The pearls?! The swine!
The $150,000 pearl-studded gown worn by actress Lupita Nyong’o to Sunday’s Academy Awards was stolen Wednesday from her hotel room in West Hollywood, California.
Detectives on Thursday were investigating the theft at the London, a luxury hotel just off Sunset Boulevard, said Lt. William Nash of the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department. The theft was first reported by TMZ.
Nyong’o made an immediate fashion splash when she hit the Oscars red carpet in the plunging custom Calvin Klein gown encrusted with 6,000 white Akoya pearls. Fortune estimated the value of the pearls alone at $150,000.
The gleaming ensemble landed Nyong’o on many Oscars best-dressed lists. Gushed the Los Angeles Times, “How can you not be impressed by the workmanship on this pearl-palooza?”
Representatives for the actress had no immediate comment on the theft.
After earning an MFA from Yale Drama School, Nyong’o won a best supporting actress Oscar last year for her first major film role in “12 Years a Slave.” She is set to co-star in J.J. Abrams’ “Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens,” due in December.
Nyong’o told Yahoo! that she helped guide the design of the gown.
“It was so much fun to create this dress,” she said on the red carpet. “We talked about it being fluid and liquid. I wanted it to be an homage to the sea.”
In a prepared statement, representatives for the London hotel said, “This is a terribly unfortunate situation and we are working with law enforcement on their investigation.”
