “bold, vibrant and strong, just like Viola herself”. The dress certainly does the Queen justice.

She championed diverse designers at the Critics Choice Awards

We love the dress Davis chose for the Critics Choice Awards for oh, so many reasons. For one thing, the azure blue A-line gown is from Canadian label Greta Constantine’s spring 2021 collection. Toronto-based designer and co-owner Kirk Pickersgill recently told The Kit that Davis’ choosing the brand for the awards was momentous because it sheds light on the need for inclusion. “Our industry has long been homogeneous. We are beginning to hear from voices that have long been silenced or overlooked,” said the Jamaican-Canadian designer. “Hopefully we can shine a light on what it means to be a designer of colour and a self-funded designer.”

Diversity is a value at the core of the brand, he added, which could be the reason Davis and stylist Stewart chose GC especially since Davis wore another dress by the designer—a similar style, except this time in bright yellow—to accept the AAFCA (The African American Film Critics Association) Icon Award on April 7. The brand is also known for its powerful take on femininity—something Davis has no problem relating to.

Her NAACP Image Awards dress was about more than image

For the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) Image Awards, Davis was said to have wanted “a happy dress.” One look at this vibrant, floral peplum, flared dress by Nigerian-born, British designer Duro Olowu, is all it takes to feel all that positive energy. The dress gives off some more mermaid-style vibes that Davis seems to be quite fond of. The happy-go-lucky theme certainly worked because Davis won the Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture that night.

Her SAG awards dress was symbolic

For her SAG dress, Davis was dressed for change. Stewart told People, Davis intentionally selected electric green for her custom Louis Vuitton column gown as a symbol of positivity. "The brightness and color is symbolic. It provides motivation and hope towards a better future," Stewart said. Davis also won the SAG Award for Outstanding Performance By a Female Actor that night. Talk about ending the evening on a positive note. 

We cannot wait to see what creation Davis has in store for us at the Oscars on April 25! In the meantime, we’ll indulge our fashion fantasies with some of our favourite Viola looks from the red carpet back when there actually used to be one.

At the 75th Golden Globes in 2018, Davis looked timeless in this simple but striking Brandon Maxwell dress. As always, her fashion had a focus: the actress followed the all-black theme of the night as a stance against sexual harassment and abuse in Hollywood.

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For the 22nd Critics Choice Awards in 2016, Davis wore this breezy baby-blue Michael Kors gown. Winning the award for Best Supporting Actress for the film, Fences was also a breeze.

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This form-fitting, beautifully-tailored Brandon Maxwell ivory suit that Davis wore at the 50th NAACP Awards in 2019 was perfect for the occasion. She wore the iconic white suffragette colour to present the Entertainer of the Year award to Beyoncé, who also wore the symbolic colour that night.

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For the 23rd SAG Awards in 2017, who can forget the beautiful white silk gown Davis wore by British designer Vivienne Westwood? It’s certainly etched into our fashion memory for all time.

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Davis looked like a winner when she won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Fences at the 89th Academy Awards in 2017. In our books, the statement-red custom Armani Privé gown was just as glorious as the iconic statue itself.

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BEFORE YOU GO: Oscars nominations making history

[video_embed id='2160714']BEFORE YOU GO: Oscars nominations making history[/video_embed]