Doja Cat took a walk on the wild side at the 97th annual Academy Awards on Sunday evening wearing a plunging leopard-print corset dress covered in hand-sewn sequins. Olivier Rousteing custom-made the mermaid gown for the singer’s walk down the Oscar red carpet, inspired by a near-identical Pierre Balmain design from 1953.
Doja Cat completed her Oscar look with mixed-metal jewellery, including a dazzling gold necklace, matching pear-shaped drop earrings, and a pendant that emerged from beneath her backward scarf.
The body-hugging strapless dress that Doja Cat wore featured a deep sweetheart neckline and a flared mermaid train. The modern iteration of the Balmain design was entirely hand-embroidered over the course of 5,600 hours by a team of 46 artisans at the French fashion house, who sewed each micro bead into an ornate leopard pattern. Beyond the meticulous beading effort, the Balmain atelier worked over the course of two days to ensure that the seams aligned perfectly and no leopard spots were cut off.
A dedicated fan of leopard print, Rousteing has used the motif throughout his tenure at Balmain, from pre-fall 2014 through his most recent pre-fall 2025.
As for Doja Cat, this is her first time attending the Academy Awards. Tonight she’ll be joined on the Oscar stage by Raye and Lisa for a special James Bond performance, which promises to be a “show-stopping celebration of cinema,” per a post on the Academy’s Instagram.
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