Olivia Culpo to debut custom Marchesa gown on Oscars red carpet to raise awareness for global water crisis
Hollywood's biggest night is right around the corner, and former Miss Universe and fashion and beauty influencer Olivia Culpo plans to use the massive (red) platform to help shine a light on the global water crisis.
According to Water.org, "Today, 663 million people live without access to clean water. For more than 25 years, Water.org has pioneered safe water and sanitation solutions that give women hope, children health, and communities a future."
As a part of Culpo's partnership with Stella Artois and Water.org for the "Buy A Lady A Drink" campaign, Culpo is gearing up to unveil a custom Marchesa gown Sunday -- specifically created with Georgina Chapman and Keren Craig.
"I have known Marchesa -- well Georgina [Chapman] -- for a while, because I met her on 'Project Runway,' and when they came up with the idea to make this collaboration happen with Stella Artois and Water.org, I knew that I had to be involved, because it's for such a good cause and I also love Marchesa so much," the fashion and beauty guru told AOL Lifestyle when we met up with her at the tail-end of New York Fashion Week.
The gown will take inspiration from water and will feature glass beads handmade from the iconic Stella Artois chalices themselves, which you can purchase yourself. And as Culpo told us, "One chalice will provide five years of clean drinking water to someone in the developing world."
Take a behind-the-scenes look at the gown's creation process:
The former Miss Universe is not the only big name to stand behind the important cause. Matt Damon is also a partner in the campaign, and he and the co-founder of Water.org, Gary White, told AOL Entertainment at the Sundance Film Festival in January that they hope to bring long-term clean water to 3.5 million more people in developing countries.
In reference to the collaboration, Culpo puts it rather simply:
"It's really important that people get behind this, because I think it's just such an easy way to give back. A lot of the time, people just don't know how to get involved, and this is so easy. Also, if you're a fan of fashion, it's fashion-related, too, and I just hope that we reach the goal -- maybe even surpass it -- and make a difference. Another interesting component is that the water crisis affects women mostly, because they're the ones responsible for gathering the water in these communities, so I think the ability to give back to women and hopefully empower other women and inspire women in general will be a huge thing for me in this collaboration."
We obviously can't wait to see the dress -- but more importantly, we can't wait to see how profoundly fashion could help spread the word about such a powerful initiative.
