In October, The New York Times rocked Hollywood with an exposé surrounding years of sexual harassment allegations against film producer Harvey Weinstein. In its wake, movements like #MeToo and #TimesUp have sprung to life, shedding light on gender inequality and imbalanced power structures and working to prevent sexual harassment and assault in the workplace. The open discussion has also led both women and men to courageously speak out about their own experiences, and for Hollywood to reevaluate everything from its pay structure to the red carpet.
Following the news, many wondered how the Weinstein scandal would affect his estranged wife, Georgina Chapman, and her fashion line, Marchesa, a mainstay on the red carpet (until now). When the Weinstein story first broke, actress Jessica Chastain took to Twitter, writing: “I was warned from the beginning. The stories were everywhere. To deny that is to create an environment for it to happen again.” And on Wednesday, she revealed to WSJ magazine that Weinstein pressured her to wear a Marchesa gown to the premiere of The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby. When she refused to do so, and opted to wear a blue Atelier Versace gown instead, he reportedly called out her refusal at the event. “He actually told the audience, ‘If I had to get in a boxing ring with Muhammad Ali or Jessica Chastain, I would choose Muhammad Ali,’” Chastain told the publication.
Weinstein also reportedly tried to pressure Felicity Huffman, Renée Zellweger, and Kerry Washington to wear Marchesa to Hollywood events. And though Chapman has been working to distance herself from him, quietly releasing the brand's pre-fall collection, with stories like Chastain's continuing to become public, its future is almost certainly uncertain.