By Alison McGill
Vancouver-based, CAFA nominated bridal and occasion wear designer Ou Ma is becoming a staple on the red carpet. One of her fashionable designs was just worn by Lainey Lui and made a huge splash at the Oscars last night.
This is the second consecutive year Lui has worn an OUMA Atelier creation to the Academy Awards. In 2025, she wore the Zephyr dress, a frothy white floral print tulle gown from Ma’s first evening collection.
This year, Lui and the designer worked together on a custom gown created exclusively for the Oscars. As Lui detailed on an Instagram post featuring snaps of her on the red carpet, the OUMA Atelier dress was inspired by “the theme of OUMA’s latest collection, the Red Thread of Fate, which originates from Chinese mythology, the dress itself is a collection of red threads of destiny connecting Ou Ma and me as Chinese daughters living and working in Canada.”
Lui goes on to give a little more insite into the meaning behind the striking design. “The looping strand of the dress also tie back to the Chinese traditional silk rope that unites newlyweds at weddings and looks like a deconstructed Chinese wedding pompom – which is the ultimate bloom of all the red threads that bring us together.”
The brilliant red and pink tulle dress was absolutely a style standout delivering a masterclass in modern-glam statement dressing. The A-line silhouette gown featured a softly draped, loosely fit bodice that flows into a high-low hemline which imbued the design with a sense of fluidity and movement.
As shared by Ma, the fabrics for the dress were hand-dyed in the OUMA atelier in Vancouver, and were thoughtfully placed to create a striking gradient, transitioning from hot pink to deep crimson red—a homage to the layered mineral tones of China’s stunning Danxia mountains. The bodice of the gown features a wrap of airy silk tulle layers and mesh in varying shades of pink and red, interwoven with pleated tulle to create depth, texture and volume. Lui’s gown was finished with a sequin red collar and a statement bow in the back with trailing tulle tails to create a flowing train-effect.
We love the creativity and sentiment behind Lui’s gown, and of course the fact she chose to wear Canadian and showcase the brilliance and beauty of OUMA Atelier with the world.
