Isabella Rossellini and Laura Dern had a Blue Velvet reunion on the Academy Awards red carpet tonight. Rossellini paid special tribute to the 1986 film’s late director, David Lynch, with a drapey gown reminiscent of the one she wore in the mystery, which she starred in at the beginning of her career alongside fellow Lynch muses Dern and Kyle MacLachlan.
MacLachlan and Rossellini in 1986’s Blue Velvet
Sunset Boulevard/Corbis Historical/Getty Images
Rossellini paired the Dolce & Gabbana dress—made of, you guessed it, a sumptuous blue velvet—with stunning diamond and sapphire Bvlgari jewels. She also used fashion to honor another person close to her heart by accessorizing with earrings that her mother, Ingrid Bergman, wore both in the 1954 film Viaggio in Italia (directed by Rossellini’s father, Roberto) and later, to the 1979 Academy Awards, when Bergman was nominated for Murder on the Orient Express.
Lynch passed away at the age of 78 in January of this year due to complications of emphysema. In addition to starring in films of his like Blue Velvet and 1990’s Wild at Heart (which Dern was also in), Rossellini had a romantic relationship with the visionary director, dating him from 1987 to 1991. “I loved him so much,” Rossellini captioned an Instagram post of the two in later years.
She also mentioned both the director and her parents on the social platform the day she received her Best Supporting Actress nomination for her role as Sister Agnes in this year’s Conclave, writing, “When I was young, I was always identified as the daughter of Ingrid Bergman and Roberto Rossellini. As I’ve gotten older, this doesn’t happen as frequently and I miss it, especially today. I wish my parents were alive to celebrate with me this great honor. And also today with this joy in my mind can’t help lingering in the beyond to David Lynch.”
