Ariana Grande’s red carpet return was worth the wait.
The pop star, aged 30, wowed with her style at 2024 Oscars, where she is set to present an award alongside her Wicked co-star Cynthia Erivo. She stunned in a custom pink strapless ruched column gown, featuring an exaggerated off-the-shoulder puff sleeve cape and a long train by Giambattista Valli Haute Couture, paying homage to her character Glinda.
Completing her ensemble, she accessorized with pink-stone drop earrings and a pendant necklace. Opting for an elegant hairdo, she styled her hair in a slicked-back updo, ensuring all focus remained on the gown.
Grande’s last red carpet appearance was at the Grammy Awards in 2020 where she wore another voluminous Giambattista Valli Haute Couture ballgown that required 400 yards of tulle and 200 hours of work to construct.
She styled the statement design with matching opera gloves and 30-carat Lorraine Schwartz diamond stud earrings valued at $2.5 million. As for her glam, Grande went with her signature look: a sky-high ponytail and a precise cat-eye.
Grande has been busy shooting the movie adaptation of Wicked which hits theaters Nov. 27 (with Part Two expected to release on Christmas Day in 2025).
Directed by Jon M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians), the stage-to-screen adaptation of Stephen Schwartz’s hit Broadway musical, stars Grande as Galinda a.k.a. Glinda the Good. Co-star Erivo plays Elphaba a.k.a. the Wicked Witch of the West.A trailer for the musical premiered during February’s Super Bowl, giving viewers a glimpse into the much-anticipated film.
Ariana Grande in Giambattista Valli Haute Couture at the 2020 Grammys.
Grande also just released her seventh studio album Eternal Sunshine on March 8.
“I did not plan to [make new music now]. I didn’t have the goal to make an album,” she said on the Zach Sang Show in February. “I actually was really opposed to coming out with music until after Wicked, either both parts or just one part. I wasn’t sure how I would feel.”
But she had a change of plans when the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes shut down production on Wicked, and she headed to New York City, where she teamed up with producer Max Martin for a week.
“It all just kind of started pouring out and after our first week together I kept coming to the studio every day by myself, and it just kinda kept organically happening that way, so I just decided to react and listen to that and I thought maybe it should come out if it’s coming out of me this way,” she explained. “Maybe it should be shared this way.”
The singer released the album’s first single “Yes, And?” in January, a house-influenced track where Grande addresses the discourse around her appearance, her divorce from Dalton Gomez and her current relationship with Wicked costar Ethan Slater.
The 96th Academy Awards, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, are airing live on ABC Sunday, March 10, from the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California.
