A show-stopping frock worn by Lupita Nyong’o at the 2015 Academy Awards has been stolen from her hotel room.
The pearl-encrusted ivory dress designed by Francisco Costa for the Calvin Klein Collection is worth 150,000 dollars (£97,420).
Sherriff’s deputies responded to a call late on February 25 from a West Hollywood hotel after the custom dress was reported missing from the 12 Years A Slave star’s hotel room, sheriff’s Sgt Richard Bowman said.
Lupita was present when deputies took the report, but she wasn’t in her room when the elaborate gown was taken, he said.
Representatives for the actress reported the theft. Detectives suspect the garment was taken sometime between 8pm and 9pm on Wednesday, sheriff’s Lt William Nash said.
Detectives have been at the hotel looking for clues, including surveillance footage that might reveal what happened.
Her publicists said they would not comment on the theft.
Fashion house Calvin Klein has tweeted an appeal to find the frock.
The theft doesn’t surprise Hollywood stylists who have personally experienced the seedy side of red carpet fashion. Style expert and fashion commentator Mary Alice Stephenson has for years heard stories about similar stolen celebrity items.
“It’s not shocking to me that this would be taken out of her hotel room,” said Mary, who once had a nabbed Fendi bag held for ransom.
A dress like the custom ivory one worn by Lupita could fetch a lot of money on the black market, she said.
“There are a lot of collectors out there who are very private and have private collections of stolen merchandise,” she said. “Some of these dresses have global fame as big as any Van Gogh.”
However, Los Angeles Auction House director Bryan Abbott noted that the black market would be problematic for fetching top dollar in this case.
“Celebrity-related material has additional value because it’s related to the celebrity,” he said. “If this was stolen, you wouldn’t be able to realise that additional value.”
“I can’t think of a harder thing to sell than a high-profile Oscar dress by a famous manufacturer that’s associated with a famous personality. You’d have to bury it for a hundred years,” he added.
The 6,000 disconnected pearls wouldn’t even be worth much on their own, Abbott said.
“Most pearls don’t have much of a resale value to start with, unless they’re from a famous manufacturer such as Mikimoto,” he said.
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